THE MATCHUP
After a quick break for the holidays, the Checkers are on the road and back in action with their second three-games-in-three-days stretch of the season. The divisional gauntlet starts with a pair of tilts against the Penguins before wrapping up on Sunday against the Phantoms, and it’s a particularly crucial run for the Checkers. They sit in sixth place in the Atlantic but boast the fourth-best points percentage in the division, and this weekend’s heavy slate will help catch them up to the rest of the teams around them in the games-played column.THE STORYLINES
Stringing Them Together
The Checkers head into the weekend on a bit of a roll, having collected a point in each of their last six contests - a run that is not only the longest for Charlotte this season, but is tied for the longest such active streak in the AHL. That streak has had it’s fair share of single-point outings, however, as the Checkers are 3-0-3-0 over those six games.The Penguins have been one of the hotter teams in the Atlantic over the last 10 games - holding a 6-3-0-1 record - but enter the weekend having lost each of their last two contests heading into the holiday break by a combined 9-3 score.
Free Hockey
After playing three overtimes across the first 22 games of the season, the Checkers have seen each of their last three games and four of their last five go beyond regulation. And while those first three games all went Charlotte’s way, the next three all ended up in defeat to bring the team’s overtime record to 3-3 so far this season. In the final outing before the break, the Checkers partook in their first shootout of the season and earned a win.Samo Stays Scoring
Mackie Samoskevich has strung together an impressive rookie campaign, and he’s seen the points really start to fall for him over his most recent stretch of games. In fact, he has racked up 14 points over the last 13 contests and has multi-point efforts in three of his last four games and four of his last six.Since Nov. 20, only one AHL rookie has recorded more points than Samoskevich and no rookie has more goals.
Uvis' Effect
Uvis Balinskis hasn’t spent a lot of time in the Charlotte lineup, but he has certainly made an impact when called upon. The Latvian blue liner - who has spent the majority of this season in the NHL - has appeared in four games for the Checkers thus far and has found the scoresheet in three of them, totaling four helpers along the way.Road Warriors
The Checkers are 4-1-1-0 over their last six road games and have surrendered 11 total goals over that stretch.THE ONES TO WATCH
Charlotte
- Casey Fitzgerald - 3 assists in last 2 games
- Mackie Samoskevich - 9 points in last 6 games
- Uvis Balinskis - 4 points in last 4 games
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton
- Alex Nylander - 5 points in last 4 games
- Rem Pitlick - 11 points in last 11 games
- Sam Poulin - 4 points in last 4 games
