THE MATCHUP
The Checkers are wrapping up their road trip with a visit to Hartford. It stands as their first matchup against the Wolf Pack this season, with the two sides squaring off a staggering eight times over the final 30 games of the campaign as the jostle for positioning in a tight Atlantic Division race.THE STORYLINES
On The Skids
The Checkers are currently mired in their worst losing streak of the season, having ended up on the wrong side of each of their last five contests. It’s been an especially tough skid for Charlotte, which has been outscored 24-6 over that run.The longest losing streak in franchise history is seven games.
Searching For Offense
Goals have been hard to come by for Charlotte during this current slump. The Checkers have scored a single goal in each of their last four contests and recorded two in the game before that, giving them six total goals over the last five games.The Checkers are averaging 2.42 goals per game during January - a month that featured a three-game run in which they posted a three-game run of five goals, five goals and four goals. They now clock in at number 23 in the league’s goal-scoring rankings.
Charlotte will be looking to jumpstart the offense against a Hartford team that ranks in the AHL’s top 10 in terms of goals surrendered per game.
March To The Box
The Checkers have run into some penalty trouble as of late. Their opponent has had at least four power plays in each of the last five contests - including 13 in the last two games alone. Charlotte has allowed a power-play goal in four of the last five games, but are still successfully killing a big chunk of those shorthanded moments - in fact, the Checkers are boasting the fourth-ranked penalty kill in the AHL and are less than 2 percentage points off of Hershey’s AHL-best mark.Skoog Steps Up
Since returning from a stint in the ECHL, Wilmer Skoog has found his scoring touch and latched onto a spot in the lineup. The rookie forward has nine points over the last 10 games, and his five goals during the month of January are more than any other Checker.On The Brink
Two milestones are sitting on the horizon for the Checkers. Their next win will be the 500th in the franchise’s AHL history, while Zac Dalpe’s next goal will give him the franchise record.THE ONES TO WATCH
Charlotte
- Wilmer Skoog - 9 points in last 10 games
- Rasmus Asplund - 6 points in last 7 games
- Patrick Giles - 4 points in last 6 games
Hartford
- Brett Berard - 6 points in last 6 games
- Matt Rempe - 3 points in last 2 games
- Brennan Othmann - 5 points in last 5 games
