Weekly Report: March 29, 2016

Wrapping up their long road trip, the Checkers came away with a pair of lopsided wins, but couldn't quite come away with a perfect week.

The team will now return to Charlotte and prepare to kick off their final home stand of the season Friday against the Texas Stars.

Week in Review

Checkers 7, Chicago 3

The Checkers’ offense came alive in their final visit to Chicago of the season. Charlotte struck early, with Sergey Tolchinsky and Kyle Hagel each lighting the lamp within the first five minutes of play, and never let up. They would add three more to in the middle frame to pad their lead then put things away with two more in the third to run away with a 7-3 victory, matching their highest goal total of the season. Tolchinsky led all skater with the first multi-goal game of his pro career. Full recap

Checkers 6, Manitoba 2

The Checkers’ offensive explosion continued a few nights later in Manitoba. Two goals in the first 90 seconds of the second helped the visitors run out to a 3-0 lead, but the Moose bounced back with a pair of their own at the end of the middle frame to narrow the Checkers’ lead to just one goal heading into the third. Charlotte surged back, however, quickly adding two more then capping things off with an empty netter to seal the lopsided win. Erik Karlsson, who only had one goal on the season heading into the game, led the way with a pair of strikes, while newcomer Derek Arnold racked up two points in his Checkers debut. Full recap

Manitoba 2, Checkers 1

The Checkers wrapped up their season series with the Moose two days later, but couldn’t find that same offensive spark and stumbled to a 2-1 loss. The captain Derek Ryan remained red hot and put the visitors on the board 90 seconds in, but that was the only scoring Charlotte to scrounge up. The Moose couldn’t create much pressure offensively, but Scott Kosmachuk took advantage of the few and far between opportunities the Moose got, finding the back of the net twice to put the home team on top. The Checkers pushed back down the stretch, including a buzzer-beating breakaway, but Manitoba netminder Connor Hellebuyck stood tall and clinched the two points for the Moose. Full recap

Three Stars Of The Week

Notables

Playoff Picture

The Checkers gave themselves a bit of a cushion this weekend, earning a win coupled with a San Jose loss, but last night’s loss puts Charlotte back into a tight playoff race. The Checkers currently hold the fourth Pacific Division spot by a slim .001 margin. The Barracuda are back in action Wednesday against Ontario. Should they lose, whether in regulation or overtime, the Checkers will keep their hold on the playoff spot, while a regulation win would send San Jose over Charlotte into the spot.

There's No Place Like Home

The Checkers return to Charlotte this weekend for their final home stand of the season. While they have a stronger record on the road, the Checkers have been on a roll at Bojangles’ Coliseum. They have won three straight on home ice and have earned a point in the standings in each of their last four.

The Captain Catches Fire

Derek Ryan has been the driving force behind the Checkers’ offense all season, but he has especially turned it on over the last week. The captain has recorded a point in five straight games, putting him one shy of the team’s season high, which he set earlier this year. Since March 19, Ryan has racked up 10 points (5g, 5a), the most in the AHL over that span, and has moved into a tie for eighth in the AHL scoring race.

With eight games remaining, Ryan needs three goals to move into the top five of the franchise’s single season goals list and six to move into third.

Muse Takes Over

John Muse continues to have full control of the Checkers’ crease, making his sixth straight start between the pipes Monday. Muse has gone 7-3-1 since rejoining the team at the trade deadline while putting up a sub-two goals-against average and has allowed two or fewer goals in five of his last seven appearances.

A fairly spread out schedule has allowed head coach Mark Morris to stick to his plan of riding the hot hand, but a return home for the final playoff push could see him give Daniel Altshuller a shot. The rookie netminder has made just one start since March 5

New Guys Pitch In

A recall and injury-ravaged lineup forced the Checkers to do some more revamping going into their last two contests. Charlotte added veteran blue liner Zach Miskovic and ECHL scorer Derek Arnold on professional tryouts, as well as former St. Lawrence University standout Brian Ward on an amateur tryout, all of whom made their Checkers debut Saturday in Manitoba.

It didn’t take long for them to make their mark, as Arnold picked up a goal and an assist Saturday, his first two AHL points, and Miskovic tallied a helper in each game.

Miskovic and Arnold remain on the team, though it is unclear how close the Checkers are to regaining some of their injured players, while Ward was released from his ATO this morning.

Power Outage

With a pair of power-play strikes Wednesday in Chicago, it looked like the Checkers were turning things around, but a fruitless weekend in Manitoba put them back into their man advantage slump.

Charlotte has managed just two power-play goals in their last 25 opportunities over the last eight games.

Lockdown

Despite last night’s result, the Checkers continue to lock down their opponent’s offensive attacks. Charlotte has now held opposing teams to two or fewer goals in nine of their last 12 contests.

Ranks

• Derek Ryan is tied for eighth in the AHL in scoring (53)
• Kyle Hagel is tied for the AHL lead in major penalties (17) and ranks fifth in penalty minutes (153)
• John Muse ranks 19th in the AHL in goals-against average (2.52)
• Trevor Carrick is ranked eighth among AHL defensemen in scoring (38), third in power-play assists (18) and tied for second in power-play points (22)
• Mike Cornell is tied for the lead among AHL defensemen and tied for fourth overall in major penalties (15) and ranks fifth among league defensemen in penalty minutes (125)

Injuries

• Danny Biega missed 36 games starting 1/8
• Dane Fox missed nine games starting 3/12
• Anthony Camara missed six games starting 3/18
• Andrew Miller missed two games starting 3/26
• Rasmus Rissanen missed two games starting 3/26
• Ethan Werek missed two games from 3/23-3/26

Transactions

Incoming

• March 26 - (C) Derek Arnold signed to PTO
• March 26 - (F) Brian Ward signed to ATO
• March 25 - (D) Zach Miskovic signed to PTO

Outgoing

• March 29 – (C) Derek Ryan recalled by Carolina (NHL)
• March 25 – (C) Patrick Brown recalled by Carolina (NHL)
• March 24 – (C) Brody Sutter recalled by Carolina (NHL)
• March 23 – (D) Nick Trecapelli released from ATO

Coming Up

By the Numbers

Team Statistics
CATEGORY	RECORD	AHL RANK	LAST WEEK
Power play	19.9%	6th	6th
Penalty kill	84.2%	t-10th	12th
Goals per game	2.85	t-12th	t-19th
Shots per game	30.12	13th	11th
Goals allowed per game	2.96	17th	t-16th
Shots allowed per game	29.09	8th	8th
Penalty minutes per game	14.69	16th	17th

Team Leaders
CATEGORY	LEADER(S)
Points	Derek Ryan (53), Andrew Miller (44), Trevor Carrick (38)
Goals	Derek Ryan (23), Andrew Miller (18), Brock McGinn (14)
Assists	Derek Ryan (30), Trevor Carrick (29), Andrew Miller (26)
Power play goals	Brock McGinn, Derek Ryan (7), Andrew Miller (6)
Shorthanded goals	Patrick Brown, David Wohlberg, Brody Sutter (1)
Game-winning goals	Andrew Miller (5), Derek Ryan (4)
Shots on goal	Derek Ryan (152), Trevor Carrick (136), Andrew Miller (117)
Penalty minutes	Kyle Hagel (153), Mike Cornell (125), Keegan Lowe (69)
Plus/minus	Dennis Robertson (+14), Valentin Zykov (+7), Ethan Werek (+6)
Wins	John Muse (16)
Goals-against average	John Muse (2.52)
Save percentage	John Muse (.913)