Hometown Weekly Report: March 20

The Checkers picked up two of their biggest wins of the season over the weekend and set themselves up for a critical showdown against Iowa this week.

Week in Review

Checkers 5, Ontario 3

Welcoming the Ontario Reign to town for the first and last time this season, the Checkers weathered a comeback attempt and ended up with two points in the standings. After each team broke through in the final minute of the first period, the Checkers nabbed a pair of goals from Connor Brickley and Brendan Woods in the middle frame to build up a two-goal lead. The Reign would erase that advantage, however, with former Checker T.J. Hensick evening the score with a power-play tally five minutes into the third. Brickley would come through once again, though, burying a chance all alone out front to regain Charlotte’s lead, followed by Lucas Wallmark icing the contest with an empty netter in the waning moments of regulation. Full recap

Checkers 3, Ontario 2 (OT)

The next night’s rematch was a similarly close affair. The Checkers again built up a two goal lead through 40 minutes of play only to see the Reign storm back and tie things with a power-play goal in the final four minutes to force overtime. The Checkers wasted no time in the extra frame, however, with Connor Brickley popping in the rebound off of an Andrew Poturalski shot just 31 seconds in to earn Charlotte its fourth consecutive victory and a weekend sweep of Ontario. Full recap

Three Stars Of The Week

Notables

PLAYOFF PICTURE

This past weekend’s sweep over the Ontario Reign proved to be a critical piece in the Checkers’ push for the playoffs. Winners of seven of their last 10 games, the Checkers now trail the Iowa Wild by four points for the final playoff spot. They can pull even this week when they host the Wild for a pair of games at Bojangles’ Coliseum on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Chasing the Checkers are the defending Calder Cup champion Cleveland Monsters, who trail Charlotte by one point, though they have played one more game.

GOING STREAKING

Charlotte’s win last night was its fourth in a row, marking the fifth time the team has put together a streak of three or more wins this season – four of which have come since the calendar turned to 2017. Their only streak longer than three games was a six-game run from Oct. 28-Nov. 11.

The current run is the second-longest by the team this season, trailing only a six-game winning streak from Oct. 28-Nov. 11.

HOME COOKING

By beating the Reign on Saturday, the Checkers picked up their 20th home win of the season, marking the highest total since their inaugural 2010-11 campaign when they earned 22 home wins during the 80-game season. Charlotte is one of 10 teams in the AHL with at least 20 wins at home, one of five in the Western Conference, and the team’s .683 winning percentage on home ice is the fifth-best in the conference.

CLUTCH CONNOR

Connor Brickley’s offensive tear continues to roll on, as he is now currently riding a four-game goal streak, the longest by a Checker this season. In addition to the five goals he’s piled up during that streak, the forward has nine points in his last nine games and 13 of his 20 points this season have come exclusively during the months of February and March. Brickley has also shown a knack for showing up in clutch situations. He leads the team with five game-winning goals this season and has the game winner in each of the Checkers last three games.

FRESHMAN PHENOM

The Checkers’ two top weapons this season have been the rookie duo of Andrew Poturalski and Lucas Wallmark, and this weekend was another shining example of that.

With five points in his last three games, Poturalski’s season total now sits at 47, putting him second among all AHL rookies. The first-year pro has recorded at least one point in 20 of his last 26 games and has also pushed his way past Valentin Zykov for second on the Checkers in goals. Having already clinched the second-highest rookie point total in franchise history, Poturalski is chasing Zac Dalpe for the all-time mark. To catch Dalpe’s 2010-11 total, he will need 10 points over the last 15 games.

As for Wallmark, the rookie didn’t miss a beat returning to Charlotte after making his NHL debut recently. The Swede has six points in his last four games, pulling himself into a tie for eighth among AHL rookies. But Wallmark’s calling card this season has been his goal scoring, as his 22 goals put him second among all league rookies. Friday’s empty-net tally moved Wallmark within one of tying Zac Dalpe’s franchise record for most goals by a rookie in a single season.

MILLER TIME

Andrew Miller’s offensive resurgence continued to roll on over the weekend, as his two-point effort on Saturday was his fourth in the last 11 games. The forward has erupted for 18 points in his last 17 games since returning from an injury that sidelined him for over a month.

MCCOLLUM STEPS IN

After turning in a 49-save debut with the Checkers, Tom McCollum has taken the reins in goal for Charlotte. The netminder has started each of the last three games for the Checkers and picked up a win in all of them. Including his one game with Stockton, McCollum is 4-0-0 this season with a 1.91 goals-against average and a .942 save percentage.

PLUS PERFORMERS

Haydn Fleury has become a steadying force on the blue line this season. The rookie defenseman leads the team with a plus-12 rating, which would be the third-highest by a Charlotte rookie if the season were to end today. The franchise record for plus/minus in a single season for both rookies and defenseman is plus-16.

Joining Fleury atop the team’s plus/minus rankings are Jake Chelios and Lucas Wallmark, who are plus-19 and plus-14 in 30 games since Jan. 1, respectively.

Ranks

• Michael Leighton ranks third in the AHL in goals-against average (2.17)
• Andrew Poturalski ranks second among league rookies in scoring (47) and ranks fourth in assists (31)
• Lucas Wallmark ranks second among league rookies in goals (22), tied for 16th in the AHL overall, tied for eighth among rookies in points (41) and tied for the rookie lead in shorthanded points (3)

INJURIES

• Kyle Hagel missed 17 games starting Feb. 3
• Michael Leighton missed 12 games starting Feb. 18
• Bryan Bickell missed three games starting Mar. 10
• Erik Karlsson missed two games starting Mar. 17
• Danny Kristo missed two games starting Mar. 17
• Clark Bishop missed one games starting Mar. 18

Transactions

Incoming

• March 15: (C) Lucas Wallmark assigned to Charlotte (AHL)
• March 15: (C) Mitchell Heard recalled by Charlotte (AHL)

Outgoing

• None

Coming Up

By the Numbers

CATEGORY	RECORD	AHL RANK	LAST WEEK
Power play	10.4%	30th	30th
Penalty kill	80.1%	22nd	20th
Goals per game	2.72	t-18th	t-20th
Shots per game	30.87	t-10th	11th
Goals allowed per game	2.87	17th	t-17th
Shots allowed per game	29.28	11th	13th
Penalty minutes per game	10.80	3rd	3rd

CATEGORY	LEADER(S)
Points	Andrew Poturalski (47), Lucas Wallmark (41), Valentin Zykov (30)
Goals	Lucas Wallmark (22), Andrew Poturalski (16), Valentin Zykov (15)
Assists	Andrew Poturalski (31), Jake Chelios (21), Andrew Miller (20)
Power play goals	Valentin Zykov, Andrew Poturalski (4)
Shorthanded goals	Lucas Wallmark (2)
Game-winning goals	Connor Brickley (5)
Shots on goal	Lucas Wallmark, Andrew Poturalski (131), Jake Chelios (122)
Penalty minutes	Connor Brickley (55), Mitchell Heard (53), Kyle Hagel (48)
Plus/minus	Haydn Fleury (+12), Lucas Wallmark (+9), Jake Chelios (+8)
Wins	Michael Leighton (11)
Goals-against average	Michael Leighton (2.17)
Save percentage	Michael Leighton (.921)