Weekly Report: Feb. 26, 2019

The Checkers returned home and got revenge on the team that eliminated them from last year’s playoffs with a pair of big wins over the Lehigh Valley Phantoms.

Week in Review

Checkers 2, Lehigh Valley 1

Draped in Miracle On Ice-themed sweaters, the Checkers took down the Phantoms in a tight 2-1 contest. The visitors opened the scoring with a shorthanded tally late in the first but that would prove to be their only conversion on the night as Alex Nedeljkovic finished with 25 saves on 26 shots. Nick Schilkey kept his scoring roll going to tie the game before the first buzzer, then Haydn Fleury threaded a wrister through traffic for what would stand as the game-winning goal midway through the second to hand Charlotte the win. Full recap

Checkers 5, Lehigh Valley 2

The Checkers came away with a win the next night in a much more decisive fashion. Heading into the middle frame tied at one, Morgan Geekie and Andrew Poturalski each lit the lamp followed by a Julien Gauthier tally early on in the third to blow the game wide open. The Phantoms would break through in the final frame but couldn’t muster a comeback from there, and Gauthier’s second of the night in the waning moments of regulation sealed the 5-2 victory for Charlotte. Full recap

Three Stars Of The Week

Notables

BACK ON TRACK

After going through their worst stretch of the season so far – a 10-game stretch that saw them log a 2-4-4 record – the Checkers pulled off a big weekend sweep over the team that eliminated them from last year’s playoffs. With that pair of victories the Checkers have now won four of their last five games and will finish February with a winning record, making it the fifth consecutive month this season they’ve hit that milestone.

BRICK WALL NED

Alex Nedeljkovic was between the pipes for both games against Lehigh Valley, stopping 53 of the 56 shots he faced to come away with a pair of victories. The third-year pro, who led the league in wins a season ago, has now run his win total to 26 and leads every other goalie in the AHL by at least six. Friday’s win pushed Nedeljkovic past John Muse to become the franchise’s all-time leader, and he currently sits five shy of the franchise record for wins in a single season – a mark that he himself set a season ago.

Nedeljkovic has been in net for each of the Checkers’ last 10 wins and has allowed two or fewer goals in each of his last nine starts.

DIDS IS DIALED IN

Josiah Didier has been a key piece on the blue line since returning from injury and has recently ramped up his offensive production as well. The defenseman has points in three straight games for just the second time in his career and is one shy of his longest, set in 2016-17 with St. John’s. The 25-year-old is two-shy of matching his career-high point total from a season ago despite appearing in only 29 games thus far.

GAUTHIER'S GOALS

With his second two-goal effort of the season on Saturday, Julien Gauthier has now eclipsed his goal total from his rookie campaign a year ago in eight fewer games. The forward, who currently has four goals and five points in his last five contests, has now pulled into a tie with Aleksi Saarela for the most tallies on the team this season.

Ranks

• Andrew Poturalski is tied for sixth in the AHL in scoring (51), tied for 9th in assists (32) and tied for sixth in game-winning goals (6)
• Dan Renouf is tied for fourth in the AHL in penalty minutes (105)
• Alex Nedeljkovic leads the league in wins (26), ranks third in minutes (2,202), ranks fifth in saves (912) and ranks sixth in goals-against average (2.42)
• Jake Bean ranks second in points (33), tied for first in goals (1) and ranks third in assists among rookie defensemen, is tied for sixth among AHL defensemen in goals, and is tied for eighth among all rookies in assists
• Morgan Geekie is tied for seventh among AHL rookies in goals (15) and ranks third in shooting percentage (22.7)
• Martin Necas is tied for 10th among league rookies in assists
• Trevor Carrick is tied for second among league defensemen in game-winning goals (4)

INJURIES

• Aleksi Saarela - Missed two games starting 2/22
• Roland McKeown - Missed three game starting 2/17
• Spencer Smallman - Missed 44 games starting 11/11

Transactions

Incoming

• Feb. 25: (RW) Tomas Jurco - Acquired from Springfield (AHL)

Outgoing

• Feb. 25: (RW) Cliff Pu - Traded to Florida (NHL)

Coming Up

By the Numbers

CATEGORY	RECORD	AHL RANK	LAST WEEK
Power play	17.2%	t-21st	19th
Penalty kill	84.5%	3rd	4th
Goals per game	3.19	16th	t-15th
Shots per game	30.02	t-16th	16th
Goals allowed per game	2.79	t-4th	8th
Shots allowed per game	27.53	3rd	3rd
Penalty minutes per game	13.47	9th	9th

LEADERS

CATEGORY	LEADER(S)
Points	Andrew Poturalski (51), Aleksi Saarela (37), Janne Kuokkanen (36)
Goals	Andrew Poturalski (19), Aleksi Saarela, Julien Gauthier (17)
Assists	Andrew Poturalski (32), Janne Kuokkanen (25), Jake Bean (23)
Power play goals	Janne Kuokkanen (6), Julien Gauthier (5), Three tied (4)
Shorthanded goals	Saku Maenalanen (3), Patrick Brown, Nicolas Roy, Michal Cajkovsky (1)
Game-winning goals	Andrew Poturalski (6), Nicolas Roy (5), Trevor Carrick, Aleksi Saarela (4)
Shots on goal	Aleksi Saarela (141), Andrew Poturalski (132), Jake Bean, Trevor Carrick (125)
Penalty minutes	Dan Renouf (105), Trevor Carrick (70), Julien Gauthier (53)
Plus/minus	Roland McKeown, Morgan Geekie (+17), Nick Schilkey, Martin Necas (+11)
Wins	Alex Nedeljkovic (26)
Goals-against average	Alex Nedeljkovic (2.42)
Save percentage	Alex Nedeljkovic (.911)