Checkers News

The Checkers wrapped up a tough road trip with a sweep at the hands of the Hershey Bears before returning home for a much needed home stand.

Week in Review

Hershey 5, Checkers 1

Heading to Hershey for the first time this season, the Checkers battled through a deadlocked first period before a Jake Chelios tally midway through the middle frame nabbed them the lead. The Bears would draw back even a minute later, then jumped ahead in the waning moments of the period to start a roll of their own. Hershey would score twice more to go ahead 4-1 with half a period to go and force the Checkers into some drastic moves. Charlotte pulled their goalie with over five minutes to play in hopes of sparking a rally, but the move would backfire, with Hershey skating away with the convincing victory. Full recap

Hershey 3, Checkers 0

Charlotte’s offensive drought rolled over into the next night’s rematch, as the Checkers were unable to solve Hershey netminder Vitek Vanecek, who denied all 29 shots he was faced with. On the other side, Riley Barber gave the Bears an early lead less than 90 seconds into the contest, one that they would hang on to for the remainder of regulation. Hershey would add two more tallies to cushion their lead and come away with the weekend sweep of Charlotte. Full recap

Three Stars Of The Week

Notables

ROAD WEARY

The Checkers are returning home after a tough road trip in which the club go 1-4-0 through Binghamton, Lehigh Valley and Hershey. By points percentage, this marks the worst of Charlotte’s five road trips so far this season, though the win in Lehigh Valley on Dec. 30 helped the team avoid matching the four-game losing streak that occurred during the latter half of November’s trek.

Charlotte, which is now 3-8-0 over its last 11 road games, is 11-9-0 away from home this season, with those nine road losses tied for the most in the conference.

MISSING OFFENSE

It’s no secret that it has been Charlotte’s offense propelling the team through the first half of this season, but this recent slump has seen that attack largely absent. Despite still ranking second in the AHL in terms of goals per game, the Checkers have scored two or fewer goals in four of their last five games, all of which have been losses. Prior to that, the Checkers had been held to two or fewer goals in consecutive games just once – back-to-back losses on the road in Springfield in mid-November.

The Checkers are 2-8-1 this season when scoring two or fewer goals.

POWER OUTAGE

This recent string of road losses also showcased just how important Charlotte’s power play has been this season. The Checkers failed to convert on the man advantage in four of the five games during this most recent road trip, all of which ended in losses. Charlotte’s power play, which ranks as the third-best in the AHL, has only gone scoreless 13 times all season, with the team going 4-8-1 in those instances.

STINGY ON SHOTS

The Checkers have locked down their opponents’ shooting chances as of late. They have allowed 23 or fewer shots on goal in five of the last nine contests, jumping up to third in the AHL rankings. Charlotte is 8-5-0 overall in games where the team’s opponent registers 23 or fewer shots, but are 1-3-0 in the four most recent instances. In those three losses, the Checkers have allowed five goals on 18 shots, six goals on 19 shots and five goals on 23 shots.

ROY WOWS

While Warren Foegele has been taking most of the headlines, Nicolas Roy is quietly putting together a very strong rookie campaign. The first-year pro ranks fifth on the team in scoring, while his 15 helpers lead all team rookies and rank fourth overall. Roy has been especially strong as of late, notching eight points in his last eight games.

Ranks

• Andrew Miller is tied for seventh in the AHL in scoring (34) and is tied for fifth in assists (25)
• Valentin Zykov leds the league in goals (19), is tied for the league lead in power-play goals (11) and ranks second in shooting percentage (31.1)
• Warren Foegele is tied for second among league rookies and tied for fifth in the AHL in goals (17), leads the league in shorthanded points (6), is tied for the league lead in shorthanded goals (4), ranks sixth among league rookies in points (27) and ranks third among rookies in shooting percentage
• Philip Samuelsson is tied for third in the AHL in plus-minus (+22)
• Alex Nedeljkovic is tied for third in the AHL in wins (14)
• Nicolas Roy is tied for second among league rookies in shorthanded goals (2) and is tied for 17th in scoring
• Trevor Carrick is tied for third among league defensemen in assists (18), ranks second in power-play assists (14) and is tied for fourth in power-play points (14)

INJURIES

• Sergey Tolchinsky missed three games starting 12/30
• Patrick Brown missed one game starting 1/8

Transactions

Incoming

• Jan. 3: (C) Aleksi Saarela assigned to Charlotte (AHL)

Outgoing

• Jan. 3: (C) Mitchell Heard assigned to Florida (ECHL)

Coming Up

By the Numbers

CATEGORY	RECORD	AHL RANK	LAST WEEK
Power play	22.1%	4th	3rd
Penalty kill	82.3%	t-16th	17th
Goals per game	3.61	2nd	2nd
Shots per game	30.08	18th	17th
Goals allowed per game	3.06	t-15th	t-13th
Shots allowed per game	27.56	3rd	4th
Penalty minutes per game	12.72	9th	t-9th

CATEGORY	LEADER(S)
Points	Andrew Miller (34), Valentin Zykov, Warren Foegele (27)
Goals	Valentin Zykov (19), Warren Foegele (17), Aleksi Saarela (13)
Assists	Andrew Miller (25), Trevor Carrick (18), Nicolas Roy (15)
Power play goals	Valentin Zykov (11), Aleksi Saarela (6), Patrick Brown, Andrew Poturalski (4)
Shorthanded goals	Warren Foegele (4), Nicolas Roy (2)
Game-winning goals	Andrew Poturalski, Valentin Zykov, Warren Foegele (4)
Shots on goal	Aleksi Saarela (83), Warren Foegele (74), Andrew Poturalski (65)
Penalty minutes	Zack Stortini (48), Trevor Carrick (44), Patrick Brown (40)
Plus/minus	Philip Samuelsson (+22), Roland McKeown (+20), Warren Foegele (+14)
Wins	Alex Nedeljkovic (14)
Goals-against average	Alex Nedeljkovic (2.85)
Save percentage	Jeremy Smith (.902)