Weekly Report: Nov. 26, 2018

The Checkers brushed off a rough start to breeze through the holiday week and keep their strong start rolling.

Week in Review

Checkers 1, Belleville 5

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 3, Belleville 2 (OT)

The Checkers bounced back after a disappointing loss the night before and went toe-to-toe with the Sens Wednesday night. The visitors held a one-goal advantage in the waning moments of regulation but it was Aleksi Saarela who came through and evened the score with less than three minutes to go to force overtime. The extra frame nearly went the distance but Martin Necas put an end to the game with a blistering breakaway that he converted, lifting the Checkers to two points in the standings. Full recap

Checkers 4, Laval 2

After a quick break for Thanksgiving, the Checkers welcomed another Canadian opponent to town. The Checkers jumped out to a 2-0 lead, but the visiting Rocket struck late in the first and early in the second to knot the score back up. The home squad would push back from there, with Jake Bean threading a wrister in from the point minutes later to push Charlotte back ahead. The Checkers would double that advantage with an Aleksi Saarela power-play tally later in the second before clamping down on their lead for the remaining 20 minutes of play, sealing another win. Full recap

Checkers 3, Laval 1

With a quick turnaround time, fatigue became a factor for both teams in the next day’s rematch. Aleksi Saarela kept his hot streak going with a power-play tally in the first, but the Rocket hit back with a goal of their own to even the score. That deadlock would hold until midway through the third, when rookie Martin Necas hammered home the rebound off a Nicolas Roy attempt to give Charlotte the lead once again. Led by the strong play of Callum Booth, the Checkers would stymie Laval’s rally attempt, and a late empty-netter from Roland McKeown served as the dagger, with Charlotte moving to a perfect 6-0-0 all time against the Rocket. Full recap

Three Stars Of The Week

Notables

AT THE TOP

Twenty-one games into the season the Checkers find themselves sitting atop the AHL standings. Coming off three straight road wins, the Checkers have opened up a four-point lead over the second-place Milwaukee Admirals and a six-point lead over the next-best Eastern Conference team in Bridgeport.

Charlotte’s 16-4-1-0 start is the best record through 21 games in franchise history, surpassing their 13-6-1-1 mark from the 2011-12 campaign.

KUOKKANEN LIGHTS IT UP

Janne Kuokkanen continues to shine early on in his sophomore season. The forward is averaging over a point per game, with his 22 points tying him for third in the league in scoring. In fact, Kuokkanen sits just three behind Cory Conacher’s AHL-leading mark.

The Finnish forward has been held off the scoresheet just five times this season and only once were those games consecutive.

NECAS FINDS THE NET

After recording just two points in his first six games with Charlotte this season, Martin Necas has gone on a tear, racking up 10 in his last 11. The rookie has come through in the clutch as of late as well, recording two game-winning goals last week, one in the third period and one in overtime.

At 19-years-old, Necas is the second-highest scoring teenager in the AHL right now, trailing Chicago’s Erik Brannstrom by one point.

SAARELA'S SNIPE SHOW

Aleksi Saarela’s impressive shot was on full display last week for the Checkers. The Finnish forward lit the lamp in three of the four contests and now has 10 points in his last 10 games. In fact, from Nov. 17 to now no player in the AHL has recorded more goals than Saarela.

SOLID IN THE CREASE

Alex Nedeljkovic continues to shoulder the bulk of the workload between the pipes for Charlotte, leading the league in wins by three over the second-ranked netminder and logging more than a full game’s worth of minutes than any other goalie in the AHL.

Callum Booth made his third start of the season and first on home ice Sunday and turned in a stellar performance to improve his record to 3-1-0. The second-year pro has stopped 44 of the 47 shots he’s seen over his last three appearances.

Ranks

• Janne Kuokkanen is tied for 3rd in the AHL in scoring (22), tied for 7th in assists (14), tied for 6th in power-play goals (5) and tied for second in power-play points (12)
• Alex Nedeljkovic leads the league in wins (12) and minutes (966:44), ranks 3rd in saves (382) and ranks 14th in goals-against average (2.79)
• Trevor Carrick is tied for fourth among AHL blue liners in scoring (17), tied for second in assists (14), tied for the lead in power-play assists (8) and tied for second in power-play points (10)
• Jake Bean is tied for second among rookie defensemen in goals (3) and tied for fourth in assists (8) and points (11)
• Andrew Poturalski is tied for 15th in the AHL in scoring (19) and tied for 14th in assists (13)
• 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)
• Michal Cajkovsky is tied for the league lead among defensemen in shorthanded points (2)

INJURIES

• Spencer Smallman - Missed eight games starting 11/11
• Josiah Didier - Missed five games starting 11/17

Transactions

Incoming

• Nov. 25: (D) Trevor Carrick - Assigned from Carolina (NHL)
• Nov. 24: (D) Josh Wesley - Recalled from Florida (ECHL)
• Nov. 21: (C) Clark Bishop - Assigned from Carolina (NHL)

Outgoing

• Nov. 25: (D) Jake Bean - Recalled by Carolina (NHL)
• Nov. 25: (RW) Valentin Zykov - Recalled by Carolina (NHL)
• Nov. 21: (C) Steven Lorentz - Assigned to Florida (ECHL)

Coming Up

By the Numbers

CATEGORY	RECORD	AHL RANK	LAST WEEK
Power play	21.5%	10th	9th
Penalty kill	86.4%	t-4th	5th
Goals per game	3.57	13th	9th
Shots per game	29.05	20th	16th
Goals allowed per game	2.67	4th	4th
Shots allowed per game	26.24	3rd	5th
Penalty minutes per game	17.71	1st	1st

LEADERS

CATEGORY	LEADER(S)
Points	Janne Kuokkanen (22), Andrew Poturalski (19), Trevor Carrick (17)
Goals	Janne Kuokkanen (8), Nicolas Roy, Aleksi Saarela (7)
Assists	Trevor Carrick, Janne Kuokkanen (14), Andrew Poturalski (13)
Power play goals	Janne Kuokkanen (5), Aleksi Saarela (3), Five tied (2)
Shorthanded goals	Saku Maenalanen (2), Patrick Brown, Nicolas Roy, Michal Cajkovsky (1)
Game-winning goals	Nicolas Roy (3), Four tied (2)
Shots on goal	Aleksi Saarela (52), Jake Bean (51), Janne Kuokkanen (49)
Penalty minutes	Dan Renouf (44), Trevor Carrick (35), Julien Gauthier (33)
Plus/minus	Roland McKeown (+9), Jake Bean (+6), Nicolas Roy, Janne Kuokkanen (+5)
Wins	Alex Nedeljkovic (12)
Goals-against average	Callum Booth (2.27)
Save percentage	Callum Booth (.907)