The Checkers are back in Rochester and looking to rebound from a tough midweek loss as the face the Amerks Friday night.
THE MATCHUP
- Record/Standings
- CLT - 33-19-3-3 (4th Atlantic)
- ROC - 35-17-3-3 (2nd North)
- Power Play / Penalty Kill
- CLT - 22.5% (3rd) / 87.1% (1st)
- ROC - 19.0% (13th) / 84.8% (t-5th)
- Offense / Defense
- CLT - 3.16 GF/Game (15th) / 2.62 GA/Game (t-4th)
- ROC - 3.43 GF/Game (5th) / 2.72 GA/Game (6th)
- Head-To-Head
- 2-1-0-0
THE STORYLINES
AGAINST THE AMERKS
The Checkers kicked off their current road trip in Rochester last week, beating the Amerks 4-3 behind a three-point effort from John Leonard and a stellar power-play performance. That bucked the trend of the two squads’ first two meetings this season, which both resulted in shutouts - one for each side.PUSH FOR THE PLAYOFFS
Even with Wednesday night’s setback, the Checkers still have a chance to punch their playoff ticket this weekend - if several things break their way. With a magic number of eight, the Checkers would need to win tonight and Saturday in Utica and they would need Hartford to lose in regulation tonight against Hershey and Saturday against Milwaukee.The top half of the Atlantic Division continues to be a staggeringly tight race. The Checkers check in at fourth place - one point behind Providence with a game in hand over the Bruins and two points behind the Penguins with an equal number of games played.
NEW GUYS DELIVER
Two of Charlotte’s most recent additions have been significant contributors as of late. With a goal in Wednesday’s loss, C.J. Smith has now recorded a point in five consecutive contests - the longest active such streak on the team and two shy of matching Trevor Carrick’s high-water mark for the season - and Jesse Puljujarvi is on a three-game point streak and has five points in his last five games.THE MILESTONES
- John Leonard is two shy of becoming fifth player in franchise history to score 30 goals in a season
- John Leonard and Rasmus Asplund are both one shy of setting single-season franchise records for shorthanded goals and shorthanded points
- Trevor Carrick is one shy of tying franchise single-season record for power-play goals by a defenseman (Mark Flood - 8 in 2013-14)
THE INFO
Both of this weekend's games - along with every game this season - is available via the new AHLTV on FloHockey! Click here to get a subscription.For the full list of broadcast options, click here!
