ROANOKE RAIL YARD DAWGS (27-23-4) at BIRMINGHAM BULLS (34-14-2)

7:30 PM CDT

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GAME NOTES

LAST TIME OUT: The Rail Yard Dawgs cruised to a three-goal lead through two periods and did not allow a goal until there were 23 seconds remaining as they defeated the Pensacola Ice Flyers, 3-1, for their third straight win on Saturday night at Berglund Center. Jacob Caffrey made 26 saves on 27 shots to earn the win in net.

JOCKEYING FOR POSITION: Roanoke enters its final two games of the regular season sitting in sixth place in the SPHL but still with an outside chance at finishing as high as fourth. The Knoxville Ice Bears currently are in fourth place with 61 points, three clear of the Dawgs, and the Macon Mayhem are fifth with 59, one point ahead of Roanoke. If Knoxville loses both of its games in regulation this weekend against Pensacola and Macon loses at least one game, the Rail Yard Dawgs would finish in fourth with a pair of wins in their games against Birmingham. A fourth-place finish would mean the Dawgs would take home-ice advantage in the first round and would not be a team eligible to be selected by a top-three finishers in the Challenge Round. One Roanoke win over the weekend would guarantee they could finish no lower than sixth place.

RAZOR-THIN MARGINS: Friday is the sixth meeting of the season between the Bulls and Dawgs and the previous five have each been decided by two goals or fewer. Roanoke has gone 2-1-2 against Birmingham and fell in overtime, 4-3, and in a shootout, 3-2, in the two prior meetings in Alabama. Both of the Dawgs’ wins over the Bulls came in Roanoke by a margin of two goals.

HOT AT THE RIGHT TIME: Steve Mele has points in six straight games and 10 of his last 11. The six-game point streak is tied with Jordan Carvalho for the longest by a Rail Yard Dawg this season. In his last 11 games, Mele has eight goals and five assists.

SNAP SHOTS: Colin Murray has four goals in his last three games...Murray and Jeff Jones are tied for the team lead in goals with 21. Both are one shy of Steve Mele’s franchise record of 22...the Dawgs signed Ohio University’s Bryan Lubin to an amateur tryout contract on Wednesday.

HOT GOALIES: Jacob Caffrey comes into the Friday’s game off a weekend during which he allowed one goal on 39 shots over 98:49 of game time. Caffrey carried a shutout into the final minute of the Dawgs’ 3-1 win over Pensacola on Saturday. On the other side, Birmingham’s Mavric Parks is 5-0-0 with a 1.56 GAA, a .956 SV% and two shutouts in his last five starts. For the season, Parks is the SPHL’s leader in wins, saves, minutes played, SV% and is fourth in GAA.

UP NEXT: The Rail Yard Dawgs finish out their regular season on Saturday night in Pelham. Puck drop against the Birmingham Bulls is scheduled for 7:00 PM CDT.