Weekly Report: Jan. 5, 2015

The Checkers struggled in their return from the holidays, but snapped their skid and ended the week on a high note.

Coming out of the break, the Checkers were faced with a tough three-game road trip against their division foes Texas and Oklahoma City before returning to Charlotte for a series with the Stars. It was a slow start for the squad, as they fell into a four-game winless streak in which they were outscored 14-6, but they seemed to get back on the right track with a 5-2 throttling of Texas Sunday night.

The team will now head back out on the road for a brutal four-game swing through the Midwest where they will face three of the Western Conference's top eight teams in Grand Rapids, Milwaukee and Rockford.

Week in Review

Texas 4, Checkers 2

The Checkers stumbled coming out of the gate after the holiday break, getting handed a tough loss by the Texas Stars. After falling behind 3-1 early in the contest, Phil Di Giuseppe lit the lamp late in the first to pull them within one. The Checkers battled hard to try to even the score, but played the Stars to a stalemate for the remainder of regulation until Brett Ritchie tallied an empty-netter to complete his hat trick and seal a 4-2 win for Texas. Full recap

Oklahoma City 2, Checkers 1 (OT)

Following the loss at Texas, the Checkers faced a difficult turnaround, traveling to Oklahoma City for an early game the next day against the first place Barons. Di Giuseppe found the back of the net for the third-straight game to put the Checkers on the board early in the second. That 1-0 lead held until the waning moments of the third, when Jordan Oesterle scored with just 1:36 left in regulation to spoil John Muse's shutout and force the game into overtime. Andrew Miller then notched the game-winner 1:27 in the extra frame to send OKC home with the two points. Full recap

Oklahoma City 4, Checkers 2

The Checkers ended 2014 on a sour note, falling to the Barons 4-2 on New Year's Eve. After a quick strike from Anton Lander, Dennis Robertson tied the game at one with his first professional goal midway through the second. Oklahoma City would respond, however, with three unanswered goals to build up a 4-1 lead. Justin Shugg put home a rebound late in regulation, but it wasn't enough to spark a rally, and the Barons cruised to their fifth consecutive win. Full recap

Texas 4, Checkers 1

Returning home after a fruitless post-holiday road trip, the Checkers couldn't crack their slump and ran their winless streak to a season-worst four games. The two teams were locked in a tight, scoreless battle until Shugg put the Checkers on the board with under five to go in the second period. The lead was short-lived, however, as Brendan Ranford tied the game for the Stars just 1:41 into the final frame. Texas would then pile on three more unasnwered strikes en route to a 4-1 blowout. John Muse, making his fourth straight start after not having any consecutive starts all season, was saddled with his seventh loss on the year. Full recap

Checkers 5, Texas 2

The Checkers finally put an end to their skid, trouncing the Texas Stars by a score of 5-2. Their offense came out firing, outshooting the Stars 16-5 in the first frame and running out to a 2-0 lead. Rookie Patrick Brown then extended the lead 37 seconds into the second with his first pro goal. Jyrki Jokipakka cut the advantage to two shortly after, but Alex Aleardi and Trevor Carrick each lit the lamp to put Charlotte in front 5-1. Derek Meech put a dent in the lead late in regulation, but it was too little, too late, and the Checkers prevailed 5-2. Drew MacIntyre, making his return to the Charlotte crease after representing his country in the Spengler Cup, stopped 26 of 28 shots and earned his 10th win of the season. Full recap

Notables

Offensive Struggles

The Checkers' 4-1 loss to Texas on Jan. 3 marked the 13th time the club has scored one or fewer goals in their 34 games this season. Only Norfolk and Toronto have less goals than the 77 scored by the Checkers, who rank 28th in the league in terms of goals per game (2.26).

The 17 points scored by Chad LaRose and Justin Shugg is the lowest total of any players who lead their AHL team in scoring this season, making the Checkers just one of two teams in the league without a 20-point scorer. The Checkers also rank 30th on the power play with an 8.6 percent success rate.

Sunday night's 5-2 victory over Texas is hopefully a sign that the team is moving in the right direction, however, as it marked just the 6th time this season that Checkers have scored more than three goals in a game.

Shugg Leading The Way

Checkers forward Justin Shugg extended his team lead with his 12th goal of the season against Texas on Jan. 4. In just 23 games this season, the fourth-year forward, who has a goal in each of his last three outings, is now just four shy of his career high set in 75 games last season. He leads the team and continues to climb the AHL leaderboard, currently sitting tied for 14th in goals. He also ranks 9th in the AHL with a shooting percentage of 21.8.

Shugg, the Carolina Hurricanes' fourth-round pick in 2010, averaged 40 goals in each of his last two junior seasons with Windsor and Mississauga of the OHL. He won back-to-back Memorial Cups in 2009 and 2010 and, after losing in the 2011 Memorial Cup final, captured an ECHL Kelly Cup with the Florida Everblades in 2012.

Power Outage

The Checkers are 0-for-23 on the power play over their last si games since Dec. 21. It marks their second-longest drought in terms of consecutive opportunities (0-for-25 from Nov. 29-Dec. 12) and is the longest of the season in terms of consecutive games played without scoring a power-play goal.

Charlotte is just 4-for-73 on the power play (5.5 percent) over its last 19 games dating back to Nov. 22. Over the course of that time, it has fallen to 30th in the league with a season-long percentage of 8.6. With Ryan Murphy (seven points, all assists) in the NHL, no active Checker has more than four points on the power play this season (Brock McGinn and Justin Shugg).

In their previous four AHL seasons, the team never finished lower than fifth in the league in terms of power-play percentage. Their lowest-ever percentage to finish a season was 19.8 percent. The lowest recorded power-play percentage for a season in AHL history is 10.36, set by the Rochester Americans in 2001-02.

Killing Success

In contrast to their power-play woes, the Checkers are a perfect 23-for-23 on the penalty kill over their last seven games dating back to Dec. 19, marking their longest streak of the season in terms of consecutive games played without allowing a power-play goal and in terms of consecutive penalties killed. During their current stretch, the Checkers have cracked the league's top 10 with an 86.1 percent success rate over the course of the entire season.

Charlotte has also been able to produce offense while shorthanded, with their six shorthanded goals tying them for second in the league and already putting them three ahead of 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), while Greg Nemisz and Brendan Woods find themselves in a 13-way tie for second in the league with two shorthanded goals apiece.

The Checkers were one of just three AHL teams that had yet to allow a shorthanded goal before allowing their first one Sunday night.

We Meet Again

The Checkers have faced the same opponent in consecutive games 14 times this season. They are a combined 3-8-3 in the first halves of those series and a combined 7-6-1 in the second, including one instance where they won both games (against Milwaukee on Nov. 29 and 30) and three where they lost both (Grand Rapids on Oct. 17-18, San Antonio on Nov. 14-15 and Oklahoma City on Nov. 21-22).

Ranks

• Justin Shugg is tied for 14th in the AHL in goals (12)
• Kyle Hagel is tied for the AHL lead in major penalties (12)
• Chad LaRose leads the AHL in shorthanded assists (3) and is tied for second in shorthanded points (3)
• Greg Nemisz ranks fourth in the league in shooting percentage (25.0%)
• Justin Shugg ranks ninth in the AHL in shooting percentage (21.8%)
• Drew MacIntyre is sixth in the AHL in saves (605) and tied for 13th in wins (10)

Injuries

• Gabriel Desjardins - missed one game starting 1/4
• Beau Schmitz - missed 12 games starting 12/10
• Greg Nemisz - missed 13 games starting 12/8
• Brody Sutter - missed 22 games starting 11/15

Milestones

• Danny Biega played in his 100th AHL/pro game on Jan. 4
• Patrick Brown scored his first pro goal on Jan. 4
• Dennis Robertson scored his first pro goal on Dec. 31
• Justin Shugg played in his 200th pro game on Dec. 28

Transactions

Incoming

• Jan. 4 - (RW) Alex Aleardi recalled by Charlotte (AHL) from Florida (ECHL)
• Dec. 31 - (D) Austin Levi recalled by Charlotte (AHL) from Stockton (ECHL)
• Dec. 28 - (C) Brendan Woods assigned to Charlotte (AHL) from Carolina (NHL)
• Dec. 27 - (LW) Gabriel Desjardins signed to PTO from Florida (ECHL)

Outgoing

• Jan. 2 - (G) Daniel Altshuller assigned to Florida (ECHL)
• Jan. 2 - (C) A.J. Jenks released from PTO to Toledo (ECHL)
• Dec. 30 - (D) Ryan Murphy recalled by Carolina (NHL) from Charlotte (AHL)
• Dec. 30 - (D) Mike Little released from PTO to Florida (ECHL)

Coming Up

By the Numbers

Team Statistics
CATEGORY	RECORD	AHL RANK	LAST WEEK
Power play	8.6%	30th	30th
Penalty kill	86.1%	7th	13th
Goals per game	2.26	28th	29th
Shots per game	27.85	26th	26th
Goals allowed per game	2.97	t-21st	t-19th
Shots allowed per game	31.18	t-19th	17th
Penalty minutes per game	18.62	21st	24th

Team Leaders
CATEGORY	LEADER(S)
Points	Justin Shugg, Chad LaRose (17), Brendan Woods (15)
Goals	Justin Shugg (12), Greg Nemisz (8), Chad LaRose (7)
Assists	Chad LaRose (10), Brendan Woods (9), Three tied (8)
Power play goals	Justin Shugg (4)
Shorthanded goals	Greg Nemisz, Brendan Woods (2)
Game-winning goals	Greg Nemisz (2)
Shots on goal	Chad LaRose (79), Brock McGinn, Phil Di Giuseppe (76)
Penalty minutes	Kyle Hagel (80), Brendan Woods (66), Keegan Lowe (62)
Plus/minus	Dennis Robertson (+3), Beau Schmitz (+2), Three tied (+1)
Wins	Drew MacIntyre (10)
Goals-against average	Drew MacIntyre (2.56)
Save percentage	Drew MacIntyre (.917)