Checkers News

Despite missing a handful of forwards to injury and NHL recall, the Checkers’ offense was able to stay hot and keep the team in playoff position in Manitoba.

Erik Karlsson recorded his first two-goal game, Derek Arnold picked up his first two AHL points in his Checkers debut and captain Derek Ryan made it nine points in his last four games as the Checkers picked up a 6-2 victory against the Moose on Saturday.

Sergey Tolchinsky and Kyle Hagel also scored for the Checkers, who, together with Wednesday’s 7-3 win in Chicago, have now scored 12 goals in their last two outings.

The victory ensured Charlotte of finishing the night in playoff position with nine games to play regardless of San Jose’s result in a later game tonight. The Checkers have now posted a record of 6-2-1 since making a handful of moves at the AHL trade deadline on March 7.

With eight players out due to injury and two more (Brody Sutter and Patrick Brown) joining the parent Carolina Hurricanes since their last game, Charlotte used three players (Arnold, Brian Ward and Zach Miskovic) that were playing their first-ever game with the club. Arnold, who joined on a professional tryout contract from the ECHL’s Manchester Monarchs, played a role in the first goal as he set up Karlsson just 5:39 into the first period. The goal was Karlsson’s first since opening night on Oct. 16, ending a 40-game drought.

After Ryan opened the scoring just 54 seconds into the second period off a nice feed from Justin Shugg, who had missed the previous two games due to injury, Arnold did the honors himself just 34 seconds later by taking a drop pass from Blair Jones and rifling a shot that beat Eric Comrie over the right shoulder and chased him from the game.

Arnold, a 26-year-old, second-year pro from UMass-Lowell, went scoreless in nine previous AHL games with Ontario and Portland this season.

Manitoba looked to be in danger of seizing the momentum as it scored two goals in the final two minutes of the second period to cut the lead to 3-2. However, the Checkers put an end to that with an early goal in the third as Andrew Poturalski gloved down a high deflection, wrapped it around the goal and fed Karlsson for his second of the night. From there, Tolchinsky added his third in two games and Hagel an empty-net goal to seal the victory.

The final score may not indicate it, but the Checkers’ penalty kill played a key role in allowing the visitors to retain their early lead. After Karlsson’s first, the Checkers took three penalties in less than two minutes, resulting in a pair of two-man advantages lasting approximately 20 seconds that they were ultimately able to nullify. Charlotte finished the night a perfect 5-for-5 on the penalty kill and is now 63-of-69 (91.3 percent) in its last 18 games.

The teams will play a rematch Monday night that marks the end of the Checkers’ seven-game road trip. The team will then prepare for its final six home games of the regular season at Bojangles’ Coliseum starting Friday, April 1.

NOTES

This marks the first time the Checkers have scored six or more goals in consecutive games this season … Miskovic picked up the secondary assist on Karlsson’s second goal for his first Checkers point … Ryan has six goals in seven games against Manitoba this season … Charlotte is 5-2-0 in the eight-game season series with Manitoba that concludes Monday … Just 10 players in the Checkers lineup were playing under NHL contracts with Carolina … Ward, signed from St. Lawrence University, made his professional debut in addition to his Checkers debut … John Muse has played in 11 of a possible 12 games since rejoining the Checkers on Feb. 29, going 7-2-1 with a 1.83 goals-against average and .929 save percentage … Ryan and defenseman Mike Cornell each posted a game-high, plus-3 rating … Hagel tied his career high with his fifth goal of the season. He has goals in consecutive games and three in his last nine … Forwards Anthony Camara, Dane Fox, Brock McGinn, Andrew Miller, Ethan Werek and Valentin Zykov and defensemen Danny Biega and Rasmus Rissanen all missed the game due to injury.