THREE STORYLINES
POWERING UP
The Checkers’ power play has ramped its production back up as of late. After a three-game drought – tied for their longest of the season – they have recorded a power-play goal in five consecutive games, going 6-for-23 over that stretch. They’ll look to keep that hot streak going against a Phantoms squad that ranks in the middle of the pack when it comes to the penalty kill.SHORTHANDED STRUGGLES
On the other side, the Checkers gave up another shorthanded goal in their last outing, bringing their season total to 14 – tied for the highest mark in the AHL. The Phantoms have scored seven shorthanded goals this season, tied for 13th in the league.CONDON COMES ABOARD
The Checkers saw their goaltending situation bolstered this week when Tampa Bay assigned veteran netminder Mike Condon to Charlotte. The 29-year-old has seen significant success in the NHL, but injuries have held him to just 13 games total between the NHL, AHL and ECHL since the start of the 2018-19 season. Joining Charlotte gives Condon a chance to get back to his game, while giving the Checkers an experienced piece alongside Callum Booth as both Alex Nedeljkovic and Anton Forsberg remain in the NHL with Carolina. Should he see action this weekend, he’d face a Lehigh Valley team that recently hung eight goals on Bridgeport but has just three total goals over the last two games and ranks third from the bottom in the AHL’s offensive rankings.PREVIOUS MATCHUPS
Oct. 25 – Lehigh Valley 2 at Charlotte 3 (SO)CHA Standouts: Kyle Wood (Shootout winner), Anton Forsberg (24 saves), Chase Priskie (1 shorthanded goal)
LV Standouts: Alex Lyon (35 saves), Nicolas Aube-Kubel (1 goal), Morgan Frost (1 goal)
Oct. 26 – Lehigh Valley 3 at Charlotte 2
CHA Standouts: Jake Bean (1 power-play goal), Alex Nedeljkovic (39 saves), Janne Kuokkanen (1 goal)
LV Standouts: Greg Carey (Game-winning power-play goal), Maksim Sushko (2 goals), Andy Andreoff (1 assist)
Nov. 20 – Charlotte 2 at Lehigh Valley 3
CHA Standouts: Casey Bailey (1 goal, 1 assist), Hunter Shinkaruk (1 goal, 1 assist), Steven Lorentz (1 assist)
LV Standouts: Mikhail Vorobyev (1 goal, 1 assist), Tyler Wotherspoon (2 assists), Gerry Fitzgerald (Game-winning goal)
Nov. 22 – Charlotte 4 at Lehigh Valley 5 (OT)
CHA Standouts: Janne Kuokkanen (2 assists), Jake Bean (2 goals), Brian Gibbons (2 assists)
LV Standouts: Tyler Wotherspoon (3 assists), Mark Friedman (GWG, 1 assist), David Kase (2 goals, 1 assist)
Dec. 21 – Lehigh Valley 3 at Charlotte 2
CHA Standouts: Clark Bishop (1 goal), Max McCormick (1 goal), Gustav Forsling (2 assists)
LV Standouts: Chris Bigras (2 assists), Mark Friedman (Game-winning power-play goal, 1 assist), Pascal Laberge)
Dec. 22 – Lehigh Valley 2 at Charlotte 4
CHA Standouts: Chase Priskie (Game-winning goal, 1 assist), Steven Lorentz (1 goal, 1 assist), Roland McKeown (1 assist)
LV Standouts: Tyler Wotherspoon (1 goal), Greg Carey (1 goal), Nate Prosser (1 assist)
COMING IN
CHA: 1-game losing streak, 6-3-1 in last 10LV: 2-game winless streak, 5-3-2 in last 10
WHO TO WATCH
CHA
Jake Bean - 7 points in last 7 gamesSteven Lorentz - 12 points in last 9 games
Oliwer Kaski – 3 points in last 3 games
LV
Cal O'Reilly – 5 points in last 5 gamesCarsen Twarynski – 3 goals in last 3 games
Morgan Frost – 5 points in last 6 games
TUNE IN
Tonight's game starts at 7:05 p.m. You can tune in to every broadcast this season with a subscription to the league’s streaming platform AHLTV.As always, the radio broadcast will be available via the Checkers app on iPhone or Android, or this link, so tune in and tweet Jason Shaya to let him know you’re listening!
