Hometown Weekly Report: October 23

The Checkers had a busy weekend with three games in three nights, but managed to come away with four points to maintain their hot start. They’ll now prepare for the Utica Comets first ever visit to Charlotte.

Week in Review

Checkers 5, Rochester 2

In their first ever meeting with the Rochester Americans, the Checkers shook off a rough start and nabbed a comeback victory. After falling behind 2-0 through the first 20 minutes of play, the Checkers scored early and often in the middle frame, racking up four unanswered goals in the period to gain the lead. Andrew Poturalski capped the rally with a strike in the first minute of the third period and Charlotte rolled its way to a 5-2 win. Full recap

Toronto 4, Checkers 0

Heading to Toronto for the middle leg of their three-in-three weekend, the Checkers couldn’t keep their offense rolling. The evenly fought game didn’t see its first goal until late in the second when the Marlies notched a pair of strikes to build a two-goal lead heading into the final frame. The Checkers attempted to spark a rally in the third, but two more goals for the home squad less than a minute apart sealed their fate as Charlotte fell by a score of 4-0. Between the pipes for Toronto was Garret Sparks, who denied all 24 shots that the Checkers threw his way. Full recap

Checkers 6, Toronto 4

The next night’s rematch saw Charlotte’s offense bounce back strong as the Checkers came out on top in a wild high-scoring affair. The Checkers struck first for the first time this season, building a 2-0 lead through 20 minutes of play, but the Marlies would respond back with the next three tallies, stealing the lead early in the third. The Checkers wasted no time firing back, however, as Jake Chelios lit the lamp on a point blast 11 seconds later to kickstart Charlotte’s rally. The visitors capitalized on consecutive power plays to build their lead back, then Lucas Wallmark hit a long-distance empty netter to squash Toronto’s comeback bid and clinch the Checkers a 6-4 win. Full recap

Three Stars Of The Week

Notables

THREE'S COMPANY

The Checkers knocked out their first of four different “three games in three days” scenarios this season over the weekend, going 2-1-0 and moving their all-time record to 54-36-12. Charlotte continues to play its best in the opening contest, moving to 20-10-4 all time, while logging a 17-12-5 record in the middle games and 17-14-3 in finales. The team has picked up a perfect six points in a three-in-three three times over the franchise’s AHL history, with the most recent instance coming in 2013.

KING LUCAS

Lucas Wallmark has had a red hot start to this season, and this weekend kept things rolling for the forward. Wallmark has only been held off the scoresheet in one game this season and has multiple point in four of seven. The Swede currently sits in a tie atop the AHL scoring leaderboard with 11 points, knotted with Chicago Wolves forward Teemu Pulkkinen. Those 11 points are the most by any Checker through the first seven games of the season, eclipsing Jon Matsumoto’s 10 in 2011-12.

NED RACKS UP THE WINS

By defeating the Marlies on Sunday, Alex Nedeljkovic improved his record to a perfect 4-0-0 to start the season. As a rookie last season, Nedeljkovic didn’t notch his fourth win of the season until Jan. 13 and finished the year with an 8-14-0 record.

RAW POWER

While their percentage falls near the middle of the league at 12th overall, the Checkers have been producing with the man advantage so far this season. They have notched a power-play goal in each of their first four games, a streak that already tops any from a season ago. Charlotte also recorded its first game with multiple power-play goals on Saturday, a feat that the team accomplished six times last season.

OFFENSE ROLLING

The Checkers’ offense has been working at an impressive rate this season. The team has logged 27 goals through the first seven games, the third-highest total in the AHL and have hit the five-goal mark in four of seven contests. Third periods have been the most productive for Charlotte this season, as it has racked up 12 goals in those frames alone, tied for the most goals in any period by a team this season. In fact, no other team in the AHL has a higher goal total in two combined periods than the Checkers’ 22 in second and third periods (the Laval Rocket also have 22 goals in their first and second periods).

BIG Z

While Wallmark is taking most of the spotlight, Valentin Zykov is off to a similarly strong start this season. The forward has lit the lamp in four of the Checkers’ seven games so far, tying for fifth in the AHL with five tallies. Zykov is also coming off the most productive game of his young career on Sunday, racking up a career high four points (2g, 2a). The Russian’s four-point game is the first by a Checker since Andrew Miller piled up four helpers on Feb. 25 of last season.

Ranks

• Lucas Wallmark is tied for the league lead in scoring and tied for second in assists
• Valentin Zykov is tied for 10th in the AHL in scoring, tied for fourth in goals and tied for second in power-play goals
• Alex Nedeljkovic is tied for the league lead in wins
• Warren Foegele is tied for fourth in the AHL in goals, leads the league in shorthanded goals and is tied for the league lead in shorthanded points
• Warren Foegele is tied fourth among AHL rookies in scoring, tied for third in goals and tied for the lead in game-winning goals
• Jake Chelios is tied for fifth among AHL defensemen in scoring

INJURIES

• Brenden Kichton missed 7 games starting Oct. 6
• Aleksi Saarela missed 3 games starting Oct. 20
• Julien Gauthier missed 3 games starting Oct. 20

Transactions

Incoming

• October 18: (D) Trevor Carrick assigned to Charlotte (AHL)

Outgoing

• None

Coming Up

By the Numbers

CATEGORY	RECORD	AHL RANK	LAST WEEK
Power play	19.4%	13th	12th
Penalty kill	85.0%	13th	13th
Goals per game	3.86	8th	t-8th
Shots per game	28.57	19th	t-23rd
Goals allowed per game	3.29	18th	14th
Shots allowed per game	30.00	18th	t-15th
Penalty minutes per game	12.71	9th	4th

CATEGORY	LEADER(S)
Points	Lucas Wallmark (11), Valentin Zykov (8), Andrew Miller (7)
Goals	Warren Foegele, Valentin Zykov (5), Lucas Wallmark (3)
Assists	Lucas Wallmark (8), Andrew Miller (6), Jake Chelios, Sergey Tolchinsky (4)
Power play goals	Valentin Zykov (3), Nick Schilkey (2), Andrew Miller, Phil Di Giuseppe (1)
Shorthanded goals	Warren Foegele (2)
Game-winning goals	Warren Foegele (2), Three tied (1)
Shots on goal	Lucas Wallmark (18), Warren Foegele (17), Phil Di Giuseppe, Trevor Carrick (16)
Penalty minutes	Philip Samuelsson (11), Trevor Carrick, Dennis Robertson (10)
Plus/minus	Philip Samuelsson, Patrick Brown, Trevor Carrick (+5)
Wins	Alex Nedeljkovic (4)
Goals-against average	Alex Nedeljkovic (3.04)
Save percentage	Jeremy Smith (.898)