Weekly Report: Mar. 4, 2019

The Checkers pulled off another weekend sweep, emphatically defeating the Binghamton Devils on back-to-back nights to continue their reign atop the standings.

Week in Review

Checkers 4, Binghamton 2

The Checkers took care of business in Binghamton’s first visit to the Coliseum this season dispatching the Devils 4-2. Despite giving up a pair of shorthanded goals that made it a one-goal contest in the back half of the third period, the Checkers weathered the Devils’ push, with Alex Nedeljkovic’s 23 saves and Aleksi Saarela’s dagger of an empty netter sealing the deal. Full recap

Checkers 8, Binghamton 1

The Checkers appeared to learn their lesson from the night before when they hit the ice for Saturday’s rematch, never letting off the gas en route to a lopsided 8-1 blowout win. After Binghamton knotted the game at one midway through the first period, the Checkers rattled off seven unanswered strikes to blow the game wide open. Six different skaters lit the lamp for Charlotte, including Andrew Poturalski, who finished with a game-best four points, and Tomas Jurco, who notched his first two markers for his new squad, while Martin Necas exploded for a trio of helpers. In Checkers debut Dustin Tokarski turned aside 17 of the 18 shots he faced to pick up the victory. Full recap

Three Stars Of The Week

Notables

RIGHTING THE SHIP

After a little bump in the road that saw them pick up just two regulation wins over a 10-game stretch, the Checkers appear to have gotten themselves back on track. Charlotte has won four in a row, outscoring opponents 19-6 over that run, and have picked up wins in five of their last six games. The Checkers, who have sat atop the league standings for nearly the entirety of the season, now boast a points percentage above .700 for the first time since Feb. 6.

SPECIAL TEAMS POWERING UP

The Checkers matched a season high by notching three power-play goals in Saturday’s win over Binghamton. The Checkers are now 4-for-12 on the man advantage over the last two games after recording power-play goals in consecutive contests for the first time since mid-January.

On the other end, the Checkers continue to excel on the penalty kill. After holding the Devils off the board for the entirety of the weekend Charlotte has not allowed a power-play goal in four straight games, killing off each its last 13 penalties and 20 of its last 21.

POTTING POINTS

Andrew Poturalski had a monster game against the Devils Saturday, picking up two goals and two assists for his second four-point effort of the season. The forward, who has set career highs in assists and points thus far and is one away from hitting his high mark for goals, has now posted the 10th most points in a single season. Poturalski is the 12th skater in franchise history to hit the 55-point mark and just the third since 2013-14.

With 17 games to go in the regular season, Poturalski is chasing Zach Boychuk and Chris Terry’s 2013-14 campaign in which they registered the top-two highest point totals of 74 and 69, respectively.

BEAN BREAKS OUT

With his seventh multi-point game of the season on Saturday, Jake Bean continues to put together an outstanding first pro season. Having already set franchise records for most goals, assists and points by a rookie, Bean is now zeroing in on more spots in the record book. His 35 points are the 10th most by any rookie in team history and his 24 assists are the sixth most, while his 11 goals are tied for the second most in a single season by a blue liner, trailing only Mark Flood’s 13-goal campaign in 2013-14.

NEW FACES

The Checkers’ two big acquisitions made their debuts this weekend. Tomas Jurco skated in both contests and lit the lamp twice on Saturday, putting him already halfway to his 14-game total with Springfield. Dustin Tokarski got his first start on Saturday after backing up on Friday and turned aside 17 of the 18 shots he saw to notch his first win in a Checkers sweater.

The Checkers pulled off another weekend sweep, emphatically defeating the Binghamton Devils on back-to-back nights to continue their reign atop the standings.

Ranks

• Andrew Poturalski ranks fifth in the AHL in scoring (56), is tied for 8th in assists (35) and tied for fourth in game-winning goals (6)
• Dan Renouf is tied for fourth in the AHL in major penalties (7) and ranks fifth among defensemen in penalty minutes (105)
• Roland McKeown is tied for eighth in the AHL in plus-minus (+22)
• Alex Nedeljkovic leads the league in wins (27), ranks third in minutes (2261), is tied for fifth in goals-against average (2.41) and ranks sixth in saves (935)
• Jake Bean leads all rookie defensemen in goals (11), ranks second in assists (24) and third in points (35)
• Martin Necas is tied for fifth among league rookies in assists
• Morgan Geekie is tied for ninth among league rookies in goals (15) and tied for fourth in shooting percentage (21.1)

INJURIES

• Spencer Smallman - Missed 46 games starting 11/11

Transactions

Incoming

• Mar. 1: (D) Jake Bean - Assigned from Carolina (NHL)
• Feb. 28: (G) Dustin Tokarski - Loaned from Hartford (AHL)

Outgoing

• Mar. 2: (C) Steven Lorentz - Assigned to Florida (ECHL)
• Mar. 2: (D) Derek Sheppard - Assigned to Florida (ECHL)
• Feb. 28: (D) Josh Wesley - Loaned to Hartford (AHL)
• Feb. 27: (D) Haydn Fleury - Recalled by Carolina (NHL)

Coming Up

By the Numbers

CATEGORY	RECORD	AHL RANK	LAST WEEK
Power play	17.9%	17th	t-21st
Penalty kill	85.0%	3rd	3rd
Goals per game	3.29	t-7th	16th
Shots per game	30.24	14th	t-16th
Goals allowed per game	2.75	t-3rd	t-4th
Shots allowed per game	27.32	3rd	3rd
Penalty minutes per game	13.39	9th	9th

LEADERS

CATEGORY	LEADER(S)
Points	Andrew Poturalski (56), Aleksi Saarela, Janne Kuokkanen (38)
Goals	Andrew Poturalski (21), Aleksi Saarela, Julien Gauthier (18)
Assists	Andrew Poturalski (35), Janne Kuokkanen (26), Martin Necas (25)
Power play goals	Janne Kuokkanen (6), Julien Gauthier (5), Four 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 (145), Andrew Poturalski (137), Julien Gauthier (129)
Penalty minutes	Dan Renouf (105), Trevor Carrick (72), Julien Gauthier (53)
Plus/minus	Roland McKeown (+22), Morgan Geekie (+18), Nick Schilkey, Martin Necas (+13)
Wins	Alex Nedeljkovic (27)
Goals-against average	Alex Nedeljkovic (2.41)
Save percentage	Alex Nedeljkovic (.911)