Weekly Report: Feb. 11, 2020

The Checkers kicked off a pivotal home stand with a pair of big wins over the division-leading Wolf Pack.

Week in Review

Checkers 6, Hartford 0

The Checkers continued their dominance of Hartford on home ice by scoring early and often in a 6-0 blowout victory, with Alex Nedeljkovic recording a 17-save shutout. Full recap

Checkers 4, Hartford 3 (OT)

The following night’s rematch was a closer affair, with the two sides trading goals until the Wolf Pack evened the score midway through the third period to send the game to overtime, where Janne Kuokkanen would notch the game-winner for Charlotte. Full recap

Three Stars Of The Week

FOUR NOTABLES

1) GEEKIE'S STREAK

Morgan Geekie earned a spot in the record book on Saturday. With a goal in the second period, he extended his point streak to 13 games, breaking the franchise record previously held by both Ryan Murphy and Greg McKegg. Geekie’s streak is the longest active such streak in the AHL and the third longest by any player this season. He is three away from matching the longest point streak in the league this season, set by Utica’s Reid Boucher.

2) NED SAYS NO

Alex Nedeljkovic was perfect in Friday’s win over Hartford, stopping all 17 of the shots he faced to pick up his fourth shutout of the season. That equals his total from all of last season – in which he was named the AHL’s Most Outstanding Goalie – and is one shy of matching his career high, set in 2017-18. Nedeljkovic has 14 career AHL shutouts, tied for the fourth-highest career total among the 49 active, qualified goalies in the AHL.

3) OT WINNER

Janne Kuokkanen’s goal on Saturday gave the Checkers their first overtime win of the season, moving the team – which, at the time, was the only AHL team without an OT win – to 1-3 on the year. The Checkers have played the second-fewest overtime/shootout games at six, and are .500 in those contests – 1-3 in overtime and 2-0 in shootouts.

4) HOME SWEET HOME

With their wins over Hartford the Checkers have swept three of the last four opponents to visit Charlotte and are 7-3-0 over their last 10 home contests. The Checkers have 14 home wins this season, the fifth-highest total in the Eastern Conference.

RANKS

• Julien Gauthier is tied for sixth in the AHL in goals (23) and is tied for 10th in power-play goals (8)
• Janne Kuokkanen is tied for ninth in the AHL in assists
• Steven Lorentz ranks third among all AHL forwards and tied for ninth overall in plus-minus (+19)
• Max McCormick ranks second in the AHL in penalty minutes (110)
• Chase Priskie is tied for fifth among all AHL rookies and third among rookie defensemen in assists (23) and is tied for 10th among all rookies and ranks third among rookie defensemen in points (29)
• Cedric Lacroix is tied for ninth among all AHL rookies in penalty minutes (41)
• Oliwer Kaski is tied for second among AHL defensemen in goals (9) and tied for eighth in power-play goals (3)
• Jake Bean is tied for third among league defensemen in assists (27), ranks third in points (34) and is tied for eighth in power-play goals (3)
• Gustav Forsling is tied for ninth among league defensemen in plus-minus (+17)
• Alex Nedeljkovic is tied for second in the AHL in shutouts (4)

INJURIES

• Colin Markison - Missed five games starting 1/25
• Brian Gibbons - Missed seven games starting 1/19
• Stelio Mattheos - Missed 37 games starting 11/8

Transactions

Incoming

• None

Outgoing

• None

Coming Up

By the Numbers

CATEGORY	RECORD	AHL RANK	LAST WEEK
Power play	23.2%	3rd	3rd
Penalty kill	86.8%	2nd	3rd
Goals per game	3.36	t-6th	t-8th
Shots per game	31.81	5th	5th
Goals allowed per game	2.79	7th	8th
Shots allowed per game	28.00	4th	4th
Penalty minutes per game	14.19	6th	6th

LEADERS

CATEGORY	LEADER(S)
Points	Janne Kuokkanen (39), Jake Bean, Morgan Geekie (34)
Goals	Julien Gauthier (23), Morgan Geekie (17), Steven Lorentz (16)
Assists	Janne Kuokkanen (28), Jake Bean (27), Chase Priskie (23)
Power play goals	Julien Gauthier (8), Morgan Geekie (7), Janne Kuokkanen (5)
Shorthanded goals	Eight tied (1)
Game-winning goals	Morgan Geekie, Julien Gauthier (4), Steven Lorentz (3)
Shots on goal	Julien Gauthier (118), Morgan Geekie (106), Jake Bean (103)
Penalty minutes	Max McCormick (110), Clark Bishop (47), Cedric Lacroix (41)
Plus/minus	Steven Lorentz (+19), Gustav Forsling (+17), Fredrik Claesson, Dave Gust (+12)
Wins	Alex Nedeljkovic (14)
Goals-against average	Alex Nedeljkovic (2.49)
Save percentage	Alex Nedeljkovic (.904)