Game Preview: Checkers at Lehigh Valley (April 14, 2023)

Details
The Checkers are heading into their final weekend of the regular season, taking on the Phantoms and Penguins in a pair of contests with a lot on the line.

QUICK HITS

PLAYOFF PICTURE

Spots three through six in the Atlantic Division remain up for grabs here in the final days of the season. Here’s how that part of the standings looks:
  • 3. CLT - 82 points, two games left
  • 4. LV - 80 points, two games left
  • 5. SPR - 80 points, three games left
  • 6. HFD - 79 points, two games left
Thanks to Bridgeport’s win over Lehigh Valley on Wednesday, the Checkers are in a position to officially claim home-ice advantage in the opening round of the playoffs (by virtue of being the third or fourth seed) with a win of any kind against the Phantoms on Friday.

AGAINST THE PHANTOMS

Tonight marks the eighth and final time that the Checkers and Phantoms face off. Charlotte currently holds a 3-4-0-0 record and has won two of the last three meetings, but Lehigh Valley had the upper hand in the most recent matchup a week ago and claimed a 5-2 victory.

Across all the tilts this season, the Checkers have yet to beat the Phantoms in Pennsylvania thus far.

CARLSSON KEEPS DELIVERING

Lucas Carlsson continues to be a historic producer on the blue line for Charlotte. Already with franchise records in goals (19) and points (52) by a defenseman in a single season, he needs one more tally to become just the 10th AHL defenseman since 2004-05 to hit the 20-goal mark.

Carlsson enters the weekend on a five-game point streak, and over the last 20 contests he has only been held off the scoresheet three times.

NASH NEARS HISTORY

After racking up back-to-back two-assist nights, Riley Nash enters the weekend with eight points over his last seven contests. The veteran forward leads the Checkers in scoring with 58 points in 65 games, and if he were to collect two more points over the final two games he would become the eighth player in franchise history to reach the 60-point mark.

POWER OUTAGE

The Checkers have had a tough go on the penalty kill as of late. Following Tuesday’s contest in which Hershey went 2-for-2 on the man advantage, the Checkers have now surrendered five power-play goals over their last eight times shorthanded.

On the flip side, the Checkers had their most prolific power-play outing on Tuesday with a 3-for-4 showing, giving them seven power-play goals over the last five games.

COMING IN

CLT: 2-2-1-0 in last five games

LV: 3-2-0-0 in last five games

WHO TO WATCH

CLT

Cory Conacher - 4 points in last 3 games

Riley Nash - 8 points in last 7 games

Lucas Carlsson - 9 points in last 8 games

LV

Garrett Wilson - 4 points in last 4 games

Bobby Brink - 6 points in last 6 games

Adam Brooks - 8 points in last 4 games

TUNE IN

Tonight's game starts at 7:05 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.