Weekly Report: Oct 22, 2018

After a perfect start on the road, the Checkers opened up the home portion of their schedule with a split series against the Hershey Bears.

Week in Review

Checkers 4, Hershey 3 (SO)

Taking the Bojangles’ Coliseum ice for the first time this season, the Checkers locked into a back-and-forth battle with the Bears. Nicolas Roy opened the scoring by tapping home a rebound early on in the first, then the two sides proceeded to trade goals for the remainder of regulation. The Bears were able to convert on three of their seven man advantages throughout the night, including a power-play strike midway through the third that evened the score and pushed the game to overtime. After a scoreless extra period, the Checkers tapped a pair of rookies for the shootout, with Morgan Geekie and Martin Necas both pulling off slick moves to score. On the other side, Alex Nedeljkovic denied both attempts by Hershey to secure Charlotte a 4-3 win and keep the undefeated streak rolling. Full recap

Bears 2, Checkers 0

The next night’s rematch was similarly bogged down with penalties and the Checkers’ offense could never quite find its rhythm. Both teams were handed eight power plays on the night but only one converted, with Liam O’Brien giving Hershey an early lead. The Bears would tack on one more goal in the second and that would be more than enough. Vitek Vanecek stopped all 25 shots he was faced with in the Hershey net as the Bears handed the Checkers their first loss of the season. Full recap

Three Stars Of The Week

Notables

OWNING OCTOBER

Even with their first loss of the year this past weekend, the Checkers have enjoyed a historically strong start to the season, including becoming the first team in franchise history to win each of their first five games.

The Checkers have never won more than six games during the month of October, hitting that mark four times in eight AHL seasons. The year’s team is guaranteed to finish the month with a record over .500 for the second consecutive season and the third time in the last four years. Their best opening month in terms of points percentage came in 2012-13 when the Checkers roared out to a 6-2-1 record in October.

SHUT IT DOWN

The Checkers have established themselves as the stingiest defense in the AHL thus far this season, surrendering just 2.17 goals-per-game on average, the best mark in the league. They have been especially frustrating for opposing offenses late in games, allowing just three goals in the third period this season.

NED'S ON A ROLL

After winning each of his first five appearances for the Checkers this season, Alex Nedeljkovic was finally saddled with a loss on Saturday, snapping a 10-game points streak that dated back to last season. Even so the netminder remains in first place across the AHL with his five wins this season, having played more minutes than any other goalie in the league.

SHOOTOUT SUCCESS

The Checkers took part in their first shootout of the young season on Friday and picked up a win for the first time since March 25, 2017. The team only saw three games last season go to a shootout and wound up on the wrong side each time.

Both Morgan Geekie and Martin Necas lit the lamp on their shootout attempts – the first of their North American pro careers – and gave Charlotte its first shootout with more than one conversion since April 12, 2017.

POTTING POINTS

Andrew Poturalski continues to have the hot hand for Charlotte. The third- year forward found the scoresheet for each of the team’s first five games until his streak was finally snapped in Saturday’s loss.

Still, Poturalski leads the team with nine points through the first six games, a total that puts him in a tie for seventh across the league as well.

Ranks

• Andrew Poturalski is tied for seventh in the league in points (9) and tied for fourth in assists (7)
• Alex Nedeljkovic leads the league in wins (5) and minutes played (359:15), is tied for the league lead in shootout percentage (100), tied for third in saves and ranks ninth in goals-against average (2.17)
• Josiah Didier ranks fifth among league defensemen in penalty minutes (22)

INJURIES

• Josiah Didier missed 4 games starting 10/5
• Spencer Smallman missed 1 game starting 10/13

Transactions

Incoming

• Oct. 22: (G) Scott Darling - Assigned from Carolina (NHL)
• Oct. 17: (D) Haydn Fleury - Assigned from Carolina (NHL)
• Oct. 17: (C) Martin Necas - Assigned from Carolina (NHL)

Outgoing

• Oct. 19: (D) Michael Fora - Assigned to Florida (ECHL)
• Oct. 17: (C) Clark Bishop - Recalled by Carolina (NHL)

Coming Up

By the Numbers

CATEGORY	RECORD	AHL RANK	LAST WEEK
Power play	22.6%	t-12th	1st
Penalty kill	82.4%	12th	t-10th
Goals per game	3.67	11th	t-3rd
Shots per game	32.17	t-9th	4th
Goals allowed per game	2.17	1st	t-3rd
Shots allowed per game	26.17	5th	t-15th
Penalty minutes per game	19.33	2nd	t-10th

LEADERS

CATEGORY	LEADER(S)
Points	Andrew Poturalski (9), Nicolas Roy, Janne Kuokkanen (7)
Goals	Nicolas Roy (5), Janne Kuokkanen (4), Four tied (2)
Assists	Andrew Poturalski (7), Trevor Carrick (4), Spencer Smallman, Janne Kuokkanen (3)
Power play goals	Janne Kuokkanen (3), Nicolas Roy (2), Andrew Poturalski, Clark Bishop (1)
Shorthanded goals	Nicolas Roy, Saku Maenalanen, Patrick Brown (1)
Game-winning goals	Nicolas Roy (2), Janne Kuokkanen, Dennis Robertson (1)
Shots on goal	Nicolas Roy (20), Julien Gauthier (17), Jake Bean (16)
Penalty minutes	Josiah Didier (22), Trevor Carrick, Roland McKeown, Andrew Poturalski (10)
Plus/minus	Roland McKeown, Nicolas Roy (+6), Michal Cajkovsky (+4)
Wins	Alex Nedeljkovic (5)
Goals-against average	Alex Nedeljkovic (2.17)
Save percentage	Alex Nedeljkovic (.917)