Things got off to a rocky start for the visitors, as the cellar-dwelling Rocket jumped out to a 2-0 lead through 40 minutes of the first contest. A switch seemingly flipped for the Checkers in that second intermission, however. They came out for the third with a dominant effort, staging a comeback to even the score late and force the game to overtime.
So what exactly was it that got the Checkers going?
“I just think we got down there and we understood that we needed those points,” said Vellucci. “I blame myself a little bit for not making sure that they were ready to start that game. But I can only talk to them about it so much. They have to realize it themselves. I thought we came out in the third with a focus and played better.”
Despite a strong push out of the gates during the extra frame from Laval, Lucas Wallmark was able to find the back of the net and improve to 3-0 in games ending in overtime, making them the only team in the AHL to not have an overtime loss this season.
“We’re a high skilled team,” said Vellucci of what has made his team so successful in overtimes. “We have a lot of skill and speed and smart guys. On that goal Kuokkkanen made a great pass, left it for Wally and went to the net taking the D with him so Wally could walk right in. It’s a lot of good offensive guys with speed who know how to score.”
While the win kept Charlotte’s overtime success rolling, it also helped bolster its road record. While excelling on home ice, the Checkers have hovered around .500 away from Bojangles’ Coliseum this season until last weekend when the sweep of Laval pushed them above that mark.
“It’s weird, I don’t know if we’ve had a struggle on the road,” said Vellucci. “We’ve played some good games that we maybe didn’t win but it seems like we’re always shorthanded when we’re on the road, missing players. We started off really hot early in the year when we had all of our players, we won four or five in a row on that long one. Then we ran into some injuries and whatnot. We’re not a bad road team. We just have to make sure we’re competitive right from first whistle.”
PLAYOFF PICTURE
Charlotte’s weekend sweep of the Rocket gave the team a bit more breathing room in the tight Atlantic Division playoff race. The Checkers currently sit in the fourth and final playoff spot, though the pesky Sound Tigers continue to lurk behind them. Bridgeport trails the Checkers by nine points but has played two fewer games, and will continue to hold at least one game in hand until the second-to-last day of the season before the Sound Tigers and Checkers square off in the regular season finale.While some coaches tend to avoid watching the standings, at least publically, Vellucci leans into it.
“I look at the standings, I’m sure the players do too,” he said. “It’s not a big deal. You want to know where you are and what you have to do to get the job done. It doesn’t matter to me if they look at it or not, I’m pretty sure everyone does, right? You can’t hide it from them.”
While most of the focus up to now has been on the race for fourth place between Charlotte and Bridgeport, a red-hot 8-2-0 run in their last 10 games has the Checkers eyeing the two teams in front of them.
“I don’t want to look behind us, I want to look ahead,” said Vellucci. “We can catch Wilkes-Barre and Providence. We play Providence again so we need to make sure we win the games that we can and see what happens.”
The Checkers trail the Penguins by three points for third place in the division and the Bruins by four points for second. Like Bridgeport, however, both Wilkes-Barre/Scranton and Providence hold two games in hand over Charlotte.
SHORTHANDED
The Checkers’ lineup has taken some hits as of late, with last weekend’s series in Laval standing as one of the most makeshift groups the team has had to field this season.The blue line was the most affected area. Along with the injury to Jake Chelios, the Checkers lost Roland McKeown to an emergency recall last week and Josiah Didier to a three-game suspension. With those three all out, Charlotte reached down to the ECHL’s Florida Everblades for a pair of defensemen in Matt Finn and Zack Kamrass and were forced to throw the duo straight into the thick of things.
“It was tough,” said Vellucci. “We had two guys come up from Florida and I thought they did really well filling in. With [Didier] and [McKeown] and [Chelios] out, we’re pretty thin back there. But [Carrick] got more ice time there, [Samelsson] and [Kichton] did too. They had to play more minutes and they did a good job.”
The Checkers were also missing some key pieces up front as well, including two-thirds of their dominant top line of Andrew Miller, Valentin Zykov and Wallmark. But while there was some sizeable production gone, a new trio stepped up to fill the void. The newly formed first line featured Wallmark between Aleksi Saarela and Greg McKegg, and the trio took the weekend by storm. Wallmark led the way with five points (2g, 3a), while Saarela (3g, 1a) and McKegg (1g, 3a) pitched in four points each.
“It’s almost like when you had Z and Millsy on that line,” said Vellucci. “Kegger is a good straight-line guy, he’s got a lot of speed and makes nice little plays, and Sal’s the shooter. You saw those two goals, they were in the back of the net before the goalie even knew it. All three complement each other. They’re going to hunt pucks down. Wally makes those dishes and the rest of the guys can put it in.”
On the bright side, as of earlier this afternoon the Checkers received solid reinforcements from Carolina in the form of McKeown and Warren Foegele returning from their NHL stints.
While the Checkers made do with their group last weekend, this week brought more encouraging news with regards to the injured contingent. Miller took the ice for Wednesday’s full-team practice and, though he was draped in a yellow no-contact jersey, took part in the drills for one of the first times since suffering his injury.
“He’s progressing,” said Vellucci of the veteran forward’s status. “I’m not sure how much longer. But this is good news, he’s shooting the puck and making plays. So a week or two, I’m not sure what it’s going to be, but it’s good news. We’ll see how that goes. We want to make sure he’s 100 percent healthy. We don’t want to rush him back to play for two weeks. I want to make sure he’s healthy. So if we can get him for those last two games that would be great.”
Then there’s Chelios, who has been back at the rink working out after undergoing surgery for his injury and is taking positive steps as well.
“I think he’s going to skate tomorrow, so he’s ahead of the game,” said Vellucci. “I don’t know what his return is but at least he’s going to be on the ice.”
GOOD FIRST IMPRESSIONS
Carolina has received a strong boost as of late thanks to a pair of high-scoring Checkers injected into their lineup.After dominating AHL goalies all season Zykov got his NHL shot last week and has promptly logged five points (3g, 2a) in five games with the Hurricanes. Warren Foegele joined his Charlotte teammate up top on Monday and notched a goal and an assist in his NHL debut against Ottawa, then lit the lamp in the Tuesday’s contest in New Jersey.
“It was a very proud moment,” said Vellucci of watching Zykov and Foegele thrive in Carolina. “As a coach, the goals are great but I’m like, ‘Don’t turn it over!’ or ‘Make sure you’re backchecking and tracking!’ Those are the things that I’m watching for. But I’m very excited for both of them. It was a very proud moment to watch those guys do well no matter which team they’re on.”
The good news for Canes fans is that the organization is confident that there’s more where that came from.
“We have six or seven guys down here that are going to be NHLers,” said Vellucci. “They just have to wait their turn and work hard while they’re here and produce and be committed. And when they get their chance they’ll do well.”
One such player is Wallmark. After bouncing up and down between the AHL and NHL this season, Wallmark has landed back with the Checkers for their stretch run. And while that can prove to be frustrating for some players, the Swedish forward hasn’t shown any signs of phoning it in. In fact, Wallmark has been on an unreal tear since most recently re-joining the Checkers, racking up a staggering 15 points in his last eight games with the Checkers.
“I had a good talk with Wally,” said Vellucci. “The guys in Carolina, we all know what he can do and what he brings to the table. Some other guys are getting their first NHL looks right now and he understands. He’s been up there a lot this year and last year. He’s focused and he understands that with a good summer this year he’s going to be in Carolina next year as long as he works hard. He understands the process.”
