Weekly Report: October 19, 2015

The Checkers' two games this week produced results on opposite ends of the spectrum. They started out by crushing the Milwaukee Admirals, but were then handed their first loss in a lopsided affair in Chicago the next night.

After a few days off, the Checkers will continue their long road trip with a visit to Grand Rapids on Wednesday, kicking off a stretch where they play every other day for the rest of the month.

Week in Review

Checkers 7, Chicago 2

The Checkers rolled into Milwaukee for the first time this season with momentum on their side and proceeded to steamroll the Admirals by a score of 7-2. Charlotte had jumped out front 2-0 before Patrick Brown netted a pair of goals to double the Checkers' advantage. The Admirals finally found the score sheet early in the third and then added another later in the frame to pull within striking distance, but the Checkers stomped out any hopes of a comeback with two empty-net tallies before Erik Karlsson put the final nail in the coffin with his first North American goal in the waning seconds. The win marked the first time in the franchise's six-year AHL history that the Checkers have started a season with three consecutive wins.Full recap

Chicago 9, Checkers 5

The Checkers couldn't keep their hot streak going the next night in Chicago, however, dropping a wild contest 9-5. After falling behind 3-1 in the first period and seeing a goalie change, the Checkers pulled within one thanks to a Trevor Carrick bomb from the point. The Wolves quickly struck twice in the final minutes of the frame, however, and twice more in the second to enter the third period with a sizeable 7-2 advantage. Charlotte tried to get a rally going with three goals of their own in the final frame, but Chicago countered with two insurance markers to put away the game and hand the Checkers their first loss of the season.Full recap

Three Stars Of The Week

Notables

Best Start...Ever!

Friday's win marked the first time in the franchise's six-year AHL history that the Checkers have won each of their first three contests.

With that milestone completed, the team will now try to match their best 10-game start ever, set in 2012-13 when they went 7-2-0-1. Last season saw the Checkers get off to their worst ever start, going 3-7-0-0 through their first 10 games.

Morris Climbs The Ladder

Mark Morris earned his 341st AHL win on Sunday, giving him sole possession of ninth place all time. Morris now sits 12 shy of seventh place, though the coach currently in eight, Randy Cunneyworth, is also active behind the Rochester Americans' bench.

High-Flying Offense

The Checkers scored at least four goals 15 times and at least five goals five times throughout last season's 76-game slate. So far this season, the Checkers have put up four or more in each of their four contests and five or more in three of them.

Individually, six different skaters have four or more points thus far, with Trevor Carrick leading the way with six, and 14 skaters have more than one point. By comparison, through four games last season only four players had more than one point and no one had more than two.

That firepower hasn't made the Checkers invulnerable, however. Saturday's 9-5 loss to the Wolves marked the fourth time in the team's six years that Charlotte lost a game in which they scored at least five goals, and just the third time in regulation.

Carrick's Big Night

As mentioned above, defensemen Trevor Carrick leads the Checkers with six points through his first four games. A big chunk of that total comes from his four-point effort against the Wolves on Saturday. The second-year pro notched two goals and two assists in the loss, marking the second four-point game of his young career (the first came in the last game of the 14-15 season). Carrick is just one of three blue liners in Checkers' history to record four points in a game and the only one to do it multiple times (Bobby Sanguinetti and Marc-Andre Gragnani each accomplished the feat once during their stints in Charlotte).

Dating back to last season, Carrick now has 19 points in his last 19 games.

Rookies Making A Splash

Sergey Tolchinsky and Jaccob Slavin's rookie campaigns are off to shining starts. Each player has five points so far, the most through the first four games of any Checkers' rookie season in franchise history.

Charlotte's single-season rookie record for points is 57, set by Zac Dalpe in 2010-11, while the defensemen mark is 32, set last season by Trevor Carrick.

Stuck In The Middle

Despite having an overall goal differential of plus-five, the Checkers have struggled in the second period of games so far this season. Through four games, Charlotte has only scored in the middle frame twice, sporting a goal differential of minus-three.

Their saving grace has been their strong finishes. The Checkers have scored 12 goals in the third period this season, with a goal differential of plus-seven. Those 12 goals are the second-highest amount of goals in a sepcific period this season, trailing only Bridgeport, who have racked up 13 third period goals.

Di Giuseppe Feeling It

After a strong second half of last season that saw him surge to rank second among team rookies in scoring, Phil Di Giuseppe has started his second pro season by recording a point in each of his first four games. The forward is also leading the team in shots on goal.

Dating back to last season, Di Giuseppe now has 10 points in his last seven contests.

Boychuk On The Cusp

Already the franchise goals leader, Zach Boychuk needs just two points to surpass Chris Terry and become the Checkers’ all-time points leader. He is also 16 shy of becoming the team’s all-time leader in games played, is 12 shy in assists, is one shy in power-play points and is one game-winner away from becoming the franchise leader in those categories.

Boychuk also became the only player to play in all six of the Checkers’ season openers. Along with Rissanen, who joined the inaugural 2010-11 team in the final weeks, he is one of just two players to play at least one game with the team in all six seasons.

Ranks

• Trevor Carrick is tied for the lead among league defensemen in points (6) and goals (3), is second in power-play goals and is tied for second in power-play points
• Carrick is also tied for ninth in the AHL in scoring overall
• Jaccob Slavin is tied for fifth among AHL rookies in scoring (5) and tied for the lead in assists (5), power-play assists (2) and shorthanded assists (1)
• Slavin is also tied for fourth among AHL defensemen in scoring (5) and tied for second in assists (5)
• Sergey Tolchinsky is tied for fourth among AHL rookies in scoring
• Rasmus Rissanen is tied for fourth among league defensemen in minro penalties (4)
• Drew MacIntyre is fourth in the AHL in minutes (186)

Injuries

• Justin Shugg missed one game starting 10/17

Milestones

• Head coach Mark Morris earned his 341st AHL win on 10/16, giving him sole possession of ninth all time
• Erik Karlsson made his North American debut on 10/16 and scored his first North American goal
• Rasmus Rissanen played his 250th pro game on 10/17

Transactions

Incoming

• October 18 - (D) Brett Pesce reassigned from Carolina (NHL)

Outgoing

• October 14 - (LW) Brock McGinn recalled to Carolina (NHL)

Coming Up

By the Numbers

Team Statistics
CATEGORY	RECORD	AHL RANK	LAST WEEK
Power play	33.3%	t-5th	11th
Penalty kill	85.7%	t-12th	15th
Goals per game	5.25	3rd	7th
Shots per game	37.50	2nd	1st
Goals allowed per game	4.00	26th	t-10th
Shots allowed per game	25.00	t-5th	6th
Penalty minutes per game	10.50	7th	10th

Team Leaders
CATEGORY	LEADER(S)
Points	Trevor Carrick (6), Phil Di Giuseppe, Sergey Tolchinsky, Jaccob Slavin (5)
Goals	Trevor Carrick, Derek Ryan (3), Phil Di Giuseppe, Patrick Brown (2)
Assists	Jaccob Slavin (5), Sergey Tolchinsky (4), Four Tied (3)
Power play goals	Trevor Carrick (2), Four Tied (1)
Shorthanded goals	Patrick Brown (1)
Game-winning goals	Patrick Brown (1)
Shots on goal	Phil Di Giuseppe (16), Derek Ryan, Zach Boychuk (14)
Penalty minutes	Rasmus Rissanen (8), Trevor Carrick (7), Kyle Hagel (5)
Plus/minus	Jaccob Slavin (+3), Tyler Ganly, Carter Sandlak (+2)
Wins	Drew MacIntyre(2)
Goals-against average	Drew MacIntyre (3.87)
Save percentage	Drew MacIntyre, Rasmus Tirronen (.840)