Weekly Report: Dec. 15, 2014

After running their road winless streak to a franchise-worst eight games, the Checkers finished up a three-game road swing by finding their way back into the win column.

After beginning the road trip by being shutout at Norfolk and dominated by Texas, the Checkers rebounded to avenge themselves and avoid extending their three-game losing streak. The victory should help put Charlotte back on the right track that produced the team's best stretch of the season last week.

The team will now return to Charlotte for four games this week before heading into the Christmas holiday.

Week in Review

Norfolk 3, Checkers 0

The Checkers' offensive struggles continued to plague them as they could not put anything past Admirals goalie Yann Danis, as they were shut out for the second time this season. Despite the lack of firepower, Charlotte entered the final frame down just one goal. The Admirals added another early on in the period, and the Checkers' powerplay was once again ineffective, failing to convert on any of the four man-advantages they got in the third period. Norfolk then netted a late insurance marker to seal their 3-0 win.Full recap

Texas 3, Checkers 1

The road trip continued as the Checkers traveled down to Austin to face a struggling Stars team. Once again, Charlotte could not mount any sort of offense, narrowly avoiding a second consecutive shutout thanks to a late powerplay tally by Justin Shugg, which snapped an 0 for 20 drought with the man-advantage. Drew MacIntyre did a formidable job in goal against a barrage of offense from Texas, who outshot the Checkers 35-9 through the first two frames, but his play wasn't enough to lift the team to victory, and the Stars emerged with a 3-1 win. The loss extended the Checkers road winless streak to a franchise-worst eight games, as well putting their overall losing streak at three games, tying the team has seen this season. Full recap

Checkers 3, Texas 1

Just as they did earlier in the season, the Checkers rebounded from a tough loss at the hands of the Stars and avenged themselves, turning in one of their best performances of the season en route to a 3-1 win. Holding on to a 2-1 lead midway through the third, courtesy of goals from Andrew Rowe and Jared Staal, the Checkers were able to fend off the high-powered Stars attack, and it was Chad LaRose who notched the empty-netter to clinch the victory and snap the road winless skid. MacIntyre made his second-straight appearance in goal for Charlotte and turned in a brilliant performance, stopping 34 of the 35 shots he was faced with to earn his eighth win of the season. It also marked MacIntyre's 200th AHL win, making him just the 12th goalie in the league's history to reach that milestone. Full recap

Notables

Power Outage

Justin Shugg's goal with 2:12 remaining on Dec. 12 ended a drought of 25 consecutive power plays dating back to his last man-advantage goal on Nov. 29. Even with Shugg's goal, the Checkers are just 2-for-38 (5.3 percent) on the power play over their last ten games dating back to Nov. 22.

Charlotte currently ranks last in the AHL with a 9.6 percent success rate on the power play. In their previous four AHL seasons, the team never finished lower than fifth in terms of power-play percentage. Their lowest-ever percentage to finish a season was 19.8 percent. h3>Road Woes Saturday's win was the Checkers first in their last eight road games, a mark that broke the old franchise record of six set from Feb. 18-March 25, 2012 (0-2-4). That road winless streak is the second-longest posted by an AHL team at any point this season, trailing an active nine-game slide by Rochester.

Meanwhile, the Checkers saw their six-game point earned streak at home (5-0-1) snapped with a 4-3 loss to Iowa on 12/8. It was one shy of tying the best streak in team history that was set in 2012-13.

Shorthanded Firepower

The Checkers' five shorthanded goals are tied for the third-most in the league and are two more than their league-low total from all of last season.

Chad LaRose leads the league in shorthanded assists and is tied for second in shorthanded points (3). Greg Nemisz and Brendan Woods are part of a 12-way tie for the league lead with two shorthanded goals each. Ben Holmstrom recorded the team's other shorthanded tally with its first penalty-shot goal since Dec. 20, 2011.

The Checkers are one of just four AHL teams that has yet to allow a shorthanded goal.

Murphy's Helping Hand

Defenseman Ryan Murphy leads the Checkers with 11 assists on the season, at least four more than any other player, and is tied for 11th among AHL defensemen. He is also tied for second on team in scoring with 11 points despite starting the season in Carolina and playing just 17 Checkers games. He leads the team in power-play assists and points (5).

Murphy, a 21-year-old who the Hurricanes drafted 12th overall in 2011, now has 34 points (3g, 31) in 41 career AHL games. Last season, he posted a 12-game assist/point streak that marked the longest in franchise history and was the longest by an AHL defenseman since the 2008-09 campaign.

Worst Behavior

With 20.96 penalty minutes per game, the Checkers are the sixth-most penalized team in the AHL. They rank third in major penalties with 32, 10 of which are courtesy of Kyle Hagel, who is tied for the AHL lead in that category. Rasmus Rissanen has been assessed 16 minor penalties, tying him for fourth among AHL defensemen. In their four previous AHL seasons, the team never finished with an average higher than 16.5 penalty minutes per game.

The Checkers have done a better job as of late with not letting those penalties hurt them, as they have held opponents to 1-27 with the man advantage in the last six games, after getting torched for six goals on 14 powerplay tries in the three games prior to that.

Ranks

• Forward Kyle Hagel is tied for the league lead in major penalties (10)
• Defenseman Rasmus Rissanen ranks fourth among AHL defenseman in minor penalties (16)
• Forward Chad LaRose leads the AHL in shorthanded assists (3) and is tied for second in shorthanded points (3)
• Forward Carter Sandlak ranks fourth among AHL rookies in penalty minutes (50)
• Defenseman Trevor Carrick is tied for fourth among AHL rookies in major penalties (4)
• Defenseman Ryan Murphy is tied for 11th among AHL defensemen in assists (11)

Injuries

• Beau Schmitz - missed three games starting 12/10
• Greg Nemisz - missed four games starting 12/8
• Brody Sutter - missed 13 games from 11/15

Milestones

• Drew MacIntyre became the 12th goalie all-time to record 200 AHL wins on 12/13
• Ryan Murphy played in his 100th professional game on 12/13
• Chad LaRose played in his 150th AHL game on 12/13
• Danny Biega recorded his 50th AHL/penalty minute

Transactions

Incoming

• None

Outgoing

• Dec. 15 - (RW) Justin Shugg recalled to Carolina (NHL) from Charlotte (AHL)

Coming Up

By the Numbers

Team Statistics
CATEGORY	RECORD	AHL RANK	LAST WEEK
Power play	9.6%	30th	29th
Penalty kill	84.3%	t-12th	t-17th
Goals per game	2.24	29th	27th
Shots per game	27.60	26th	27th
Goals allowed per game	3.00	20th	t-24th
Shots allowed per game	31.12	19th	18th
Penalty minutes per game	20.96	25th	27th

Team Leaders
CATEGORY	LEADER(S)
Points	Greg Nemisz (14), Justin Shugg, Brendan Woods, Chad LaRose, Ryan Murphy (11)
Goals	Justin Shugg (9), Greg Nemisz (8), Brock McGinn, Brendan Woods (5)
Assists	Ryan Murphy (11), Phil Di Giuseppe, Chad LaRose, Trevor Carrick (7)
Power play goals	Justin Shugg (4)
Shorthanded goals	Greg Nemisz, Brendan Woods (2)
Game-winning goals	Greg Nemisz (2)
Shots on goal	Brock McGinn (61), Chad LaRose (60), Phil Di Giuseppe (55)
Penalty minutes	Kyle Hagel (68), Keegan Lowe (60), Brendan Woods (53)
Plus/minus	Phil Di Giuseppe, Beau Schmitz (+2), Three tied (+1)
Wins	Drew MacIntyre (8)
Goals-against average	Drew MacIntyre (2.70)
Save percentage	Drew MacIntyre (.914)