THE MATCHUP
The Checkers continue down the final stretch of the regular season and look to keep their hot streak alive as they visit the Bridgeport Islanders for a pair of weekend tilts.THE STORYLINES
Playoff Picture
The Atlantic Division race remains one of the tightest in the AHL, and the Checkers are right in the thick of it. They enter the weekend in third place (74 points), narrowly edging out the fourth-place Penguins (73) while separating themselves from the fifth-place Wolf Pack (69 in one fewer game played) and the sixth-place Phantoms (62 with two fewer games played). At the bottom of the Atlantic are Springfield (61) and Charlotte’s host for the weekend, Bridgeport (51). Ahead of them, the Checkers are still chasing the second-place Bruins and their 81 points - with a game in hand over Charlotte.The top six teams in the division will qualify for the Calder Cup Playoffs, but how the final seeding shakes out is important. The first two teams will earn a bye past the opening round of the postseason, while the third and fourth-place teams will own home-ice advantage over the fifth and sixth-place squads.
The Checkers’ magic number to officially clinch a playoff berth is eight - a mark that represents the number of points either collected by Charlotte or left on the table by the seventh-place club.
On A Roll
The Checkers enter the weekend as the hottest team in the Eastern Conference - holding an 8-2-0-0 record over the last 10 games and riding a three-game winning streak. In fact, since Feb. 9 Charlotte is 13-3-2-0.A good chunk of that success has come on the road, as the Checkers have won four straight away from home and eight of their last nine road contests.
Locked Down
The defensive side of things have propelled the Checkers lately, as they have allowed 20 total goals over the last 10 games - with six of those coming in a single 6-4 loss to Springfield.The play of Spencer Knight has had a big hand in those stingy numbers. The netminder is 9-1-0 since Feb. 10 with a 1.59 goals-against average and a .932 save percentage over that stretch. He is also riding a two-game shutout streak while posting three shutouts in his last four starts.
The Checkers have climbed to 11th in the AHL’s goals-against rankings, and they’ll look to keep their momentum rolling against an Islanders squad that ranks last in the league offensively.
THE ONES TO WATCH
Charlotte
- Mike Benning - 4 points in last 3 games
- Wilmer Skoog - 6 goals in last 6 games
- Mackie Samoskevich - 18 points in last 18 games
Bridgeport
- Julien Gauthier - 4 goals in last 5 games
- Ruslan Iskhakov - 4 points in last 5 games
- Brian Pinho - 2 points in last 3 games
