Weekly Report: March 9, 2015

After putting an end to a tough losing streak on the road, the Checkers kept the momentum going, taking two of three games at home this week.

In addition to their current hot streak, the Checkers have been exceptional at home as of late. They have won 5 of their last six games at Time Warner Cable Arena, and fell one shy of matching the franchise record for the longest home winning streak.

The Checkers will have a chance to continue that home dominance this week when they host the Grand Rapids Griffins to close out a five-game home stand. Following that, the team will take off on its longest road trip of the season, starting Saturday in Oklahoma City.

Week in Review

Checkers 3, San Antonio 2 (SO)

After ending their dissapointing Canadian road trip on the right foot with a win over Hamilton, the Checkers returned home to face a tough San Antonio Rampage team. Strikes from Zach Boychuk and Trevor Carrick gave the Checkers a 2-1 lead midway through the third period, but Shane O'Brien evened things up and pushed the game to overtime. Following the scoreless overtime, the game proceeded to a shootout, where the goalies took over the spotlight. Drew MacIntyre and Michael Houser each stopped the first five opposing shooters, but Danny Biega pulled out a nifty deke in the sixth round to beat the Rampage netminder. With the game on the line, MacIntyre stonewalled Corban Knight and clinched the two points for his team. The win marked Charlotte's fourth straight on home ice, putting them one shy of the franchise record. Full recap

San Antonio 5, Checkers 2

One day later in the rematch, the Checkers were unable to duplicate their success. Boychuk and Carrick again lit the lamp to give Charlotte a 2-1 lead heading into the second period. But the Rampage would respond with four unanswered markers of their own, two in the second and two in the third, to roll to a lopsided victory. John Muse made 27 save between the pipes, but took his second loss in three starts.Full recap

Checkers 4, Norfolk 2

After a few days to regroup from the loss to San Antonio, the Checkers welcomed the Norfolk Admirals to town for the final time and put themselves back on the right track. The home team roared out to a hot start, racking up a 3-0 lead less than six minutes into the middle frame. But, as they have many times this season, the Checkers let their opponent creep back into the game. The Admirals struck twice in the second to pull within one heading into the final period. Norfolk continued to press in the third, outshooting the Checkers 17-4, but Charlotte stood strong and held them off. Alex Aleardi found the back of the net in the latter stages of regulation to seal the two goal victory for the Checkers. The win gave them five in their last six home contests. Full recap

Notables

Home Cooking

A 5-2 loss to San Antonio on Friday snapped the Checkers' four-game winning streak at home. That tied their longest home winning streak of the season and put them one shy of the franchise record set from Nov. 20-30, 2011. Their home record is now firmly above .500 at 15-12-2.

Despite that setback, the Checkers rebounded Sunday and took down the Norfolk Admirals to give them five wins in their last six home games. This week's two-games series with Grand Rapids will close out a five-game home stand. Following their longest road trip of the season, the Checkers will return to Charlotte for their final home stand of the year, a season-long six-game stretch.

Meanwhile, the Checkers lost three games of a four-game trip to Canada last week and are now 7-18-4 on the road, with their 18 points earned away from home marking the fewest of any AHL team.

Boychuk's Back

Reigning AHL goal-scoring champion Zach Boychuk has found his scoring touch of late with six goals and nine points in his last ten games. That gives him three more points than he scored in his first 13 games following his reassignment from Carolina on Jan. 8.

Five of Boychuk's 10 goals this season have come on the power play, putting him one behind Chad LaRose for the team lead in that category and making him responsible for 18.5 percent of the team's total (27 goals) despite playing in only 25 games. Boychuk led the AHL with 18 power-play goals last season, with that total accounting for exactly half of his team-record 36 on the campaign.

Boychuk is the Checkers' all-time leader with 112 goals and 51 power-play goals in 267 games played. He is currently riding a four-game point streak, tied for the longest active streak on the team.

Carrick Lights It Up

Rookie defenseman Trevor Carrick has foudn his scoring touch as of late, recording five points (2g, 3a) in his last four games. His four-game point streak is tied with Zach Boychuk for the longest current streak on the team and is the second-longest by a Checkers defenseman this season.

Carrick currently leads all Checkers defenemen in goals (6) and points (19) and is tied for seventh among AHL rookie blue liners in scoring.
A fourth-round pick in 2012, the 20-year-old put up 51 points in his final season of junior last year, split between Mississauga and Sudbury, and ranked second among OHL defensemen in goals (22).

Powering Up

The Checkers have scored a power-play goal in six of their last seven games, going 6-for-28 (21.4 percent) during that time. As a result, their power play has risen out of the league's last spot it had occupied for several months and now ranks 28th in the AHL at 11.8 percent.

Killing It

Shane O'Brien's power-play goal in the Checkers' game against San Antonio on March 4 ended a streak in which the Checkers killed 20 consecutive penalties. The streak, which contained seven full games without a power-play goal allowed since Feb. 16, was the team's second-longest streak of the season. The Checkers killed 25 consecutive penalties from Dec. 19-Jan. 7.

In their first game since the end of the streak against San Antonio on Thursday, the Checkers went 10-for-11 on the penalty kill, making them 31-for-33 since Feb. 16.

Charlotte's penalty kill ranks 11th in the league at 85.5 percent. The Checkers are tied for sixth in the league with seven shorthanded goals, which are two behind the league lead and four more than their AHL-low total from all of last season.

Shootout Success

The Checkers' four shootout victories this season (4-1 record) are tied for the second-highest total in the league behind San Antonio and Lehigh Valley (both 5-1).

Charlotte has accomplished that feat despite scoring just five goals on 23 attempts (.217, 21st AHL). Meanwhile, their goaltending tandem of Drew MacIntyre (19 saves on 20 attempts) and John Muse (three saves on four attempts) has given the Checkers the fourth-best save percentage in the league at .916 percent. In MacIntyre's only shootout loss of the season, he stopped seven of eight while receiving no goals of support. MacIntyre is tied for third in the AHL with three shootout victories, having stopped all comers in each win.

Ranks

• Kyle Hagel is tied for second in the AHL in major penalties (19)
• Chad LaRose is tied for the AHL lead in shorthanded assists (3) and shorthanded points (4)
• Greg Nemisz leads the AHL in shooting percentage (25.0%)
• Drew MacIntyre ranks second in the AHL in sasve (1,107) and fifth in minutes (2,242)
• Phil Di Giuseppe ranks sixth among AHL rookies in shots
• Trevor Carrick is tied for seventh among rookie defensemen in scoring (19)

Injuries

• Keegan Lowe - missed four game starting 2/27
• Chad LaRose - missed six games starting 2/25
• Gabriel Desjardins - missed 26 game starting 1/4
• Greg Nemisz - missed 38 games starting 12/8 (out for season)

Milestones

• Mike Cornell recorded his 250th pro PIM on 3/4
• Patrick Brown had his first pro fight on 3/8

Transactions

Incoming

• Mar. 3- (D) Austin Levi recalled to Charlotte (AHL) from Stockton (ECHL)
• Mar. 3 - (C) Sean Dolan signed to PTO from South Carolina (ECHL)

Outgoing

• Mar. 3 - (D) Rasmus Rissanen recalled by Carolina (NHL)

Coming Up

By the Numbers

Team Statistics
CATEGORY	RECORD	AHL RANK	LAST WEEK
Power play	11.8%	28th	30th
Penalty kill	85.5%	11th	9th
Goals per game	2.24	29th	29th
Shots per game	29.15	21st	22nd
Goals allowed per game	3.02	t-22nd	22nd
Shots allowed per game	32.93	27th	27th
Penalty minutes per game	17.92	22nd	22nd

Team Leaders
CATEGORY	LEADER(S)
Points	Justin Shugg, Chad LaRose (31), Brendan Woods, Phil Di Giuseppe (21)
Goals	Chad LaRose, Justin Shugg (16), Alex Aleardi (11)
Assists	Chad LaRose, Justin Shugg (15), Phil Di Giuseppe (14)
Power play goals	Chad LaRose (6)
Shorthanded goals	Greg Nemisz, Brendan Woods (2)
Game-winning goals	Chad LaRose (3)
Shots on goal	Chad LaRose (144), Phil Di Giuseppe (131), Brock McGinn (125)
Penalty minutes	Kyle Hagel (137), Keegan Lowe (102), Mike Cornell (89)
Plus/minus	Dennis Robertson (+4), Greg Nemisz (+1), Sean Dolan (E)
Wins	Drew MacIntyre (16)
Goals-against average	Drew MacIntyre (2.70)
Save percentage	Drew MacIntyre (.916)