Weekly Report: Nov. 19, 2018

The Checkers bounced back to close their extended road trip with a productive trek through Pennsylvania.

Week in Review

Checkers 2, Lehigh Valley 3 (OT)

The Checkers’ second straight week on the road kicked off with a mid-week tilt in Lehigh Valley. After jumping out to an early lead, Charlotte surrendered a pair of power-play tallies to fall back behind heading into the third. The visitors’ rally attempt finally came through in the final six minutes of regulation when Julien Gauthier threaded home a wrister to secure his team a point in the standings and force overtime. It was the Phantoms who would strike in the extra frame however, with T.J. Brennan finding the back of the net to give the home team the victory. Full recap

Checkers 2, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton 1

Traveling to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton for the first time this season, the Checkers and Penguins locked into a tightly contested, low-scoring affair. After a scoreless first, the Pens found the back of the net early in the second before the Checkers quickly responded to even the score through 40 minutes. The game appeared to be on course for overtime until Andrew Poturalski lit the lamp inside the final four minutes of play to lift the Checkers to a win behind 27 saves from Alex Nedeljkovic. Full recap

Checkers 6, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton 5 (OT)

Charlotte’s road trip concluded with a wild rematch against the Penguins. Despite Aleksi Saarela getting the visitors on the board first, the Pens rattled off four unanswered goals to build a 4-1 lead midway through regulation. The Checkers kickstarted their comeback with a pair of goals before the second intermission to head into the third down by just one, then struck twice over the span of a minute in the final frame to regain the lead. The home team would muster one more tally, however, sending the Checkers to overtime for the second time in three games. Charlotte came out flying in the extras frame and less than 90 seconds in Andrew Poturalski curled behind the net and found Aleksi Saarela in the slot for a blistering one-timer that beat former Checker Anthony Peters and gave Charlotte two points in the standings. Full recap

Three Stars Of The Week

Notables

CARDIAC CHECKERS

The Checkers showed a flair for the dramatic last week, with all three contests being decided by one goal – two of which ended in overtime. Additionally, all three games featured the Checkers scoring a go-ahead or game-tying goal in the second half of the third period.

Nine of Charlotte’s 17 games this season have been decided by one goal, with the Checkers holding a 7-1-1 record in those contests, with those seven wins tying them for the most in the league.

BOUNCING BACK ON THE ROAD

The Checkers’ six-game road trip started out a bit bumpy, with the team going 1-2-0 over the first week, but Charlotte rebounded nicely in week two of the trek. The Checkers pulled out a point in Lehigh Valley before getting back on track with a two-game sweep of the division rival Penguins to finish the trip with a 3-2-1 record.

No team has played more games away from home this season than the Checkers, whose 10 wins on the road are double any other team in the AHL.

DYNAMIC DUO

Charlotte’s offense has been propelled largely by Andrew Poturalski and Janne Kuokkanen, who have battled neck-and-neck atop the team’s scoring race.

Consistency has been key for both forwards, as Poturalski has been held scoreless just three times all season and Kuokkanen four times. In fact, 16 of the 17 games the Checkers have played this season have featured at least one of Poturalski or Kuokkanen recording a point. In his second pro season Kuokkanen is already nearly halfway to his 60-game point total from a season ago, while Poturalski is on pace to top his career high of 52 points from 2016-17. Both players are tied for ninth in the AHL in scoring.

RENOUF'S BUSY NIGHT

In Saturday’s win over the Penguins, Dan Renouf recorded the seventh Gordie Howe Hat Trick in franchise history by dropping the gloves with Joseph Cramarossa just 26 seconds into the game, picking up an assist on Martin Necas’ second-period goal and then notching the game-tying goal in the third period. His is the first instance by a Checker since the 2015-16 season and he joins Justin Shugg, Trevor Carrick, Brett Sutter, Zach Boychuk, Drayson Bowman and Brad Herauf as players to get Gordie Howe Hat Tricks in a Checkers sweater.

Ranks

• Janne Kuokkanen is tied for 9th in the AHL in scoring (19), tied for 11th in goals (8) and tied for third in power-play goals (5) and tied for the league lead in power-play points (11)
• Andrew Poturalski is tied for 9th in the AHL in scoring (19) and tied for 7th in assists (13)
• Dan Renouf ranks eighth in the AHL in penalty minutes (40)
• Saku Maenalanen is tied for the league lead in shorthanded goals (2) and points (3)
• Clark Bishop is tied for the league lead in shorthanded assists (2) and tied for fourth in shorthanded points (2)
• Alex Nedeljkovic leads the league in wins (10) and minutes (794:38), ranks third in saves (326) and is tied for 12th in goals-against average (2.72)
• Morgan Geekie ranks fifth among league rookies in shooting percentage (26.3) and tied for 7th in power-play goals (2)
• Jake Bean ranks third among league rookies in shots (44) and is tied for third in plus-minus (+7)
• Trevor Carrick is tied for fifth among league defensemen in points (15), tied for fourth in assists (12), tied for the lead in power-play assists (8), tied for second in power-play points (10) and tied for sixth in power-play goals (2)
• Michal Cajkovsky is tied for the lead among AHL blue liners in shorthanded goals (1) and points (2)

INJURIES

• Greg McKegg - Missed four games from 11/3 to 11/11
• Patrick Brown - Missed four games starting 11/11
• Spencer Smallman - Missed four games starting 11/11
• Nicolas Roy - Missed two games starting 11/14
• Josiah Didier - Missed one game starting 11/17

Transactions

Incoming

• Nov. 13: (RW) Valentin Zykov - Assigned from Carolina (NHL)

Outgoing

• None

Coming Up

By the Numbers

CATEGORY	RECORD	AHL RANK	LAST WEEK
Power play	22.2%	9th	8th
Penalty kill	85.7%	5th	t-6th
Goals per game	3.76	9th	6th
Shots per game	29.88	16th	17th
Goals allowed per game	2.71	3rd	3rd
Shots allowed per game	27.00	5th	3rd
Penalty minutes per game	18.65	1st	3rd

LEADERS

CATEGORY	LEADER(S)
Points	Janne Kuokkanen, Andrew Poturalski (19), Trevor Carrick (15)
Goals	Janne Kuokkanen (8), Nicolas Roy (7), Julien Gauthier, Andrew Poturalski (6)
Assists	Andrew Poturalski (13), Trevor Carrick (12), Janne Kuokkanen (11)
Power play goals	Janne Kuokkanen (5), Five tied (2)
Shorthanded goals	Saku Maenalanen (2), Patrick Brown, Nicolas Roy, Michal Cajkovsky (1)
Game-winning goals	Nicolas Roy (3), Andrew Poturalski, Aleksi Saarela (2)
Shots on goal	Jake Bean (44), Aleksi Saarela (43), Janne Kuokkanen (42)
Penalty minutes	Dan Renouf (40), Trevor Carrick (35), Josiah Didier (31)
Plus/minus	Roland McKeown (+9), Jake Bean (+7), Nicolas Roy (+6)
Wins	Alex Nedeljkovic (10)
Goals-against average	Alex Nedeljkovic (2.72)
Save percentage	Alex Nedeljkovic (.901)