Weekly Report: Nov. 5, 2018

The Checkers brought their winning ways back to Charlotte, sweeping the Bruins over the weekend to remain atop the AHL standings.

Week in Review

Checkers 4, Providence 3

Returning home after a red-hot road trip, the Checkers kept their winning ways rolling against the Bruins. The visitors opened the scoring with an early strike, but Charlotte struck back with four unanswered tallies, including two on the power play and one shorthanded, to build a sizeable lead through 40 minutes of play. The Bruins pushed back late with a pair of goals inside the final seven minutes of regulation, but the Checkers would squash the rally attempt behind 21 saves from Alex Nedeljkovic. Full recap

Checkers 3, Providence 2

The following night’s rematch saw the Checkers jump out to an early lead thanks to another special teams surge, with Trevor Carrick scoring on the power play for the second straight game and Michal Cajkovsky finishing off a shorthanded rush. Like the night before, the Bruins fired back to cut the lead in half heading into the third, but a converted breakaway from Andrew Poturalski gave the Checkers the cushion they needed. Providence struck once more but it was too little, too late and the Checkers completed the weekend sweep. Full recap

Three Stars Of The Week

Notables

HOT START

At 10-1-0 this season, the Checkers are continuing on the best start in franchise history. They currently sit atop the AHL standings in terms of both points (20) and points percentage (.909).

The Checkers, who are in the midst of their second five-game winning streak of the season, are the fastest team to reach 10 wins since Wilkes-Barre/Scranton started the 2015-16 season with a 10-1-0 record. That Penguins team would go 12-1-0 before suffering their second loss.

POWERING UP

The Checkers have been able to create a sizeable chunk of offense on the man advantage this season, ranking fifth in the AHL with a 25.9 power-play percentage. When Trevor Carrick scored a power-play tally in the first period of Saturday’s win, it marked the eighth goal in Charlotte’s last 16 opportunities.

SHORTHANDED SUCCESS

With a shorthanded strike in each of this past weekend’s wins over the Bruins, the Checkers now have five through the first 11 games of the season, a total that leads the league.

Charlotte finished last season with 10 shorthanded goals, tying them for seventh in the league.

FRESHMAN PHENOM

Morgan Geekie has come into his first pro season firing on all cylinders. The rookie has accumulated five goals already this year and has five points in his last five games.

Last season saw two Checkers surpass the previous franchise record for goals by a rookie, with Warren Foegele notching 28 and Aleksi Saarela hitting 25. By comparison, through their first 11 games last season Saarela and Foegele had three and seven goals, respectively.

HOME SWEET HOME

After producing one of the league’s best home records a season ago, the Checkers are once again thriving at Bojangles’ Coliseum. They are 3-1-0 to start the year in Charlotte and, dating back to last season, have won 17 of their last 21 home games.

The last time the Checkers lost consecutive home contests was Jan. 12 and 13 to the eventual Calder Cup champion Marlies.

Ranks

• Andrew Poturalski is tied for 13th in the league in points (12) and tied for eighth in assists (9)
• Janne Kuokkanen is tied for 13th in the AHL in scoring (12) and tied for third in power-play goals (4) and power-play points (8)
• 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 third in points (2)
• Alex Nedeljkovic leads the league in wins (8), ranks second in minutes (538:50) and ranks 10th in goals-against average (2.34)
• Morgan Geekie is tied for third among AHL rookies in goals (5), tied for fourth in power-play goals (2) and ranks second in shooting percentage (35.7%)
• Trevor Carrick is tied for 11th among AHL blue liners in scoring (8), tied for second in power-play assists, tied for fourth in power-play goals and ranks fourth in power-play points
• Michal Cajkovsky is tied for the league lead among defensemen in shorthanded goals (1) and points (2)
• Josiah Didier ranks fifth among AHL blue liners in penalty minutes

INJURIES

• Greg McKegg - Missed one game starting 11/3

Transactions

Incoming

• Nov. 1: (LW) Phil Di Giuseppe - Assigned from Carolina (NHL)

Outgoing

• Oct. 31: (D) Haydn Fleury - Recalled by Carolina (NHL)

Coming Up

By the Numbers

CATEGORY	RECORD	AHL RANK	LAST WEEK
Power play	25.9%	5th	t-5th
Penalty kill	85.5%	8th	11th
Goals per game	3.82	8th	t-10th
Shots per game	29.09	20th	12th
Goals allowed per game	2.27	2nd	2nd
Shots allowed per game	26.27	t-4th	5th
Penalty minutes per game	18.82	2nd	2nd

LEADERS

CATEGORY	LEADER(S)
Points	Andrew Poturalski, Janne Kuokkanen (12), Morgan Geekie, Trevor Carrick, Greg McKegg (8)
Goals	Nicolas Roy, Janne Kuokkanen, Morgan Geekie (5)
Assists	Andrew Poturalski (9), Janne Kuokkanen, Greg McKegg (7)
Power play goals	Janne Kuokkanen (4), Nicolas Roy, Trevor Carrick, Morgan Geekie (2)
Shorthanded goals	Saku Maenalanen (2), Patrick Brown, Nicolas Roy, Michal Cajkovsky (1)
Game-winning goals	Nicolas Roy (2), Seven tied (1)
Shots on goal	Andrew Poturalski (28), Jake Bean (27), Julien Gauthier, Aleksi Saarela (26)
Penalty minutes	Josiah Didier (29), Trevor Carrick (25), Phil Di Giuseppe (19)
Plus/minus	Roland McKeown (+10), Nicolas Roy (+6), Janne Kuokkanen (+5)
Wins	Alex Nedeljkovic (8)
Goals-against average	Alex Nedeljkovic (2.34)
Save percentage	Alex Nedeljkovic (.911)