Weekly Report: An Undefeated Start

The Checkers kept their strong start rolling with another two wins against the Hershey Bears, bringing them to a perfect 4-0-0 record to kick off the season.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

Checkers 5, Bears 4

Checkers 3, Bears 2 (OT)

Three Stars Of The Week

QUICK HITS

STRONG START

With Saturday’s overtime victory, this Checkers squad became the second team in franchise history to win each of its first four games to start a season. The other instance, coming in 2018-19, saw the Checkers win a fifth straight contest before dropping the sixth game of the season.

GUZDA IMPRESSES EARLY

Mack Guzda has made two starts this season and shined in both, winning each contest and stopping 57 of the 60 shots he has faced to begin the season. Among all rookie netminders, Guzda ranks second in goals-against average (1.48) and third in save percentage (.950).

Guzda is the first goalie in franchise history to play his first two pro games in a Charlotte sweater and win both of them.

CONSISTENCY IS KEY

Two different skaters have recorded a point in each of Charlotte’s games so far - Chris Tierney (2g,2a) and Santtu Kinnunen (1g, 3a). Dating back to his last stint in this league in the 2014-15 and 2015-16 seasons, Tierney has found the scoresheet in each of his last eight AHL games - racking up 12 points along that stretch. Kinnunen is competing in his first season as a North American pro after spending the last four seasons in his home country of Finland’s top league.

POWERING UP

The Checkers have been lethal on the man advantage to start the season, tying for third in the league with a 33.3 percent success rate on the power play. Charlotte has registered a power-play goal in three of its four contests and has notched a pair of them in two of those games. Anton Levtchi and Riley Nash have been the catalysts for the unit thus far, as each skater currently sits at four power-play points - tying them for the league lead.

HOME-ICE ADVANTAGE

Bojangles Coliseum continues to be one of the toughest places to play in the AHL. Last season the Checkers were 22-9-5-0 at Bojangles Coliseum and ended the year on a 15-game point streak on home ice. With another four victories at the Coliseum to start this season, the Checkers have not lost a regular season home game in regulation since Feb. 11 of last season.

HIGHLIGHT OF THE WEEK

Logan Hutsko and Chris Tierney combined to keep the Checkers' unbeaten start alive with this overtime winner on Saturday!

??? pic.twitter.com/QpbQERifRX

— Charlotte Checkers (@CheckersHockey) October 23, 2022

RANKS

• Riley Nash is tied for second in the AHL in powerplay goals (2)
• Anton Levtchi is tied for second in the AHL in powerplay goals (2)
• Riley Nash is tied for the league lead in powerplay points (4)
• Anton Levtchi is tied for second in the AHL in powerplay points (4)
• Connor Bunnaman ranks fifth in the AHL in shots on goal (19)
• Santtu Kinnunen is tied for sixth among AHL defensemen in scoring (4)
• Mack Guzda ranks fourth in the AHL and second among rookies in goals-against average (1.48)
• Mack Guzda ranks fifth in the AHL and third among rookies in save percentage (.950)

INJURIES

• N/A

Transactions

Incoming

• 10/20 - Zac Dalpe - Assigned from Florida (NHL)

Outgoing

• 10/19 - Lucas Carlsson - Recalled by Florida (NHL)

By the Numbers

CATEGORY	RECORD	AHL RANK
Power play	33.3%	t-3rd
Penalty kill	82.4%	t-9th
Goals per game	3.75	t-9th
Shots per game	33.25	t-5th
Goals allowed per game	2.50	t-5th
Shots allowed per game	24.75	4th
Penalty minutes per game	9.00	t-25th

LEADERS

CATEGORY	LEADER(S)
Points	Riley Nash, Anton Levtchi (6), Three tied (4)
Goals	Anton Levtchi (3), Four tied (2)
Assists	Riley Nash (4), Kinnunen, Levtchi (3)
Power play goals	Anton Levtchi, Riley Nash (2), Connor Bunnaman (1)
Shorthanded goals	N/A
Game-winning goals	Anton Levtchi, Riley Nash, Zac Dalpe, Chris Tierney (1)
Shots on goal	Connor Bunnaman (19), Aleksi Heponiemi, Chris Tierney (11)
Penalty minutes	Santtu Kinnunen, Anthony Bitetto, Grigori Denisenko (4)
Plus/minus	Zac Dalpe, Aleksi Heponiemi (+3), Dennis Cesana, Gerry Mayhew (+2)
Wins	Mack Guzda (2)
Goals-against average	Mack Guzda (1.48)
Save percentage	Mack Guzda (.950)