The Checkers wrapped up the first half of the season by splitting a series on the road before heading into the All-Star break.

Week in Review

Team Statistics

  • Overall record
    31-11-4
  • Home record
    13-5-2
  • Road record
    18-6-2
  • Last week's record
    1-1-0
  • Last 10 games
    6-3-1
  • Division Standings
    1st
  • Conference Standings
    1st
  • League Standings
    1st

Checkers 3, Providence 5

Things started out positive for the Checkers in their visit to Providence, as they jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead inside the first six minutes of play. The Bruins answered back with a vengeance, however, rattling off four unanswered goals and chasing start Callum Booth from the game in the process to snag a two-goal lead midway through the third period. Jake Bean found the back of the net for the second time that night to pull Charlotte within one with less than five minutes to play, but the rally attempt would be squashed by another Providence tally less than a minute later, sealing the win for the home side and extended the Checkers’ winless skid to three games. Full recap

Checkers 5, Hartford 2

In their final contest before the All-Star break the Checkers righted the ship, handing Hartford a lopsided loss. Another quick strike by the visitors was wiped out later in the period by a Wolf Pack tally, but this time it would be the Checkers who went on a scoring tear. Starting with Jake Bean’s fourth goal in his last four games, the Checkers rattled off three straight markers to build a substantial 4-1 advantage through 40 minutes of play. The Wolf Pack pushed back with a goal of their own to kick off the third, but it was too little, too late and an empty netter from Aleksi Saarela – his second goal of the game – sent the Checkers into the break on a positive note. Full recap

Three Stars Of The Week

Saarela

3rd Star

Aleksi Saarela

2g, 1a
Carrick

2nd Star

Andrew Poturalski

1g, 3a
Bean

1st Star

Jake Bean

3g, 0a

Notables

POTTING POINTS

Andrew Poturalski continues to pace the Checkers and climb his way up the AHL’s scoring rankings. Through the first 46 games of the season, the forward has 46 points – 12 more than the next highest scoring Checker – and ranks third in the league, trailing Syracuse’s Carter Verhaeghe by two and scoring leader Daniel Carr from Chicago by seven.

Poturalski, in his third full pro season, has been a model of consistency for the Checkers this season, logging 26 points in his last 23 games while being held off the scoresheet in consecutive games just once over that stretch. He is also one of just three skaters to have appeared in each of Charlotte’s games this season, alongside Julien Gauthier and Roland McKeown.

Poturalski is nine points away from moving into the franchise’s top 10 single-season point list. The franchise record is 74 points, set by Zach Boychuk in 2013-14.

BEAN BREAKS OUT

Jake Bean has quietly been putting together a historically strong rookie campaign. Bean, who has 17 points in his last 21 games and four goals in his last four games, leads all Charlotte defensemen in scoring and has emerged as the top scoring rookie defenseman in the AHL.

Bean already has the ninth-best single-season point total by a defenseman in franchise history, with Bobby Sanguinetti’s 50-points effort in 2011-12 holding the record. Only one rookie blue liner has recorded more points than Bean has so far, as Trevor Carrick’s 32 points in 2014-15 stands as the record in that category.

Only three defensemen – and no rookies – in franchise history have scored more goals in a single season than Bean has through 45 games, with Mark Flood’s 13 in 2013-14 standing as the high mark.

POWER OUTAGE

Despite coming away with the win Saturday in Hartford, Charlotte’s power play continued to falter, going scoreless on five man advantages. The Checkers are now 0-for-14 over their last three games and have five power-play goals in their last 55 opportunities over the last 12 games, dropping them to 20th in the AHL.

The Checkers’ current three-game power-play drought is the third such stretch this season and the first since mid-December.

NED STAYS WINNING

With a 5-2 defeat of Hartford on Saturday, Alex Nedeljkovic improved to 21-5-2 on the season, giving him four more wins than the second-winningest netminder in the AHL this season. Nedeljkovic, who picked up his first NHL win with Carolina last week, is now 9-1-1 in his last 13 appearances for Charlotte and has each of the Checkers’ last five wins dating back to Jan. 6, with the other netminders posting a combined 0-3-1 record during that time.

Only four goalies in Checkers history have recorded more than 21 wins in a single season, including Nedeljkovic, who set the franchise record last year with 31 victories.

Ranks

  • Andrew Poturalski ranks third in the AHL in scoring (46), tied for 7th in assists (28) and tied for second in game-winning goals (5)
  • Alex Nedeljkovic leads the AHL in wins (21), ranks fourth in minutes (1719:11) and ranks fifth in saves (706)
  • Jake Bean leads all rookie defensemen, is tied for eighth among all rookies and ranks 10th among all defensemen in scoring (29), is tied for the lead among rookie defensemen and tied for fifth among all defensemen in goals (9) and is tied for second among rookie defensemen and tied for seventh among all rookies in assists (20)
  • Dan Renouf ranks second in the AHL in penalty minutes (96) and leads all blue liners and is tied for third in the AHL in major penalties (6)
  • Morgan Geekie ranks second in the AHL in shooting percentage (27.7)
  • Nicolas Roy is tied for second in the AHL in game-winning goals (5)
  • Trevor Carrick is tied for 10th among league defensemen in goals (7) and ranks second among league defensemen in game-winning goals (4)

INJURIES

  • Janne Kuokkanen - Missed two games starting 1/25
  • Spencer Smallman - Missed 33 games starting 11/11

SUSPENSIONS

  • Trevor Carrick - Missed two games from 1/25 to 1/26

Transactions

Incoming

  • Jan. 24: (D) Haydn Fleury - Assigned from Carolina (NHL)
  • Jan. 24: (G) Alex Nedeljkovic - Assigned from Carolina (NHL)

Outgoing

  • None

Coming Up

Friday, Feb. 1 at 7 p.m. - Checkers vs. Providence

HomeTrust Bank

Harry Potter Night

  • The first 1,000 fans to arrive will receive a wristband for one of the four Hogwarts houses and will compete for prizes throughout the night. Enjoy butterbeer (alcoholic and non-alcoholic options) and butterbeer cupcakes at select concession stands as well as themed content, games and performances. A special package including a discounted ticket and a Checkers hat is available now. Click to purchase.
  • School Supply Drive - donate at least 10 items to Classroom Central on the way in and receive a free ticket for a future game. Most needed items include No. 2 pencils, erasers, crayons, filler paper and colored pencils.
  • HomeTrust Bank Save for Savings - go to HomeTrust Bank's concourse table to open a checking account and receive a dollar for every save the Checkers make.

Saturday, Feb. 2 at 6 p.m. - Checkers vs. Providence

Novant Health

Pink in the Rink Presented by Novant Health

  • Players to wear specialty pink jerseys to be auctioned for charity immediately following the game.

    Scarf giveaway to the first 2,500 fans courtesy of Novant Health
  • Jr. CheckMates

By the Numbers

CATEGORY RECORD AHL RANK LAST WEEK
Power play 17.6% 20th 18th
Penalty kill 84.2% 5th 5th
Goals per game 3.41 t-6th t-10th
Shots per game 29.37 18th 18th
Goals allowed per game 2.87 7th t-4th
Shots allowed per game 27.22 4th 5th
Penalty minutes per game 14.28/td> 7th 7th


LEADERS

CATEGORY LEADER(S)
Points Andrew Poturalski (46), Aleksi Saarela (34), Janne Kuokkanen (31)
Goals Andrew Poturalski (18), Aleksi Saarela (15), Nicolas Roy, Morgan Geekie (13)
Assists Andrew Poturalski (28), Janne Kuokkanen, Jake Bean (20)
Power play goals Janne Kuokkanen (6), Nicolas Roy, Julien Gauthier, Morgan Geekie (4)
Shorthanded goals Saku Maenalanen (3), Patrick Brown, Nicolas Roy, Michal Cajkovsky (1)
Game-winning goals Andrew Poturalski, Nicolas Roy (5), Trevor Carrick, Aleksi Saarela (4)
Shots on goal Aleksi Saarela (119), Andrew Poturalski (112), Jake Bean (96)
Penalty minutes Dan Renouf (96), Trevor Carrick (62), Julien Gauthier (47)
Plus/minus Roland McKeown (+16), Martin Necas (+14), Nick Schilkey (+11)
Wins Alex Nedeljkovic (21)
Goals-against average Callum Booth (2.53)
Save percentage Alex Nedeljkovic (.903)