QUICK HITS
PLAYOFF PICTURE
The Checkers officially punched their ticket to the postseason over the weekend, but there is plenty still to be decided over these final three games.The whole Atlantic Division situation is spelled out here, but it essentially boils down to this - Lehigh Valley, Springfield and Charlotte (80 points in 69 games) and Hartford (79 points in 70 games) have all clinched playoff spots but are fighting for the third through sixth seeds, with the third and fourth-place teams earning home-ice advantage during the first round of the playoffs.
The Checkers’ final stretch of games starts Tuesday in Hershey before moving on to Lehigh Valley on Friday and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton on Saturday.
FAMILIAR FOE
Despite two days in between, the Checkers and Bears will be squaring off for the second straight contest. Hershey had the upper hand in Saturday’s matchup, beating Charlotte 5-2 - moving the Checkers to a 4-3-0-0 record head-to-head with the Bears this season.Across the seven meetings this season, there has only been one instance of either side winning consecutive matchups, when Charlotte earned victories in each of the first two contests in October.
IN A SLUMP
The Checkers have had a hard time staying in the win column as of late. Charlotte has just one regulation win in its last eight contests, posting a 1-5-2-0 record and surrendering at least five goals in five different games over that stretch. On the other side, Hershey is catching fire down the stretch. The Bears are 9-1-0-2 over their last 12 games and have surged to the top of the Eastern Conference standings.CARLSSON KEEPS RACKING UP POINTS
Lucas Carlsson added another accolade to his resume over the weekend, breaking Bobby Sanguinetti’s franchise record for points in a season by a defenseman with his 51st on the year. The Swede is one of four blue liners to break the 50-point mark this season, and since Jan. 14 only six players across the AHL have scored more points than Carlsson, who has posted 37 points in 34 games over that stretch.COMING IN
CLT: 1-2-2-0 in last five gamesHER: 4-1-0-0 in last five games
WHO TO WATCH
CLT
Riley Nash - 6 points in last 6 gamesGerry Mayhew - 5 points in last 6 games
Lucas Carlsson - 24 points in last 19 games
HER
Shane Gersich - 3 points in last 3 gamesJoe Snively - 11 points in last 12 games
Hendrix Lapierre - 6 points in last 6 games
TUNE IN
Tonight's game starts at 7 p.m. You can tune in to the broadcast with a subscription to the league’s streaming platform AHLTV - home broadcast only.The radio broadcast will be available via the Checkers app on iPhone or Android.
Additionally, our friends over at Ed's Tavern on 2200 Park Road are going to be showing the game on their TVs!
