The Checkers will get their top two scorers back for at least part of a crucial three-in-three set this weekend.
The Carolina Hurricanes reassigned forwards Zach Boychuk and Chris Terry to the Checkers on Friday morning after the two played together in Thursday’s 4-1 win over the Dallas Stars.
Terry recorded his first two NHL assists in that game, both on the power play, while playing his second straight game on a line with Carolina captain Eric Staal. Boychuk, the reigning AHL Player of the Month who joined the team earlier that day, did not record a point in a fourth-line role.
The two are now expected to join the Checkers for their three-game set that starts Friday in San Antonio and continues with back-to-back games against the Oklahoma City Barons, who trail the Checkers by just two points for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference, on Saturday and Sunday.
It is not clear when Boychuk and Terry, who recently posted the top two scoring months in Checkers history with 22 and 20 points in March, respectively, will be available to play, as suiting up for each game this weekend would mean four games in four nights. Should they not play against the Rampage, the Checkers would likely have to use seven defensemen, with just 11 forwards making the trip on Thursday.
Boychuk, who used his third hat trick of the season and a franchise-record, five-point night to take the AHL’s Player of the Month award, leads the Checkers and ranks tied for fourth in the AHL with 67 points. He is tied for first in the AHL with 32 goals and leads the league with 16 on the power play. He and Terry, who ranks sixth in league scoring and fourth with 34 points on the power play, have each broken the Checkers’ franchise record of 65 points set by Boychuk in the 2010-11 campaign.
