December 09, 2011 7:00 AM
LISTEN: Coach Jeff Daniels after the morning skate with Jason Shaya
LISTEN: Forward Justin Soryal after the morning skate with Jason Shaya
Having played eight of their last nine games at home, the Checkers hit the road for the first time since the Thanksgiving break tonight at Texas.
The game will mark the third meeting in two weeks between Charlotte (15-8-2, 2nd Western Conference) and Texas (9-11-1, 13th Western Conference), with the clubs splitting the first two contests at Time Warner Cable Arena. In the first, the Checkers erased an early 2-1 deficit to secure an eventual 3-2 victory last Wednesday, only to see the Stars leave town with a 4-2 win three nights later.
Following tonight’s match-up, the first of a two-game road trip for Charlotte that will also take it through San Antonio on Sunday, the Checkers and Stars will face each other just one more time this season, in Texas on Feb. 4.
CHARLOTTE
The Checkers most recently went 1-2-0 during a three-in-three set that saw them lose to Texas on Saturday before splitting games with the Lake Erie Monsters on Sunday and Monday. Having been extremely critical of his team after the loss to the Stars – he and his players called it one of the team’s worst efforts of the season – coach Jeff Daniels had a different opinion of how his team responded against Lake Erie.
“We played hard,” he said. “Obviously you don’t like the outcome (on Monday), but I’ve got no problem with the effort. I’ll be expecting the same on Friday night, and we’re going to win more games than we lose if we do that.”
Daniels could have Bobby Sanguinetti back in the lineup on Friday, as the 23-year-old defenseman seems set to return from a nine-game absence caused by a broken foot. At the time of his injury, Sanguinetti, who is a key contributor on the team’s power play when healthy, had recorded 6 assists in the season’s first 16 games.
It had been an up-and-down recovery for Sanguinetti since first suffering the injury during a game in Houston on Nov. 13, but he was able to practice fully with the team on Wednesday prior to its departure to Austin.
“It was definitely good to get back out there, and hopefully I’ll be ready to go this weekend,” he said.
One of Matt Pistilli and Jared Staal will re-enter the lineup for the Checkers, who reassigned rookie Justin Shugg to the ECHL’s Florida Everblades on Thursday. The other will remain a healthy scratch, with center Cedric McNicoll (lower body) the team’s only injury concern other than Sanguinetti.
The Checkers will likely start goaltender Justin Peters in both games, with the team recalling rookie John Muse from Florida to replace Mike Murphy, who is currently with the NHL’s Carolina Hurricanes.
TEXAS
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STARS STATS |
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RECORD
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9-11-1 |
13th Western Conference
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GOALS / GAME
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3.00 |
t-15th AHL |
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GOALS ALLOWED / GAME
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3.24
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t-24th AHL |
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POWER PLAY |
24.8%
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3rd AHL |
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PENALTY KILL
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82.4% |
13th AHL |
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PIM / GAME
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14.4 |
6th |
The Stars have not played since their series in Charlotte, making this the third consecutive game in which they face the Checkers. Including their split in Charlotte, Texas has won just three of its last 10 games (3-6-1) and is tied for the longest active home winless streak in the AHL (five games).
The Stars entered the first series with Charlotte with a handful of their top scorers, namely Travis Morin, Matt Fraser and Raymond Sawada, struggling after strong starts. They were able to partially reverse that in Charlotte, with Morin (2a) posting points in consecutive games for the first time since Nov. 6-11 and rookie Fraser ending an eight-game scoring drought with 2 points (1g, 1a) on Saturday.
Sawada, tied with Fraser for second on the team in scoring behind Morin (15 points), went scoreless against the Checkers to extend his personal drought to six games.
Fraser’s goal came on the power play, moving him into a tie for second-place in the AHL with 7 goals on the man advantage, while his 85 shots on goal rank 5th in the league. As a team, the Stars’ power play ranks third in the AHL (24.8 percent).
Defenseman Jordie Benn was the team’s hottest player coming in and did nothing to change that last week. The older brother of the parent Dallas Stars’ Jamie Benn, he recorded a point in each game against the Checkers (1g, 1a), extending his point streak to five games (3g, 3a). He ranks as the team’s fourth-highest scorer, just one point behind Fraser and Sawada, while ranking tied for eighth among AHL defensemen in points (14) and tied for first in goals (7).
Goalie Tyler Beskorowany, who had appeared in just six of the team’s 19 games prior to starter Richard Bachmann’s ongoing NHL recall, should make his third consecutive start against the Checkers. Twenty-six-year-old Jimmy Spratt, recalled from ECHL Idaho, awaits his AHL debut.
CHECKERS NOTES
 • Charlotte’s power play on the road (22.6 percent, 8th AHL) is significantly better than at home (14.3 percent, t-22nd AHL). During their recent six-game home stand, the Checkers scored three goals on 29 chances (10.3 percent).
• With nine points (4g, 5a) in his last eight games, Checkers forward Jon Matsumoto has moved into a six-way tie for eighth in AHL scoring (24 points). The fifth-year pro is tied for the team lead in goals (10), is one shy of the team lead in assists (14) and is tied for the team lead in plus/minus (+7). He has recorded seven multi-point games this season, the most of any Checkers player.
• The Checkers currently hold a share of the league lead in shorthanded goals scored with a total of four, including two last week. Defenseman Mathieu Roy has factored in on three of those (1g, 2a), tying him for the overall league lead in shorthanded points. Charlotte also allowed two shorthanded goals last week, bringing their season total to three.
• Charlotte forward Jerome Samson is the AHL’s leader in shots on goal once again with 112 – 15 more than any other player. He has recorded five or more shots in 14 of his 24 games this season, including a season-high nine on Oct. 30. Samson broke a five-game goal drought that matched his season high during Monday’s loss to Lake Erie, tying him with Jon Matsumoto with 10 goals on the season. The fith-year pro also leads the Checkers with five power-play goals.
• The Checkers have been the AHL’s best second-period team this season, sporting a +14 goal differential in the middle frame. Their 30 goals scored in the second period are tied for the second-most in the league, while their 16 goals allowed are the third-fewest. The third period has been a different story, with the Checkers -12 differential ranking as the third-worst in the AHL.
RECENT TRANSACTIONS
Charlotte
• Dec. 8 – (F) Justin Shugg reassigned to Florida (ECHL) from Charlotte
• Dec. 7 – (F) Mike McKenzie mutually released from SPC by Charlotte
• Dec. 7 – (G) John Muse recalled by Charlotte from Florida (ECHL)
• Dec. 6 – (G) Mike Murphy recalled to Carolina (NHL) from Charlotte
Texas
• Dec. 8 – (D) Jace Coyle assigned to Idaho (ECHL) from Texas
• Dec. 2 – (LW) Michael Neal reassigned to Idaho (ECHL) from Texas |
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