Checkers Drop Home Opener to Grand Rapids

The Checkers rode another stellar performance from goalie Drew MacIntyre, but were unable to cash in offensively and dropped their home opener 2-1 to the Grand Rapids Griffins.

MacIntyre saw over 40 shots for the second straight appearance and stood strong in net, but an early third period strike from Teemu Pulkkinen was enough to give the Griffins their second straight road win.

Taking the ice at Time Warner Cable Arena for the first time this season, the Checkers came out with energy, but it was Grand Rapids who found the scoreboard first, thanks to a quick wrister from Xavier Oullet on a rush. Charlotte answered just 23 seconds into the second, however, with Brody Sutter cleaning up the rebound off a Beau Schmitz shot and burying it into the vacated net. Neither team was able to break the deadlock until 46 seconds into the final frame, when Pulkkinen collected the puck at the circle and ripped a seeing-eye slap shot over the glove of MacIntyre and into the top corner. The Checkers weren’t able to muster up a tying goal, and the game ended at 2-1.

The team again struggled to put pucks on net, getting out-shot 43-19. Head coach Jeff Daniels knows that they can’t replace the offensive prowess provided by the likes of Zach Boychuk and Chris Terry, who have enjoyed a strong start to the season with the parent Carolina Hurricanes, with a single player.

“It’s got to be done by committee, and right now our forwards have to do a better job of protecting the puck, stronger plays with the puck and going to those tough areas,” said Daniels.

Both teams ran into penalty trouble tonight, combining for 17 minors. The Checkers penalty-killing unit was a bright spot for Daniels, holding the Griffins to just one goal on nine opportunities.

“Our PK was real good again tonight,” said Daniels. “I think if we cut down on some shots against and some penalties we might be a little fresher to play the other way, but right now we’re killing ourselves with too much time in our end killing penalties and soft plays.”

On the other end, the Checkers went 0-for-6 with the man-advantage. The Checkers are without many key pieces from last year’s potent power-play unit, and Daniels is looking for players to fill that void.

“We’ve got a totally different group so it’s a work in progress,” he said. “We’re trying to find some guys that can play the power play and handle those minutes. You lose a Chris Terry and Boychuk and a (Aaron) Palushaj, that’s a big part of our power play last year.”

The other highlight of the game was the play of MacIntyre, who followed Sunday’s 42-save performance with 41 saves on Friday. He pointed to one weakness he saw as a team, but notes that that should improve.

“We’re a fragile team,” said MacIntyre. “We just don’t have a lot of confidence. You can tell we’re jittery with the puck and whatnot in our own end. That’s going to come, but we’ve got to be better.” The Checkers are working with a young lineup that has seen its share of moves thus far this season, but neither MacIntyre nor Daniels are content with blaming that.

“I don’t like that excuse, I don’t like the youth excuse,” said MacIntyre. “There’s a lot of excuses and I don’t like any of them. We’ve just got to find a way to be better.”

“It’s been tough but it’s no excuse,” said Daniels. “You’ll see a lot of it throughout this season with guys going up, guys getting injuries and guys coming up from the east coast. If you get called upon to get in the lineup or get on the ice or over the boards, you’ve got to be ready to play.”

The Checkers will turn around and face this Grand Rapids team again tomorrow night, and Daniels has some key points to focus on going into the rematch.

“Stay out of the penalty box and strong plays,” said Daniels. “There are too many soft plays. We’re trying to make finesse plays and we’re not a finesse team. When we’re trying to make those plays you see us spending a lot of time in our own end.”

NOTES

Each of the Checkers’ last three games were decided by 2-1 scores … At the game’s conclusion, MacIntyre led the AHL with 112 saves in three games, an average of 37.3 per game … The Checkers were out-shot by a combined 142-77 margin in their first four games … Ben Holmstrom and Brendan Woods saw their two-game point streaks snapped … No Checkers player has scored multiple goals thus far … The Checkers have yet to lead at any point this season … Four players registered a team-high three shots on goal … The Checkers have killed 21 of 23 penalties this season (91.3 percent) … Forward Mike Aviani and defenseman Dennis Robertson were healthy extras, while forward Justin Shugg missed the game due to injury.