Hometown Weekly Report: April 2, 2018

The Checkers snagged three of a possible four points on the road over the weekend as they continue to hold onto an Eastern Conference playoff spot.

Week in Review

Rochester 4, Checkers 3 (OT)

Charlotte’s final trip to Rochester proved to be a back-and-forth affair. Trevor Carrick opened the scoring with the sole goal of the first period, but Alex Nylander answered early in the middle frame for the Amerks. A snipe from Julien Gauthier later in the period gave the Checkers a one-goal advantage heading into the second intermission. The home squad would draw things even inside the first minute of third, but Greg McKegg pushed the Checkers to their third different lead of the night. It wouldn’t last, however, as the Amerks tied the contest in the waning minutes of regulation to force things to overtime. The extra frame didn’t last long, however, as Colin Blackwell collected a stretch pass and converted on a breakaway just 12 seconds in to clinch the two points for Rochester. Full recap

Checkers 4, Syracuse 1

The next night’s contest in Syracuse went smoother for the visitors. Trevor Carrick again opened the scoring in the first, while Greg McKegg finished off a slick passing play to double the advantage through 40 minutes of play. The red-hot McKegg found the back of the net again in the third, and despite finally breaking through on the scoresheet the Crunch couldn’t muster a comeback, with Aleksi Saarela’s empty netter slamming the door and securing the Checkers’ 4-1 victory. Full recap

Three Stars Of The Week

Notables

PLAYOFF PICTURE

The Checkers came away with three out of a possible four points over the weekend, helping them solidify their place in the Atlantic Division standings. Bridgeport, the team chasing Charlotte, split their two-game set over the weekend to fall eight points behind the Checkers, though the Sound Tigers have one fewer game played than Charlotte.

With a 7-2-1-0 mark in their last 10 games, the hard-charging Checkers have their eyes on the spots ahead of them in the standings. The third-place Bruins sit just three points ahead, with the second-place Penguins only one-point ahead of that, though both clubs have one game in hand over the Checkers.

All four teams are in action four times this week. The Sound Tigers, who the AHL has pegged for the hardest remaining strength of schedule of the group, hosts Providence twice and has a home-and-home series with the Penguins, while the Checkers welcome Lehigh Valley and Hershey to Bojangles’ Coliseum for a two-game set each. The Bruins have two road games in Bridgeport to go along with home contests against Lehigh Valley and Hartford, while the Penguins host Hershey and Binghamton to go along with their tilts against Bridgeport.

GOOD TRADE

The acquisition of Greg McKegg at the NHL trade deadline has proven to be huge for the Checkers. With four points over the weekend, the sixth-year pro now has 17 points (8g, 9a) in 13 games for Charlotte and has been held off the scoresheet just once. McKegg’s current nine-game point streak is the longest by a Checker this season, the longest since Ryan Murphy’s franchise-record 12-game run in 2013-14, as well the longest active streak in the AHL.

SAARELA SCORES

With four goals and seven points in his last four contests, Aleksi Saarela has pushed his way into the conversation for the league’s top rookie. The 21-year-old’s 24 goals rank third among all AHL rookies, trailing leader Daniel Sprong by just three, and stand as the second-most by a rookie in Charlotte franchise history, tied with Lucas Wallmark’s 2016-17 mark and trailing current record-holder Warren Foegele by two.

ON THE PLUS SIDE

Philip Samuelsson continues to put together a strong season on the blue line for Charlotte. The seventh-year pro leads the league with a +39 rating, which is more than double the franchise’s current single-season record of +16, most recently accomplished by Haydn Fleury last season. Samuelsson has been a plus player in each of the last 12 contests and has finished a game as a minus just 13 times all year. The blue liner is also one of two players to appear in all of Charlotte’s games this season, alongside Andrew Poturalski. Should they finish the year with 76 games played, Poturalski would be the eighth and ninth players in franchise history to play in every game during a season.

Ranks

• Valentin Zykov leads the league in goals (32) and power-play goals (16), is tied for third in power-play points (29) and ranks second in shooting percentage (29.1)
• Warren Foegele ranks second among league rookies in goals (26) and is tied for seventh among rookies in scoring (43), is tied for second in the AHL in shorthanded goals (4) and points (6), is tied for the league lead in game-winning goals (8), ranks fifth among rookies in shooting percentage (17.7) and is tied for fourth among rookies in plus-minus (+19)
• Philip Samuelsson leads the AHL in plus-minus (+39)
• Roland McKeown is tied for second in the AHL in plus-minus (+35)
• Alex Nedeljkovic leads the AHL in wins (31), ranks second in minutes played (2726) and is tied for third in shutouts (5)
• Aleksi Saarela ranks third among AHL rookies in goals (24), ranks second in power-play goals (10) and is tied for 12th in scoring (39)
• Trevor Carrick is tied for sixth among league blue liners in scoring (38) and tied for eighth in assists (29), ranks third among defensemen in power-play assists (19) and fifth in power-play points (21)

INJURIES

• Andrew Miller missed 17 games starting 2/18
• Jake Chelios missed 15 games starting 2/24
• Lucas Wallmark missed one game on 3/31
• Alex Nedeljkovic missed one game on 3/31
• Clark Bishop missed one game on 3/31

Transactions

Incoming

• March 28: (LW) Warren Foegele assigned from Carolina)

Outgoing

• April 1: (G) Bobby Goepfert released from PTO
• April 1: (D) Roland McKeown recalled by Carolina (NHL)
• March 29: (D) Zack Kamrass released from PTO

Coming Up

By the Numbers

CATEGORY	RECORD	AHL RANK	LAST WEEK
Power play	20.1%	4th	4th
Penalty kill	80.7%	25th	25th
Goals per game	3.34	3rd	3rd
Shots per game	29.63	20th	19th
Goals allowed per game	2.89	t-13th	t-14th
Shots allowed per game	27.06/td>	4th	4th
Penalty minutes per game	11.87	8th	8th

LEADERS

CATEGORY	LEADER(S)
Points	Valentin Zykov (52), Andrew Miller, Lucas Wallmark (51)
Goals	Valentin Zykov (32), Warren Foegele (26), Aleksi Saarela (24)
Assists	Andrew Miller (36), Lucas Wallmark (35), Trevor Carrick (29)
Power play goals	Valentin Zykov (16), Aleksi Saarela (10), Andrew Poturalski (7)
Shorthanded goals	Warren Foegele (4), Nicolas Roy, Clark Bishop (2)
Game-winning goals	Warren Foegele (8), Valentin Zykov, Andrew Poturalski (7)
Shots on goal	Warren Foegele (147), Trevor Carrick (143), Aleksi Saarela (142)
Penalty minutes	Trevor Carrick (83), Josiah Didier (79), Zack Stortini (62)
Plus/minus	Philip Samuelsson (+39), Roland McKeown (+35), Warren Foegele (+19)
Wins	Alex Nedeljkovic (31)
Goals-against average	Alex Nedeljkovic (2.55)
Save percentage	Alex Nedeljkovic (.903)