Weekly Report: Righting The Ship, Tippett And True Heat Up And More

The Checkers broke out of their winless slump in an impressive way last week, picking up three straight decisive victories.

Week in Review

Checkers 3, Hershey 0

The Checkers got back on track after a four-game winless skid with a midweek victory against the Bears. Spencer Knight’s stellar performance between the pipes was the driving force for Charlotte, as the rookie netminder turned aside all 44 shots he faced to pick up his second shutout of the season and set the stage for Logan Hutsko’s second-period strike to stand as the game winner. Full recap

Checkers 5, Lehigh Valley 2

Charlotte kept that momentum rolling into the weekend series against Lehigh Valley. After surrendering the opening goal, the Checkers racked up four unanswered tallies to blow the game open, and five different goal scorers helped carry the visitors to a big win. Full recap

Checkers 5, Lehigh Valley 2

The Checkers brought the offensive firepower to the following night’s rematch as well, as another four unanswered goals propelled the visitors to a weekend sweep. Five different Charlotte skaters notched multi-point games, the power-play broke out for a pair of conversions and Joey Daccord stood tall with 33 saves en route to a lopsided final. Full recap

Three Stars Of The Week

QUICK HITS

BOUNCE BACK

After falling into a season-worst four-game winless streak, the Checkers righted the ship with a perfect week, defeating Hershey once and Lehigh Valley twice by a combined 13-4 score over the three contests. They are now on a three-game winning streak, the fifth time that season Charlotte has strung together a streak at least that long.

KNIGHT'S TIME

Spencer Knight turned in his most impressive start of the season on Wednesday in Hershey, earning his second shutout of the season by making 44 saves - the most by any Charlotte goaltender since the 2016-17 season. The rookie then followed that up by helping the Checkers to a 5-2 win over the Phantoms two days later, giving him 64 saves on 66 shots over the two-game stretch. Those strong outings have earned Knight a trip back to the NHL, as the Panthers recalled the netminder on Sunday.

STILL TIPPETT

Owen Tippett continues to be an immensely valuable add to the Charlotte roster. The forward posted four points over last week’s three contests, including a two-point effort in Saturday’s win over Lehigh Valley. Tippett has now notched 10 points in eight games with Charlotte this season and has found the scoresheet in all but one of those contests.

TRUE'S HELPING HAND

With two helpers in Saturday’s win, Alexander True earned his second multi-assist effort in the last four games. The forward has picked up at least one assist in each of Charlotte’s last four tilts - totaling six helpers over that stretch - and has 14 points in his last 19 games since returning from his NHL stint with Seattle in late January.

BATTLE FOR THE ATLANTIC

A successful week, paired with a key win over Hershey, has Charlotte sitting in fourth place in the Atlantic Division standings - .029 points percentage points ahead of the Bears and .035 behind the third-place Wolf Pack. The Checkers are in for a battle down the stretch, as 12 of their 19 remaining games come against the three teams currently ahead of them in the Atlantic standings - Hartford, Springfield and division-leading Providence - plus two more against the Bears.

For this season, the top six teams in the Atlantic Division will make the playoffs, with the top two seeds earning a bye to the second round.

HIGHLIGHT OF THE WEEK

Chase Priskie does it himself with a snipe off the rush in Friday's win over Lehigh Valley!

What an individual effort from Priskie! pic.twitter.com/CK8uZasjiB

— Charlotte Checkers (@CheckersHockey) March 5, 2022

RANKS

• Zac Dalpe is tied for 10th in the AHL in goals (21)
• Cole Schwindt is tied for 10th among AHL rookies in goals (14)
• Connor Carrick is tied for fifth among AHL defensemen in goals (8)
• Logan Hutsko is tied for seventh among AHL rookies in assists (24)
• Connor Carrick is tied for the league lead among defensemen in power-play goals (4)
• Cale Fleury is tied for seventh among AHL defensemen in power-play goals (3)
• Cole Schwindt is tied for third among AHL rookies in shorthanded goals (2)
• Connor Carrick is tied for the league lead among defensemen in shorthanded goals (1)
• Cale Fleury is tied for the league lead in shorthanded assists (3)
• Christopher Gibson is tied for sixth in the AHL in shorthanded assists (2)
• Cole Schwindt leads all rookies and is tied for fourth overall in plus/minus (+21)
• Henry Bowlby is tied for fifth among AHL rookies in plus-minus (+13)
• Logan Hutsko ranks seventh among AHL rookies in plus-minus (+12)
• Chase Priskie is tied for sixth among AHL defensemen in game-winning goals (2)
• Kole Lind ranks fifth in the AHL in penalty minutes (98)
• Serron Noel is tied for seventh among AHL rookies in penalty minutes (51)
• Zac Dalpe ranks eighth in the AHL in shots on goal (142)
• Spencer Knight is tied for the league lead among rookies and tied for sixth overall in shutouts (2)

INJURIES

• Connor Carrick - Out since 2/27
• Grigori Denisenko - Out since 1/15
• Gustav Olofsson - Out since 1/12
• Max Gildon - Out since 12/19
• Chris Gibson - Out since 12/3
• John Ludvig - Out since 11/12

Transactions

Incoming

• Mar. 3 - Kole Lind - Assigned from Seattle (NHL)
• Mar. 1 - Antoine Bibeau - Assigned from Allen (ECHL)
• Feb. 28 - Carter Robertson - Signed to PTO

Outgoing

• Mar. 6 - Spencer Knight - Recalled by Florida (NHL)
• Mar. 4 - Ryan Lohin - Assigned to Allen (ECHL)

Coming Up

By the Numbers

CATEGORY	RECORD	AHL RANK
Power play	21.1%	7th
Penalty kill	82.4%	8th
Goals per game	3.42	5th
Shots per game	29.32	t-18th
Goals allowed per game	2.96	t-10th
Shots allowed per game	29.60	13th
Penalty minutes per game	11.98	22nd

LEADERS

CATEGORY	LEADER(S)
Points	Kole Lind (35), Logan Hutsko (34), Scott Wilson, Alexander True (32)
Goals	Zac Dalpe (21), Scott Wilson (19), Kole Lind (17)
Assists	Logan Hutsko (24), Alexander True, Cale Fleury (21)
Power play goals	Zac Dalpe (8), Kole Lind (7), Three tied (4)
Shorthanded goals	Cole Schwindt (2), Six tied (1)
Game-winning goals	Scott Wilson (4), Max McCormick, Grigori Denisenko, Carsen Twarynski (3)
Shots on goal	Zac Dalpe (142), Connor Carrick (113), Scott Wilson (112)
Penalty minutes	Kole Lind (98), Connor Carrick (65), Serron Noel (51)
Plus/minus	Cole Schwindt (+21), Max McCormick (+14), Henry Bowlby (+13)
Wins	Joey Daccord (10)
Goals-against average	Joey Daccord (2.59)
Save percentage	Joey Daccord (.914)