Game Preview: Checkers at Oklahoma City (Nov. 20, 2014)

Coming off their most dominating performance of the season, the Checkers are heading down to Oklahoma City looking to keep that momentum going and earn their first win streak.

After their 6-2 shellacking of the Norfolk Admirals on Tuesday, Charlotte is hitting the road in hopes of snapping a three-game road winless streak. They will be facing a struggling Oklahoma City team that has dropped four of their last five games, with all four losses coming against division opponents.

Tonight's game is the first of 12 meetings between the Checkers and the Barons, making them Charlotte's most frequent opponent this season.

Charlotte

The Checkers are heading into the weekend with a bit of steam, having blown out the Norfolk Admirals 6-2 Tuesday night. Their ailing offense finally came to life, with four players tallying multi-point games, including Greg Nemisz notching a career-high three points (2g, 1a).

The team is coming off what head coach Jeff Daniels called their best three-game stretch of the season last weekend, a frustrating string of games that saw the team playing as well as they have all year, but not getting the reward, leaving their road-series in San Antonio with just one of four possible points in the standings.

But with the outburst that the team saw against Norfolk, the Checkers seem to be headed in the right direction.

"It's huge for the mindset in that locker room," said Daniels after Tuesday's win. "It was a matter of sticking with it and keep believing in it, and we got the result tonight."

After six straight starts in goal from Drew MacIntyre, John Muse got the nod Tuesday, stepping in and turning in a solid performance, earning his first win of the season. Coach Daniels mentioned earlier in the week that with the schedule starting to ramp up, his plan is to keep both goalies involved, and if the way that Muse played against Norfolk is any indication, that goalie tandem could be one of the Checkers strongest assets going forward.

That emerging offense will look to continue to break out agaisnt an Oklahoma City team that ranks in the bottom-five of the league is goals allowed per-game. Five different Checkers come into the game on point streaks, including Greg Nemisz, who has 12 points in his last nine games, and Chad LaRose, who has six in his last four games.

Forward Carter Sandlak will be availble to return from his four-game suspension tonight, giving the team one extra at the position even though it will likely remain without their injured foursome of Patrick Brown, Ben Holmstrom, Jared Staal and Brody Sutter.

Oklahoma City

The Barons season has been marked by streaks so far. They enter the weekend having lost four of their last five games, all to teams within the West Division, but that skid is coming fresh off the team's best stretch, where it earned a point in six consecutive games.

Oklahoma City's offensive attack has been stellar this season, as they rank second in goals per game and have the number one power play unit, as well as boasting four skaters with double-digit point totals. Jason Williams 6g, 8a) is on a point-per-game pace, with Anton Lander (4g, 9a) right behind that mark, while defenseman Mark Hunt has racked up 11 points (3g, 8a) in just six games, ranking him fifth in the AHL among defensemen in scoring despite having half as many games played.

Where the Barons have struggled has been on the defensive side of the ice. They rank 27th in goals allowed per game, 28th in shots allowed per game, and 27th in penalty killing. Richard Bachman has handled the majority of the workload in goal for the Barons and holds a goals against average of 2.72, ranking him 30th overall in the AHL.

Checkers Notes

Against Oklahoma City

Tonight marks the first of 12 meetings between the Checkers and Oklahoma City, the most matchups Charlotte has against an opponent this season. It is the 29th all-time game between the two clubs, with the Checkers holding a 17-8-3 record.

The Checkers dominated the series last season, taking eight of the 12 contests, including four of six in Oklahoma. In 14 all-time matchups at Cox Convention Center, the Checkers are 10-4-0. Justin Shugg, who is currently riding a three-game goal streak since returning from injury, had eight points in 12 games against the Barons last season, making him the highest-scoring returning player for Charlotte. On the other side, Anton Lander lit up the Checkers last season with seven points in seven games.

Checkers goalie John Muse went 5-3-0 with a 2.52 goals-against average and a .930 save percentage in last season's series. Richard Bachman was 4-4-2 with a 2.84 goals against average and a .912 save percentage in the 2013-14 series.

Nemisz On Fire

After recording one point, an assist, in his first five games, Checkers forward Greg Nemisz has posted 12 (8g, 4a) in his last nine games, including two game-winning goals. He now leads the Checkers in points (13) and goals (eight).

Since the Hurricanes acquired Nemisz from the Calgary Flames organization last season, the 24-year-old, first-round draft choice in 2008 now has 24 points (11g, 13a) in 28 games with Charlotte, giving him more points than he scored in his previous 87 games with the Abbotsford Heat (19).

The Return Of Shugg

After missing eight games following an injury at Chicago on Oct. 12, forward Justin Shugg recorded a goal in each of his last three games. He now has four goals in six games for the season, ranking him second on the team.

One of the longest tenured Checkers players (he ranks 10th in team history with 153 games played), All three of Shugg's recent goals were scored in the third period.

Righting The Ship

Despite early-season struggles, the Checkers' offense seems to be trending in the right direction as of late. They have outshot their opponent in six of their last eight contests, and have put at least 30 shots on net for six consecutive games after failing to reach that mark even once during the first six games of the season.

The six-goal outburst on Tuesday marked the biggest offensive output for the team this season, and the Checkers have scored more than two goals in three of their last four games, their most productive stretch so far.

Depth Contributions

With his one goal and five helpers thus far, sophomore Brendan Woods has already surpassed his assist total from 42 games last season and is now three-quarters of the way to last season's point total. He is tied for second on the team in assists, is fourth in points (6) and ranks second in penalty minutes (37).

Captain Michal Jordan has lit the lamp in each of the last two games, putting him halfway to last season's total and a third of the way to his career high. Jordan's seven points (2g, 5a) ranks him third on the team in scoring and first among Checkers defensemen.

Quick Hits

• The Checkers' six goals scored against Norfolk on Nov 18 is their highest offensive output of the season.
• Forward Greg Nemisz ranks fourth in the AHL in shooting percentage (40 percent)
• Forward Chad LaRose leads the AHL in shorthanded assists (3) and is tied for the lead in shorthanded points (3)
• Forward Kyle Hagel is tied for AHL lead in major penalties (6)
• Defenseman Trevor Carrick is tied for the lead in major penalties among rookies (3)
• Forward Carter Sandlak is ranked fourth in penalty minutes among AHL rookies (33)
• Oklahoma City has had six games go into overtime, tied for the most in the AHL

Streaks

• Greg Nemisz has goals, assists and points in each of his last two games (Nov 15-18: 3g, 2a)
• Michal Jordan has goals in each of his last two games (Nov 15-18) and assists and points in each of his last three games (Nov 14-18: 2g, 3a)
• Justin Shugg has goals and points in each of his last three games (Nov 14-18: 3g, 0a)
• Ryan Murphy has assists and points in each of his last three games (Nov 14-18: 0g, 3a)
• Chad LaRose has assists and points in each of his last two games (Nov 15-18: 0g, 4a)

Injuries

• Ben Holmstrom - missed six games starting 11/2
• Patrick Brown - missed four games starting 11/10
• Brody Sutter - missed two games starting 11/15
• Jared Staal - missed one game starting 11/18

Milestones

• Keegan Lowe is one shy of 100 AHL/professoinal penalty minutes
• Andrew Rowe is six shy of 100 professional assists
• Justin Shugg is three shy of 50 professional goals
• A.J. Jenks is two shy of 50 professional assists
• Alex Aleardi is four shy of 50 professional points
• Beau Schmitz is one shy of 50 AHL games
• Greg Nemisz is one shy of 250 professional games and four shy of 50 AHL/professional goals
• Chad LaRose is five shy of 100 AHL penalty minutes and eight shy of 100 AHL points
• Kyle Hagel recorded his 900th professional penalty minute against Norfolk on Nov 18

Transactions

Incoming

• Nov. 18 - (LW) Gabriel Desjardins signed to PTO from Florida (ECHL)

Outgoing

• None