Weekly Report: January 4, 2016

The Checkers have come out of the holiday break just as hot as they went in, running their point streak to a franchise record 10 games.

They will wrap up their California road trip this weekend with a pair of matchups in San Diego before returning to Charlotte for a long home stand.

Week in Review

Checkers 4, San Jose 1

The Checkers came out of the holiday break just as hot as they went into it, routing the Barracuda by a score of 4-1. After fighting through a tightly contested first two periods that saw them trailing 1-0, the Checkers exploded in the third, racking up three tallies in the first half of the frame before sealing the blowout win with an empty netter. Full recap

San Jose 3, Checkers 2 (SO)

Two days later the teams met again for another matinee tilt. Sergey Tolchinsky got the visitors on the board first, but the Barracuda netted the next two strikes to put the Checkers' streak in danger late in the third. But a back-door one-timer by Jake Chelios on a late power play knotted the game and salvaged a point for Charlotte. After a scoreless overtime, the Barracuda prevailed in the shootout, with Bryan Lerg pulling off a nifty deke to earn the home team two points in the standings. Full recap

Checkers 4, Ontario 2

Continuing along on their inaugural trip to California, the Checkers traveled to face Ontario, who had decidedly defeated them twice in Charlotte early in December. The Checkers fared much better in the rematch, however, coming away with a wire-to-wire victory. Two markers late in the first pushed the Checkers on top and they never let go, holding on to extend their win streak to a franchise record nine games. Rasmus Tirronen made his first appearance in the crease since getting shelled by the Reign on Dec. 6 and was stellar, making 35 saves and earning the win. Full recap

Checkers 2, Ontario 0

Wrapping up their season series one day later, the Checkers again downed the Pacific Division-leading Reign. Charlotte's power play was lethal, converting twice to build a lead over the ome team, then it was Daniel Altshuller who shut things down continued to be lights out between the pipes. Altshuller turned aside all 25 shots he faced, earning the first shutout by a Checkers' goalie since April of 2014. Full recap

Three Stars Of The Week

Notables

The Streak Rolls On

With Sunday's win over Ontario, the Checkers have earned at least one point in the standings in each of their last 10 games, giving them the longest active point streak in the AHL. Several teams have registered 10-game point streaks this season, but only four (W-B/Scranton, Toronto, Milwaukee and Grand Rapids) have made it to 11, and of those only the Griffins have gone beyond that.

Along with their overall streak, the Checkers have been racking up an impressive resume away from home. They have earned a point in each of their last seven road contests, putting them one shy of the franchise record set in the 2010-11 season, and their 12 road wins are the second-most in the AHL, trailing only the leaue-leading Toronto Marlies. By comparison, the Checkers won 12 road games all of last season.

Playoff Position

Sitting even a .500 at the time of their last regulation loss on Dec. 6, the Checkers' have stormed their way up the standings with a winning percentage of .613. For the first time since Halloween, fourth-place Charlotte sits in a playoff spot in the ridiculously tough Central Division, as the new AHL format takes the top four in each division to the playoffs.

With the exception of second-place Ontario, Central Division teams currently occupy four of the top five spots in the Western Conference. Similarly, the Checkers sit eighth in the AHL's overall standings, despite being fourth in their division and fifth in their conference.

All In On Altshuller

When the Checkers recalled him from Florida in mid-December, Daniel Altshuller was the hottest goalie in the ECHL, leading the league in goals-against average and save percentage and earning Goaltender of the Month honors. Still, it would have been tough to predict the monster start to his AHL career that Altshuller is currently having in Charlotte. The young netminder broke John Muse's record for the best six-game start in team history, going 5-0-1 out of the gates. Altshuller has been superb between the pipes, registering a 1.47 goals-against average and a .947 save percentage through six games, as well as recording the Checkers' first shutout since the 2013-14 campaign on Sunday.

Tolchinsky Finding His Groove

After navigating through some rookie season ups and downs, it looks like Sergey Tolchinsky has started to find his scoring touch at this level. The 20-year-old has put up five points in his last three games, including a goal in each contest. Currently sitting at 14 points, Tolchinsky is on pace to become the seventh rookie in team history to record 30 points in a season, following the trio of Brock McGinn, Trevor Carrick and Phil Di Giuseppe, who all did it last year.

Ryan Racking Up The Points

Despite a mini-slump that saw him go scoreless in consecutive games for the first time this season, Derek Ryan has been the cornerstone of the Checkers' offense this season. His 30 points are the most by a Checker through the first 32 games of a season since the 2010-11 campaign when Jerome Samson and Zach Boychuk had 34 and 32, respectively. Ryan also joined Samson as the only players in franchise history to enter the new calendar year ranked in the top 10 in AHL scoring.

Holiday Hot Streak

The Checkers have historically struggled upon returning from the AHL's holiday break, but that isn't the case this season. They have come back 3-0-1 and are in position to achieve their best five-game stretch following the break in the team's AHL history, set in 2011-12 when they went 4-1-0.

Hensick Heating Up

It may have taken few games, but T.J. Hensick is back to his point-producing self. One of the Checkers' biggest offseason acquisitions, Hensick missed 11 games due to injury early on this season. He was scoreless in his first three contests after returning to game action, but has since recorded a point in six straight, matching Derek Ryan for the longest point streak on the team this season. He still has a ways to go to catch the franchise record, however, as Ryan Murphy scored in 12 straight games in 2013-14.

Ranks

• Derek Ryan is tied for sixth in the AHL in scoring (30)
• Kyle Hagel is tied for second in the AHL in major penalties (8)
• Trevor Carrick is eighth among AHL defensemen in scoring (21) and tied for fourth in goals (7)

Injuries

• Brendan Woods missed nine games from 12/6 to 12/30
• Carter Sandlak missed seven games starting 12/17
• Drew MacIntyre missed two games starting 1/2

Milestones

• Danny Biega recorded his 150th AHL/pro penalty minute at ONT on 1/3
• T.J. Hensick played in his 600th pro game at SJ on 12/30
• Mike Cornell scored his 50th pro point at SJ on 12/28

Transactions

Incoming

• December 26 - (C) Ethan Werek signed to PTO

Outgoing

• January 3 - (LW) Brock McGinn recalled by Carolina (NHL)

Coming Up

By the Numbers

Team Statistics
CATEGORY	RECORD	AHL RANK	LAST WEEK
Power play	20.4%	6th	6th
Penalty kill	83.8%	15th	17th
Goals per game	3.09	6th	t-6th
Shots per game	30.31	9th	9th
Goals allowed per game	2.91	16th	t-22nd
Shots allowed per game	28.72	11th	11th
Penalty minutes per game	14.69	15th	12th

Team Leaders
CATEGORY	LEADER(S)
Points	Derek Ryan (30), Trevor Carrick (21), Justin Shugg (18)
Goals	Derek Ryan (12), Trevor Carrick (7), Justin Shugg (6)
Assists	Derek Ryan (18), Trevor Carrick (14), Zach Boychuk, Justin Shugg (12)
Power play goals	Derek Ryan (4), Trevor Carrick, Justin Shugg (3)
Shorthanded goals	Patrick Brown, David Wohlberg (1)
Game-winning goals	Derek Ryan (3), Zach Boychuk (2)
Shots on goal	Zach Boychuk (95), Derek Ryan (73), Trevor Carrick (69)
Penalty minutes	Kyle Hagel (64), Mike Cornell (52), Danny Biega (40)
Plus/minus	Derek Ryan, Danny Biega (+5), Three tied (+3)
Wins	Drew MacIntyre (9)
Goals-against average	Daniel Altshuller (1.47)
Save percentage	Daniel Altshuller (.947)