Weekly Report: October 29, 2018

The Checkers rebounded from a tough home-opening weekend with another dominant road swing.

Week in Review

Checkers 3, Utica 1

After a tough home series against Hershey, the Checkers returned to their dominant form on the road in Utica. Greg McKegg, Morgan Geekie and Clark Bishop all lit the lamp to put the visitors ahead by three midway through regulation, then Scott Darling – in the AHL on a conditioning stint – took over by stopping 25 of the 26 shots he faced to pick up his first AHL win since 2015. Full recap

Checkers 4, Binghamton 3 (OT)

The Checkers jumped out to another lead the next night, racking up three power-play goals to establish a 3-1 lead heading into the third period. The Devils would push back, however, eventually knotting the game late to force overtime. Less than a minute into overtime Andrew Poturalski floated a quick pass to the streaking Jake Bean who roofed it for his first pro goal. Full recap

Checkers 6, Syracuse 3

The Checkers closed out their road trip with a rematch against the Crunch, with the two sides trading goals to reach a 2-2 tie early in the second. Charlotte would take off from their with three unanswered tallies that, despite on more response from Syracuse, would be more than enough to earn Alex Nedeljkovic his AHL-leading sixth win of the season. Full recap

Three Stars Of The Week

Notables

STRONG START

The Checkers have roared out of the gates, sitting atop the AHL in terms of points percentage. At 8-1-0-0, the Checkers are off to the AHL’s best start since the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins hit the same mark through nine games in 2015-16.

Dating back to last season the Checkers are 17-1-1 in their last 19 regular-season games.

OWNING OCTOBER

At 8-1-0 the Checkers have wrapped up the best month of October in franchise history in terms of points percentage, cruising past the previous record of .722 from 2012-13. In fact, this October was the second-best single month in franchise history, trailing only April of the 2017-18 in which the team went a perfect 6-0-0.

The Checkers finished just one month with a record below .500 last season and only four times since 2015.

KINGS OF THE ROAD

The Checkers have won each of their first seven road games this season, matching the longest such streak in franchise history. The last time an AHL team won more consecutive games on the road was in January-February of 2017 (San Jose - 10).

Dating back to last season, Charlotte has earned at least one point in 15 consecutive road games.

LOCK DOWN

Charlotte’s stingy defense has been on full display thus far, with the team averaging just 2.22 goals per game this season to rank second in the AHL. Through nine games, the Checkers have yet to surrender more than three goals.

The Checkers have suppressed their opponents’ attacks, giving up the fifth-fewest shots per game, and have been strong overall on the penalty kill, ranking 11th in the league despite having been shorthanded the second-most times.

CREASE CAROUSEL

This week featured three different players start between the pipes for Charlotte in as many games for the first time since Alex Nedeljkovic, Tom McCollum and Daniel Altshuller did it in 2016-17. All three netminder – Scott Darling, Callum Booth and Nedeljkovic – picked up wins.

BEAN BREAKS THROUGH

The Hurricanes’ 13th overall pick in 2016 notched his first pro goal Friday in Binghamton, sniping a shot past NHL veteran Corey Schneider in overtime. Bean scored again the next night in Syracuse as part of his three-point effort to run his total to five points in three games, tying him for second in the AHL last week.

Bean is now tied for third in scoring among rookie defensemen.

MCKEGG STANDS OUT

Greg McKegg tapped into his scoring prowess from a year ago over the last week, registering five points in three games to tie for second in the AHL over that span. The forward is now on a three-game point streak and has found the scoresheet in four of the last five games, including matching a career high with three helpers in the win over Binghamton on Saturday.

Ranks

• Andrew Poturalski is tied for 10th in the league in points (11) and tied for fourth in assists (9)
• Janne Kuokkanen is tied for second in the AHL in power-play goals (4)
• Clark Bishop is tied for the league lead in shorthanded assists (2) and points (2)
• Alex Nedeljkovic leads the league in wins (6), ranks fourth in minutes (419:13) and ranks 12th in goals-against average
• Morgan Geekie is tied for the lead among AHL rookies in shootout-winning goals (1)
• Trevor Carrick is tied for fourth in the AHL and second among defensemen in power-play assists (5)

INJURIES

• None

Transactions

Incoming

• Oct. 23: (C) Clark Bishop - Assigned from Carolina (NHL)

Outgoing

• Oct. 25: (G) Scott Darling - Recalled by Carolina (NHL)
• Oct. 23: (C) Nicolas Roy - Recalled by Carolina (NHL)

Coming Up

By the Numbers

CATEGORY	RECORD	AHL RANK	LAST WEEK
Power play	26.7%	t-5th	t-12th
Penalty kill	84.0%	11th	12th
Goals per game	3.89	t-10th	11th
Shots per game	30.67	12th	t-9th
Goals allowed per game	2.22	2nd	1st
Shots allowed per game	26.33	5th	5th
Penalty minutes per game	18.67	2nd	2nd

LEADERS

CATEGORY	LEADER(S)
Points	Andrew Poturalski (11), Janne Kuokkanen (10), Nicolas Roy, Greg McKegg (7)
Goals	Nicolas Roy, Janne Kuokkanen (5), Julien Gauthier, Morgan Geekie (4)
Assists	Andrew Poturalski (9), Trevor Carrick, Greg McKegg (6)
Power play goals	Janne Kuokkanen (4), Nicolas Roy (2), Six tied (1)
Shorthanded goals	Nicolas Roy, Saku Maenalanen, Patrick Brown (1)
Game-winning goals	Nicolas Roy (2), Five tied (1)
Shots on goal	Julien Gauthier, Jake Bean (25), Andrew Poturalski (23)
Penalty minutes	Josiah Didier (29), Trevor Carrick (23), Roland McKeown, Clark Bishop (14)
Plus/minus	Roland McKeown (+9), Nicolas Roy (+6), Michal Cajkovsky (+5)
Wins	Alex Nedeljkovic (6)
Goals-against average	Alex Nedeljkovic (2.29)
Save percentage	Alex Nedeljkovic (.913)