Tonight, the Bulldogs (12-18-1-2) take on their North Division rivals the Lake Erie Monsters (17-15-2-1). This is the fourth of eight meetings between the two teams this year. The Bulldogs have a 1-2-0-0 record against the Monsters this season, with their lone victory coming on home ice back in December.
After not scoring a goal for 3 games, the Bulldogs finally ended their drought last night in a 3-1 victory over Rockford. Patrick Holland snapped the streak when he deflected a Gabriel Dumont shot past Ice Hogs goaltender Alec Richards, just before time expired in the first. It was Holland`s fourth goal of the season. Gabriel Dumont and Olivier Fortier also added goals in the win.
The Monsters come into tonight’s game after losing 4-0 to the Charlotte Checkers at home. It was the 4th time the Monsters were shut out all season and it also ended their 5 game win streak at home. Bill Thomas will be a player to look out for as he has 2 multi point games in 3 games versus the Bulldogs this season. Mike Sgarbossa is the team leader in points with 13 goals, 15 assists in 33 games this season.
Robert Mayer had a strong outing last night stopping 35 of 36 shots fired at him, with some flashy glove saves mixed in there as well. It is entirely possible that he gets the start once again tonight. The key to tonight`s game for the Bulldogs will be scoring first as they almost always allow the first goal. An early goal would do a lot for the confidence in the offense.
The puck drops at 7:00 pm, and as always, you can watch it live on AHLLive ($), or listen to it here.
