Weekly Report: March 14, 2016

With a revamped roster, the Checkers broke out of their slump and rolled along to a perfect 4-0-0 week, including a weekend sweep of the then-division leading Rockford IceHogs.

The Checkers won't see much down time this week, as they immediately head out for a six-game road trip starting Tuesday in Rockford.

Week in Review

Checkers 3, Chicago 2 (SO)

In the first game after the AHL trade deadline shook up their lineup, the Checkers battled through a tight contest with Chicago and emerged with a slump-busting two points. The two squads traded goals, with Andre Benoit’s strike midway through the third tying the game at two and forcing overtime. After an extra period filled with great chances and near misses, the game proceeded to a shootout. Brody Sutter was the lone goal scorer for Charlotte, while John Muse turned aside all three of the attempts he faced, earning his first win since rejoining the Checkers from Texas. Full recap

Checkers 3, Chicago 1

In the rematch two days later, the Checkers again stifled the Wolves, holding their opponent to a franchise record 16 shots on goal. Still, they found themselves tied 1-1 in the final five minutes of the second before Kyle Hagel ripped a wrister from the slot for what would hold up as the game-winning goal. Blair Jones added an insurance marker early on in the third to seal the Checkers’ second straight victory over the Wolves. Full recap

Checkers 6, Rockford 3

The Checkers’ busy week rolled on as they welcomed the streaking first-place IceHogs to town. Charlotte took control early on, however, scoring twice in the first three minutes of play and adding two more to carry a commanding 4-1 lead into the first intermission. Justin Shugg, who finished with a game-best three points on the night, added one more for the home team to give them a 5-1 advantage after 40 minutes. The IceHogs attempted a comeback, narrowing the lead to two with a pair of quick strikes late in regulation, but the Checkers squashed the rally and Patrick Brown found an empty net to put the 6-3 Charlotte victory on ice. Full recap

Checkers 4, Rockford 1

The IceHogs didn’t take kindly to their shellacking the night before, and came out firing in the next day’s rematch, finding the scoreboard less than one minute into the contest. The Checkers found the equalizer later in the frame, however, and Andrew Miller added a breakaway goal in the second to give the home team a one-goal lead heading into the final 20 minutes. Rockford pushed back in the third, but John Muse and the Checkers stood strong. The desperate IceHogs pulled their goalie for an extra attacker late in regulation but the Checkers made them pay, with Blair Jones and Derek Ryan each finding the empty net to extend the lead to 4-1, giving Charlotte its fourth consecutive victory and putting the Checkers back in a playoff spot. Full recap

Three Stars Of The Week

Notables

On A Roll

Sunday's 4-1 romp over Rockford marked the fourth consecutive win for the Checkers, the first time the team has won more than two consecutive games since Jan. 13-17. That matches their longest win streak of the season, set twice previously on Dec. 17-28 and Jan. 2-9. Immediately prior to this streak, the Checkers had just two wins in their last 17 outings.

Playoff Picture

Sunday's win, coupled with a San Jose's 4-1 last to Ontario, put the Checkers back into a playoff spot. With this season's new postseason format, which allows for crossover between the divisions, the Checkers are currently in the fourth spot in the Pacific.

New Blood

The Checkers' lineup looked vastly different before and after the NHL and AHL trade deadlines. Drew MacIntyre, Zach Boychuk and T.J. Hensick were all sent to other teams, while the Checkers brought on John Muse, Dennis Robertson, Dane Fox, Andrew Poturalski, Andrew Miller and Blair Jones.

All of those new faces were integral parts of the Checkers’ perfect week. Muse, who has started each of the team’s last five games, went 4-0-0 last week while logging a goals-against average of 1.72 and a save percentage of .920. Jones put up four points (3g, 1a) in the four games, including a two-goal performance against the Wolves on Thursday, while Miller has notched two goals, including last night’s game winner.

Poturalski, a highly-touted college prospect who decided to sign with Carolina earlier last week, made his pro debut Saturday against Rockford and scored his first pro goal and Robertson, in his return to Charlotte after being traded to the Chicago organization over the offseason, came up with three helpers last week. Fox appeared in his second AHL game, and first with Charlotte, and recorded his first AHL point with an assist, but suffered an injury that has sidelined him for the last two contests.

Offensive Outburst

The Checkers’ six goals scored against Rockford on Saturday was their most in a game since Jan. 23 and fifth time scoring six or more goals this season (they twice scored seven). It was also the fourth time they have scored four or more goals in a period this season and first since Dec. 28. All of the team’s other four-goal periods, including a season-high, six-goal outburst on Nov. 28, took place in the third.

Last week’s wins saw the Checkers’ offense come to life as a whole. They have scored three or more goals in each of their last four games, something that they only did twice in the 15 games immediately prior to that.

Suffocating Defense

The Checkers have been just as strong on the other side of the ice during this hot stretch, stifling both the Wolves and the IceHogs en route to wins. Charlotte has held their opponent to two or fewer goals in regulation in five of their last seven contests, including two of their last three.

Getting To Know The IceHogs

Rockford came to Charlotte this past weekend as the leaders of the Central Division and one of the top teams in the Western Conference. With their weekend sweep the Checkers are now 2-1-0 against the IceHogs. Thanks to some quirks in the schedule, they will get very familiar with the Chicago Blackhawks affiliate, as they will face them four more times this season, including this current stretch where the two clubs will play four times in six nights.

5-On-5 Production

One of the Checkers’ biggest issues during their recent slump was an inability to score at 5-on-5. While it is a small sample size, this past week saw the team shake that problem, recording 10 5-on-5 non-empty net goals in their last four games. By comparison, the Checkers had 10 in their previous 12 games prior to that stretch.

Fourth Line On Fire

With the influx of new players on the roster, head coach Mark Morris has had to shuffle the lines a bit. One of the moves he made was putting Patrick Brown on the fourth line alongside Kyle Hagel and David Wohlberg prior to the Chicago game on Tuesday. In the four games since, the trio has caught fire. Brown has five points in those four games, putting him on a career-best point streak, while Wohlberg has recorded a goal and an assist over that stretch, extending his career-highs in goals, assists and points. Hagel continues to have his best offensive season since his rookie campaign, and has excelled with the addition of Brown to his line, currently in the midst of a career-best three game point streak.

Ranks

• Kyle Hagel is tied for the league lead in major penalties (15)
• John Muse ranks 19th in the AHL in goals-against average
• Trevor Carrick is tied for sixth among AHL defensemen in scoring (37), tied for second in power-play assists (17) and third in power-play points (21)
• Mike Cornell is tied for second among AHL defensemen in major penalties (11)

Injuries

• Danny Biega missed 29 games starting 1/8
• Brock McGinn missed two games starting 3/8
• Dane Fox missed two games starting 3/8
• Rasmus Rissanen missed two games from 3/8-3/10

Transactions

Incoming

• March 13 - (LW) Erik Karlsson recalled by Charlotte
• March 12 - (LW) Brendan Woods assigned to Charlotte

Outgoing

• March 13 - (C) Brody Sutter recalled by Carolina

Coming Up

By the Numbers

Team Statistics
CATEGORY	RECORD	AHL RANK	LAST WEEK
Power play	21.0%	2nd	2nd
Penalty kill	84.1%	12th	15th
Goals per game	2.87	t-11th	17th
Shots per game	30.34	11th	11th
Goals allowed per game	3.02	19th	21st
Shots allowed per game	28.92	8th	8th
Penalty minutes per game	14.64	16th	15th

Team Leaders
CATEGORY	LEADER(S)
Points	Derek Ryan (43), Andrew Miller (41), Trevor Carrick (37)
Goals	Derek Ryan (18), Andrew Miller (17), Brock McGinn (14)
Assists	Trevor Carrick (28), Derek Ryan (25), Andrew Miller (24)
Power play goals	Brock McGinn, Derek Ryan (7), Andrew Miller (5)
Shorthanded goals	Patrick Brown, David Wohlberg, Brody Sutter (1)
Game-winning goals	Andrew Miller (5), Derek Ryan (4)
Shots on goal	Derek Ryan (134), Trevor Carrick (132), Andrew Miller (109)
Penalty minutes	Kyle Hagel (127), Mike Cornell (104), Keegan Lowe (65)
Plus/minus	Dennis Robertson (+16), Valentin Zykov (+7), Brendan Woods (+6)
Wins	John Muse (13)
Goals-against average	John Muse (2.65)
Save percentage	Daniel Altshuller (.911)