While playing with Carolina in last night’s tilt against Montreal, Checkers captain Derek Ryan left the game in the second period with an upper-body injury and did not return to action. While Ryan remains with the Hurricanes, Checkers head coach Mark Morris had been passed along some info on the captain’s prognosis.
“It doesn’t look good,” said Morris. “Not good at all.”
While Morris didn’t have anything more specific than that to offer, he didn’t downplay the impact of the injury to his club.
“He’s the heart and soul of our team and our offensive thrust,” said Morris. “It’s a tough one to swallow.”
Should Ryan be forced to miss time, that takes a team-leading 23 goals and 55 points out of the Checkers’ lineup. But while that is quite a sizeable chunk of production, it’s by no means the end of the line for Charlotte. And rather than looking for any specific players to step in and pick up that offensive slack, the likely remedy for the Checkers will take a group effort.
“It doesn’t matter where it comes from, everyone needs to start burying pucks now,” said Morris. “Goal scoring is at a premium right now and no matter who it is on this club we’d like to see that red light going off more.”
Another key should Ryan miss time is not letting the loss turn into pressing for offense and taking the team off its game as a whole.
“Obviously Doc’s been a leader for us offensively this year, so some guys will have to step up,” said Brody Sutter. “But as far as pressure is concerned, it’s no different. You go out and play your game and do what you’re capable of.”
Even with Ryan, the Checkers’ offense has been through a lot of ups and downs this season. Charlotte currently ranks 12th in the AHL in goals per game. While that puts them in the top half of the league, it is a bit of a dip for a team that spent the majority of the season near the top of that list. In their last seven contests, they have scored six or more goals three times and two or fewer three times, and have registered just one regulation goal in each of their last two games.
The team’s two most recent contests against Rockford showed them creating chances and dominating stretches of possession, but failing to convert on their opportunities. For this weekend’s two matchups with playoff implications, it will be critical for the Checkers to find the back of the net on a more consistent basis.
“The last couple of games we have plenty of grade-A opportunities,” said Morris. “We need to find some holes and generate some chances that aren’t so easy for the goalie to stop. I thought we had some really good looks (this week against Rockford) but we put the puck right in the goaltender’s belly.”
With Ryan’s health in the air and other moving pieces, the Checkers’ roster could be in line for another shakeup against the Admirals for the final home series of the season. Hopefully, the groundwork is laid to make that shuffling as seamless as possible.
“Our guys know the systems and they know the expectations,” said Morris. “Regardless of who you’re playing with, all the mechanics are in place. Now it’s just a matter of dialing it up a couple of notches because the two teams we face in these last four games are outstanding teams and we’re going to need our best efforts from top to bottom.”
Some other news and notes from this week:
BIG SERIES WITH THE ADMIRALS
The division-rival Admirals are a tough draw for the Checkers, as they have proved to be a tough opponent this season.
“They’re well coached and they’re deep,” said Morris. “If they have any chinks in their armor, we need to find them.”
The Checkers, who hold a 2-4-0 record against the Admirals this season, have had a tough go offensively against Milwaukee’s stingy defense, scoring two or fewer goals in each of the last four meetings this season.
A big part of that has been the play of rookie netminder Juuse Saros, who ranks third in the AHL in goals against average and is 4-0-0 against the Checkers this year.
Breaking through against the Admirals will take sticking to the simple game plan that the team has cooked up.
“They have good goalies, so we need to make sure we get to the net and take their eyes away,” said Sutter. “It’s the same they teach you when you’re growing up, if they can’t see it, they can’t stop it. We’ll need to get traffic and get some greasy ones.”
“It boils down to being dialed in mentally,” said Morris. “We need to make sure that we’re sound in our own zone and that we’re doing our darnedest to play more in their end then they play in ours.”
Though the Admirals have already punched their ticket to the Calder Cup Playoffs, they’re likely going to come at the Checkers as they have all season.
“I can’t imagine that they’ll be taking their foot of the pedal,” said Morris. “They’ve played hard all year and have gotten better, as have we. We just need to muster all the talent and skill that we have and put forth the best effort we can.”
For Charlotte, it’s as simple as playing as if their season depends on it, because it essentially does.
“You have to go out and play desperate every night,” said Sutter. “That’s what San Jose [the main team Charlotte is in a race for the final playoff spot with] is going to do in Texas tonight and tomorrow, so we have to make sure that we’re matching their desperation level this weekend.”
POTURALSKI ADJUSTS
But that hasn’t been the case with Andrew Poturalski.
After his sophomore season at the University of New Hampshire wrapped up, the 22-year-old inked a deal with the Hurricanes and joined the Checkers for their stretch run. He has since become a big piece of the roster, collecting more and more minutes of ice time as the forward corps goes through some changes.
With 13 games under his belt, the young skater is beginning to get a feel for the next level.
“I think it’s been good so far,” said Poturalski. “The guys have helped me out a lot and so have the coaches. I’m definitely starting to feel a lot more comfortable out there and my game is progressing overall.”
During his sophomore season, Poturalski showed that he certainly possesses a natural scoring touch, finishing second in the nation in scoring and being named a finalist for the Hobey Baker award. Since making the jump to the pros, the forward has put up two goals, including one in his first pro game, and two assists. That production has helped him prove that he can play at this level.
“I was fortunate to get a couple good passes and score those goals,” said Poturalski. “That definitely helps the confidence.”
“He’s a competitor and you can’t teach the scoring ability that he has,” said Morris. “We’re hopeful that with a goal or two under his belt that he’ll feel a bit more at ease and more confident.”
While Poturalski has shown flashes of what had several NHL teams vying for his services, he is still has a ways to go adjusting to the pro game, specifically on the defensive side of the puck, something that can prove difficult to any young player at the start.
“It’s been a big challenge for him, learning to play defense at this level,” said Morris. “Recognizing potential threats is something that we talk about a great deal with him. As he progresses more defensively we’ll hope to put him out there more.”
The rookie acknowledges the need to grow in those areas.
“I’m just trying to become a 200-foot player,” said Poturalski. “I need to be responsible on both ends of the ice so coach can count on me when the time comes. I need to improve in those aspects and get coach to trust me.”
Jumping straight onto a team that has been playing in what can be boiled down to playoff-esque games for the last month can be a jarring experience for a player just getting his first taste of the pro game, but Poturalski has done anything but back down from the pressure.
“It’s been fun getting to jump right in and contribute to a team that needs help and is battling for a spot,” said Poturalski. “I’m just trying to work hard every night and do what I can to help the team win.”
INJURY UPDATE
Two players sported yellow no-contact jerseys at this morning’s practice – Valentin Zykov and Andrew Miller.Zykov, who was injured with the Ontario Reign just prior to being shipped to Carolina as a part of the Kris Versteeg trade, began skating for the first time with the Checkers this week, while Miller has been skating but hasn’t appeared in a game since March 25.
Morris didn’t have much concrete info to offer about either skater, but did shed some light on their statuses following this morning’s skate.
“I haven’t really had the opportunity to talk to [trainer] Brian [Maddox] and see where they’re at,” said Morris when asked about the chances of seeing either skater this weekend. “Zykov hasn’t skated in a few months, but hopefully he’s been doing enough off ice that we could see him before the season is over. My guess is that Miller is a bit of a stretch for us to see him.
“What you see out there is the lineup we have.”
