Weekly Report: February 29, 2016

The Checkers wrapped up their long road trip with a pair of matchups in Manitoba last week, splitting the two-game set with the Moose.

The team will now return to Charlotte to kick off an extended home stand as they look to keep things rolling in the right direction.

Week in Review

Manitoba 7, Checkers 2

The Checkers' first ever visit to Manitoba didn't go as planned, as they suffered their worst loss of the season to the last-place Moose. After the home team jumped out to a 2-0 lead four minutes into the game, Derek Ryan pulled the Checkers back within one heading into the second. Things stood pat for most of the middle frame, but things soon fell apart for Charlotte, as the Moose exploded for five unanswered goals to blow the game wide open. Brendan Woods notched another goal for the visitors late in the third, but it wasn't enough to spark a rally as the Moose ran away with a 7-2 victory. Starter Drew MacIntyre was chased from the game after surrendering four goals on the first 13 shots he saw. Daniel Altshuller didn't fare much better in relief, allowing three tallies on 15 shots. Full recap

Checkers 2, Manitoba 1

In the rematch the next day, the Checkers were able to reign the Moose in and secure a series split. Starters Daniel Altshuller and Connor Hellebuyck took center stage for the first two periods as the teams entered the third locked in a scoreless battle. The captain Derek Ryan finally broke the seal with a power-play deflection, but the lead was short-lived, as Manitoba added a power-play marker of their own shortly following. But Ryan struck again on the man advantage in the latter stages of the frame to put the visitors on top, and Altshuller squashed any hopes of a comeback for the Moose with stellar play down the stretch, clinching the victory for Charlotte. Full recap

Three Stars Of The Week

Notables

Climbing Out

Since snapping their franchise-worst 10-game winless skid in Grand Rapids last week, the Checkers have gone 2-2-1, earning five of a possible 10 points in the standings. Over the last few weeks, head coach Mark Morris has pushed the mantra that you can’t jump out of a hole, you have to climb. This stretch could be the start of the team climbing out of the hole they’ve put themselves in over the last month.

Playoff Picture

Despite earning a win in their most recent contest, the Checkers currently find themselves on the outside looking in when it comes to the postseason. They sit fifth in the Central Division standings, trailing the Lake Erie Monsters by .071 for the final playoff slot.

The Checkers could also get into the playoffs via the new crossover rule, which puts the fifth-place team in the Central in the playoffs if they have a better record than the fourth-place team in the Pacific Division. That is currently the San Jose Barracuda, who have a slim .005 advantage over Charlotte.

In The Crease

After call ups and injuries forced the Checkers to do some shuffling in net, the tandem of Daniel Altshuller and Drew MacIntyre appears to be back in action. Both netminders turned in some of their best performances of the season recently, with MacIntyre earning a 29-save victory over the Grand Rapids Griffins last week and Altshuller stopping 27-of-28 shots last night against Manitoba to record his first win since Jan. 17.

Those performances are hopefully the start of a trend in the right direction for both goalies, who have struggled along with the team as of late. In the last 13 games, the starter has been pulled four times.

The Captain Heats Up

After cooling down from his red-hot start to the season, Derek Ryan appears to be getting back on a roll. With two tallies Sunday against Manitoba, the captain now has three goals in his last two games and five points in his last five games.

Since Feb. 10, Ryan hasn’t been held scoreless in consecutive games, a pattern he carried for much of the first half of the season.

Starved For Offense

After spending much of the beginning of this season near the top of the AHL in terms of goals per game, the Checkers have now fallen out of the top 10 for the first time. Charlotte has a record of 4-17-3 when scoring two or fewer goals this season, something it has done in 11 of its last 13 contests. When scoring three or more, the team is a much-improved 23-5-3.

Powering Up

While the team has struggled to score at five-on-five, they have been deadly on the man advantage. The Checkers’ power-play unit is tied for first in the AHL, producing at a 22.9% clip, and has scored a goal in 10 of the last 11 games.

The best power-play percentage at the end of the season in team history is 22.6% in 2013-14.

Carrick Cooking

Trevor Carrick has remained an consistent force on the Checkers’ blue line all season. With five helpers in his last five games, the second-year pro has overtaken Derek Ryan for the team lead in assists with 26. Carrick has already surpassed his totals from his rookie year and is moving up the franchise record books. He currently has the third-most assists and points by a Checkers defenseman in a single season with 21 games to go. He is also tied for third for the most goals by a Checkers defenseman in a single season, trailing the franchise record by four.

Ranks

• Kyle Hagel ranks second in the AHL in major penalties (13)
• Daniel Altshuller ranks 17th in the AHL in goals against average (2.54) and third among rooke goaltenders
• Trevor Carrick is tied for fifth among AHL defensemen in scoring (35), third in power-play assists (16) and tied for second power-play points (20)
• Mike Cornell ranks third among AHL defensemen in major penalties (11)

Injuries

• Danny Biega missed 23 games starting 1/8

Transactions

Incoming

• None

Outgoing

• None

Coming Up

By the Numbers

Team Statistics
CATEGORY	RECORD	AHL RANK	LAST WEEK
Power play	22.9%	1st	2nd
Penalty kill	82.8%	t-13th	13th
Goals per game	2.87	t-12th	11th
Shots per game	30.27	11th	12th
Goals allowed per game	3.11	21st	21st
Shots allowed per game	29.45	9th	11th
Penalty minutes per game	14.56	16th	15th

Team Leaders
CATEGORY	LEADER(S)
Points	Derek Ryan (42), Trevor Carrick (35), Brock McGinn (28)
Goals	Derek Ryan (17), Brock McGinn (14), Brody Sutter, Patrick Brown (10)
Assists	Trevor Carrick (26), Derek Ryan (25), Jake Chelios (21)
Power play goals	Brock McGinn, Derek Ryan (7), Zach Boychuk (6)
Shorthanded goals	Patrick Brown, David Wohlberg, Brody Sutter (1)
Game-winning goals	Derek Ryan (4)
Shots on goal	Zach Boychuk (147), Derek Ryan (125), Trevor Carrick (120)
Penalty minutes	Kyle Hagel (107), Mike Cornell (93), Keegan Lowe (58)
Plus/minus	Brendan Woods (+6), Danny Biega (+5), Ethan Werek (+3)
Wins	Drew MacIntyre (11)
Goals-against average	Daniel Altshuller (2.54)
Save percentage	Daniel Altshuller (.915)