Weekly Report: On A Skid

Details
The Checkers started off the week on a high note by snapping their losing skid in the road-trip finale, but fell back into a rut with a pair of losses to the Bruins over the weekend.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

Team Statistics

  • Overall record
    21-20-4-0
  • Home record
    11-11-2-0
  • Road record
    10-9-2-0
  • Last week's record
    1-2-0-0
  • Last 10 games
    3-7-0-0
  • Division Standings
    6th
  • Conference Standings
    8th
  • League Standings
    16th

Checkers 4, Wolf Pack 2

The Checkers wrapped up what had been a tough road trip with an impressive win over a division rival in Hartford. Gerry Mayhew stepped up to deliver the game-winner with five minutes to go in regulation, and the victory stood as the 500th in franchise history.

Bruins 4, Checkers 2

The Checkers returned home but couldn’t replicate the success of their last outing. Charlotte erased a two-goal deficit in the middle frame courtesy of Mike Benning and Skyler Brind’Amour to deadlock things, but the Bruins pulled away with a pair of unanswered tallies in the third to claim the win.

Bruins 4, Checkers 2

The Bruins again found themselves ahead early in Saturday’s rematch, and the Checkers couldn’t never quite close the gap all the way - twice pulling within a goal but ultimately falling short and suffering a sweep at the hands of Providence.

QUICK HITS

TOUGH STRETCH

The Checkers have had a rough go of things as of late. After defeating the Amerks at the Queen City Outdoor Classic on Jan. 13, the Checkers have lost seven of their last eight games while being outscored 32-10 in those defeats.

BATTLE FOR THE ATLANTIC

The Atlantic Division remains one of the tightest divisions in the AHL, and the Checkers continue to be right in the thick of the race. They currently sit in sixth place - the final playoff spot - but trail the fifth-place Thunderbirds by just a single point (Springfield sports a 3-7-0-0 record in its last 10 games, an identical mark to Charlotte). On the other side, the seventh-place Phantoms trail the Checkers by three points - though they have two games in hand over Charlotte - and the cellar-dwelling Islanders sit 15 points behind the Checkers.

Of the 27 games left on Charlotte’s schedule, 25 are against Atlantic Division foes and nine are against either Springfield or Lehigh Valley.

SEARCHING FOR OFFENSE

A scoring drought has played a big part in Charlotte’s current struggles. The team has scored two or fewer goals in seven of the last eight games - all of which have been losses.

Through 45 games this season the Checkers have been held to two or fewer goals 24 times and have a 2-19-3-0 record. When hitting the three-goal threshold, the Checkers are 19-1-1-0.

CARLSSON KEEPS DELIVERING

Lucas Carlsson continues to shine as one of the league’s most productive blue liners. A year after tying for the league lead in goals by a defenseman and earning a spot on the AHL’s Second All-Star Team, Carlsson is once again atop the goal-scoring leaderboard at his position - while his 176 shots on goal are 18 more than any other skater in the league.

HIGHLIGHT OF THE WEEK

With this goal, Zac Dalpe surpassed Zach Boychuk to become the leading goal scorer in franchise history!

Transactions

Incoming

  • None

Outgoing

  • Jan. 30 – Mark Senden assigned to Florida (ECHL)

By the Numbers

CATEGORY RECORD AHL RANK
Power play 15.9% 29th
Penalty kill 84.5% 5th
Goals per game 2.84 24th
Shots per game 31.33 5th
Goals allowed per game 3.11 17th
Shots allowed per game 26.82 4th
Penalty minutes per game 11.27 26th

LEADERS

CATEGORY LEADER(S)
Points Lucas Carlsson (31), Mackie Samoskevich (26), Rasmus Asplund (24)
Goals Lucas Carlsson (14), Mackie Samoskevich, Zac Dalpe (11)
Assists Rasmus Asplund (18), Lucas Carlsson (17), Mackie Samoskevich, Patrick Khodorenko (15)
Power play goals Zac Dalpe (5), Justin Sourdif, Lucas Carlsson (4)
Shorthanded goals Justin Sourdif, Patrick Giles (1)
Game-winning goals Lucas Carlsson (5), Gerry Mayhew (4), Patrick Khodorenko, Santtu Kinnunen (2)
Shots on goal Lucas Carlsson (176), Zac Dalpe (104), Rasmus Asplund (85)
Penalty minutes Lucas Carlsson (50), Riley Bezeau (49), Justin Sourdif (38)
Plus/minus Patrick Khodorenko (+8), Patrick Giles (+3), Dennis Cesana, Matt Kiersted (+2)
Wins Spencer Knight (14)
Goals-against average Mack Guzda (2.02), Spencer Knight (2.76), Ludovic Waeber (3.09)
Save percentage Mack Guzda (.930), Spencer Knight (.895), Ludovic Waeber (.887)