December 30, 2011 7:41 AM
LISTEN: Coach Jeff Daniels after the morning skate with Jason Shaya
LISTEN: Forward Jerome Samson after the morning skate with Jason Shaya
The Checkers’ nine-day break between games ends tonight as they begin a two-game road trip against the Midwest Division rival Rockford IceHogs.
Charlotte (17-11-3) got more time off than any other AHL team over the holidays, with the league’s other 29 teams all suiting up for at least one game since the Checkers dropped a 4-3 overtime decision to Oklahoma City back on Dec. 20. That’s allowed some other teams to gain ground in the standings, most notably the Milwaukee Admirals, who now hold a two-point lead over the Checkers in the Midwest.
| |
 |
| |
|
| |
GAME INFORMATION |
| |
WATCH: www.AHLLive.com |
| |
LISTEN: WBCN 1660 AM | www.AHLLIVE.com |
| |
TWITTER: @CheckersHockey | @CheckersInGame | @PaulBranecky |
| |
|
| |
SEASON SERIES |
| |
Sunday, Nov. 6: Charlotte 4, Rockford 2 |
| |
Friday, Nov. 18: Rockford 3, Charlotte 2 (SO) |
| |
Sunday, Nov. 20: Charlotte 4, Rockford 3 |
| |
Friday, Dec. 30 at 8 p.m. (Rockford) |
| |
Thursday, Jan. 26 at 7 p.m. (Charlotte) |
| |
Friday, Jan. 27 at 7 p.m. (Charlotte) |
| |
Tuesday, April 10 at 8 p.m. (Rockford) |
| |
Saturday, April 14 at 8 p.m. (Rockford) |
| |
|
| |
CHECKERS STATS |
| |
RECORD
|
17-11-3 |
6th Western Conference
|
| |
GOALS / GAME
|
2.74 |
20th AHL |
| |
GOALS ALLOWED / GAME
|
2.61
|
8th AHL |
| |
POWER PLAY |
19.5%
|
12th AHL |
| |
PENALTY KILL
|
83.6% |
8th AHL |
| |
PIM / GAME
|
14.2 |
6th AHL |
Tonight’s game will be the fourth of eight meetings this season between Charlotte and Rockford (11-17-3), with the Checkers earning points in each of the previous three (2-0-1). Following the game, the Checkers depart for a New Year’s Eve matinee in Chicago before heading back to Charlotte.
CHARLOTTE
Though they won’t be alone as teams get back to work following layoffs of various lengths, the Checkers will have a little rust to shake off as they open their post-holiday schedule against a Rockford team that will be playing for the third time since Christmas Day.
Having theorized on a few occasions that looking ahead to the upcoming vacation may have contributed to patches of sloppy play earlier in the month, the Checkers hope getting it out of the way can help them focus moving forward.
“I think every team goes through it,” said coach Jeff Daniels. “Guys are excited to go home and you see that cause a problem every now and then, but I think we needed the break to let guys rest up from a few injuries.”
The Checkers do return to the break healthy with the exception of a lingering injury to rookie forward Justin Shugg, who has not played since Dec. 15 and is still a few weeks away from returning. Center Cedric McNicoll is expected to play his first game tonight since suffering a groin injury on Oct. 28.
A bigger issue for the team of late has been NHL recalls, with two of the team’s biggest offensive threats in Drayson Bowman and Zac Dalpe, not to mention veteran goaltender Justin Peters, currently with the Carolina Hurricanes. That puts the onus on other players to pick up their scoring, with Riley Nash the most obvious candidate now that he’s been put back on a scoring line to take Dalpe’s place following a recently-concluded recall of his own.
Mike Murphy will get his fifth consecutive start in goal for the Checkers since returning from his first NHL stint earlier in the month, with Daniels to make a determination on Saturday’s starter after tonight’s game.
ROCKFORD
| |
 |
| |
|
| |
ROCKFORD STATS |
| |
RECORD
|
11-17-3 |
15th Western Conference
|
| |
GOALS / GAME
|
3.10 |
7th AHL |
| |
GOALS ALLOWED / GAME
|
3.81
|
30th AHL |
| |
POWER PLAY |
17.4%
|
19th AHL |
| |
PENALTY KILL
|
75.2% |
30th AHL |
| |
PIM / GAME
|
18.9 |
25th AHL
|
Since splitting a two-game set in Charlotte on Nov. 18 and Nov. 20, winning the former contest in a shootout, the IceHogs have won just five of 15 contests to rank last in the Midwest.
Tonight will be a rare home game for the club, as they play there just once during a nine-game stretch that included Thurday’s game in Chicago, a 5-3 loss, and will continue with Sunday’s game in Peoria. The IceHogs are a manageable .500 on the road at 5-6-3, but have gone just 6-11-0 on home ice.
The team gets an offensive boost with the return of leading scorer Brandon Pirri from a three-game stint with the parent Chicago Blackhawks, during which he recorded a single assist. At the AHL level, Pirri has 9 points (3g, 6a) in his last six games. Fellow forward Jimmy Hayes heads the other direction, where he’s expected to make his NHL debut tonight.
The IceHogs will be missing a few more offensive threats, with Kyle Beach out since late October with an upper-body injury and Brett McLean on international duty with Team Canada at the Spengler Cup. They do still have skilled forward Rostislav Olesz, an NHL veteran who scored 4 points in two games against the Checkers in back in November, at their disposal. Defenseman Brian Connelly ranks second on the team and tied for first among AHL blueliners with 27 points.
Goalie Carter Hutton, who started the season in the ECHL, has played in nine of the team’s last 11 games, with Alec Richards seeing limited action. Hutton started Thursday’s game but was pulled after allowing three goals on just seven shots. Starter Alexander Salak has been out since Dec. 2 with a leg injury.
After allowing a whopping five power-play goals in a single game to Milwaukee on Dec. 26, Rockford owns the league’s lowest penalty-killing percentage at 75.6.
CHECKERS NOTES
 • A GOOD STREAK: Since ending their longest losing streak of the season, a four-game slide between from Dec. 5-15, the Checkers have earned points in three consecutive games (2-0-1). They now have three such streaks of three or more games this season, including a team-record, five-game winning streak from Nov. 20-30.
• DIVISIONAL DOMINANCE: The Checkers have taken 15 out of a possible 20 points (7-2-1) against fellow Midwest Division teams this season, tying them with Oklahoma City (12-4-0) for the highest percentage (.750) of any AHL team against its own division.
• SANGUINETTI’S HELPFUL RETURN: Since returning from a 10-game absence caused by a broken foot, defenseman Bobby Sanguinetti has 4 points, all assists, in five games, tying him for most on the team in that span. Despite playing in just 21 of the Checkers’ first 31 games, he is now tied for first among team blueliners in points (10), even though he was one of just three Charlotte skaters still looking for his first goal of the season. Seven of his assists came on the power play, putting him in second place on the team behind Chris Terry’s 10.
• NECK AND NECK: Checkers forwards Jon Matsumoto and Jerome Samson have exchanged bragging rights as the team’s goal-scoring leader several times this season, with Matsumoto currently holding a one-goal lead with 13 thanks to a two-goal performance in the team’s most recent game on Dec. 20. They have scored in the same game four times this season, including the Oct. 7 season opener in Norfolk in which each player tallied twice.
Matsumoto is on pace to set a new career high in goals with 31, while Samson is on pace to post his highest total since scoring 37 with Albany during the 2009-10 season. Both players are in their fifth professional campaign.
• HOME AND AWAY: The Checkers 24 points earned at home this season are tied with divisional rival Milwaukee for the most of any team in the AHL. With a record of 11-4-2 this season, the AHL Checkers have improved to 33-17-6 all-time at Time Warner Cable Arena. However, the Checkers are below the .500 mark on the road with a season record of 6-7-1.
STREAKS
• The Checkers have earned points in each of their last three games (2-0-1).
• Jerome Samson has points in each of his last three games (2g, 1a).
• Mike Murphy has started four consecutive games in goal (Dec. 15-20).
RECENT TRANSACTIONS
Charlotte
• Dec. 26 – (C) Zac Dalpe recalled to Carolina (NHL) from Charlotte
• Dec. 24 – (C) Riley Nash reassigned to Charlotte from Carolina (NHL)
Rockford
• Dec. 29 – (D) Ben Youds recalled to Rockford from Toledo (ECHL)
• Dec. 29 – (C) Brandon Pirri reassigned to Rockford from Chicago (NHL)
• Dec. 29 – (RW) Jimmy Hayes recalled to Chicago (NHL) from Rockford
• Dec. 28 – (RW) Chris DiDomenico recalled to Rockford from Toledo
|
|
|
|
