GAME PREVIEW - LAKE ERIE MONSTERS AT IOWA WILD 1.17.14
Jan 17, 2014Lake Erie Monsters (17-16-0-3, 37 points) at Iowa Wild (15-16-3-2, 35 points)
Friday’s game is the first of four meetings this season between the two clubs. Iowa and Lake Erie will also faceoff on Saturday at Wells Fargo Arena. The Wild visits the Monsters for a pair of games in Cleveland on Feb. 21 and 22. The two clubs played four times last year while Houston was Minnesota’s AHL affiliate. The Monsters took the season series by going 4-0-0-0, while Houston was outscored 17-11 en route to an 0-3-0-1 mark.
Iowa plays the second of three straight at home, dropping a 4-3 overtime defeat on Wednesday night to Toronto. The team has points in 14 of the last 19 outings (9-5-3-2 /.605). The club is winless in the last three outings (0-2-0-1). The Wild has a record of 7-12-1-0 at Wells Fargo Arena, getting outscored by the opposition 55-39. Iowa is 4-3-1-2 over the last ten outings and 1-2-0-0 against the North Division. The team is in a stretch of four straight against North Division teams.
Lake Erie plays the fourth of five straight road games. The team has dropped its last four road games. After falling in a pair of games at Rockford, the club lost 6-5 at Milwaukee on Sunday. Lake Erie has lost three in a row and four of the last six games. The AHL affiliate of Colorado is 5-5-0-0 over the last ten games and 4-6-0-0 against the Midwest Division. The Monsters have posted a 5-10-0-2 record on the road, having been outscored 62-42.
Upcoming Games:
Team Date Time Radio / TV
vs. Lake Erie 1/17 7:05 P.M KXNO 1460 / iHeartRadio
vs. Lake Erie 1/18 12:35 P.M KXNO 1460 / iHeartRadio
at Texas 1/22 7:30 P.M. KXNO 1460 / iHeartRadio
Latest Transactions:
1/17 – Add forward Broc Little (signed PTO from Springfield– AHL)
1/17 – Add forward Mike Ullrich (signed PTO - from Orlando – ECHL)
1/17 – Delete Taylor Matson (assigned to Orlando – ECHL)
Last Time Out:
The Iowa Wild were defeated by the Toronto Marlies 4-3 in overtime in front of 4,554 fans at Wells Fargo Arena on Wednesday night. Toronto defenseman T.J. Brennan scored the game-winning goal in overtime and added three assists to lead his team to victory. Marlies forward Spencer Abbott picked up three points in the game (two goals, one assist) to increase his team’s record to 5-1-0-1 in the last seven games. Toronto goalie Drew MacIntyre stopped 27 shots in the first meeting between the two clubs. Iowa goalie Johan Gustafsson stopped 33 shots in the loss, including 13 in the third period. Iowa forward Carson McMillan scored a goal and added an assist in the defeat.
Iowa Wild
After 36 games, defenseman Brian Connelly leads the team in scoring with 20 points in 34 appearances. Connelly has a team-high 19 assists, including a team-leading eight on the power play. Carson McMillan is second in scoring among active skaters with seven goals and nine assists for 16 points in 34 games played. Leading goal scorer Brett Bulmer (10) is currently out with an injury. Zack Phillips and Warren Peters are also among the active skaters in points. Phillips has six goals and nine assists for 15 points in 36 games played. Peters has three goals and ten assists for 13 points in 30 games played. Jonathon Blum (17 pts), Erik Haula (17 pts.) and Jason Zucker (13 pts) are all on NHL recall with Minnesota.
Goalies Johan Gustafsson and John Curry man the nets for Iowa. Darcy Kuemper is on recall to Minnesota. Johan Gustafsson is 6-7-1 with a 2.87 GAA and a .907 SV %. Curry is 2-2-1 with a 2.33 GAA and a .925 SV%.
Iowa is 24-for-157 (15.3%) on the power play and has allowed 33 power-play goals against on 155 attempts (78.7%) The Wild is 28th in the AHL with a 2.39 goals per game average and the team sits 15th with a 2.81 goals against average.
Notables –
· Iowa’s Justin Mercier played for Lake Erie from 2009-12, scoring 39 goals and totaling 72 points in 220 games.
· The Monsters lead the Western Conference with 792 penalty minutes.
Lake Erie Monsters
Center Mark Olver leads the Monsters in scoring with 19 assists and 28 points in 34 games played. His 19 assists and 11 power-play assists are team highs. Left wing Bryan Lerg is second on the club with 27 points. He leads Lake Erie with 12 goals and is tied for the lead in power-play assists with 11. Berg also leads the Monsters with a -22 rating. Forward Andrew Agozzino is third on the team with 26 points, tied for second in goals (9) an second overall with 17 assists. Matt Hunwick leads all D-men in scoring with eight goals and 11 assists for 19 points in 25 games played. Guillaume Desbiens (78 PIM I 24 gp) and Mitchell Heard (91 / 31 gp) lead the Monsters in penalty minutes.
Goalies Calvin Pickard and Sami Aittokallio split time in net for Lake Erie. Pickard is 9-8-2 with a 2.95 GAA and a .897 save percentage. Aittokallio is 8-8-1 with a 2.83 GAA and a .901 SV%.
Lake Erie is sixth in the league on the power play, going 35-for-172 (20.3%). The Monsters penalty kill has allowed 32 goals on 186 chances (82.8%). The team averages 2.83 goals per game while allowing 3.17 goals against per game.