THREE STORYLINES
GEEKIE'S STREAK
Morgan Geekie earned a spot in the record book on Saturday. With a goal in the second period, he extended his point streak to 13 games, breaking the franchise record previously held by both Ryan Murphy and Greg McKegg. Geekie’s streak is the longest active such streak in the AHL and the third longest by any player this season. He is three away from matching the longest point streak in the league this season, set by Utica’s Reid Boucher.OT SUCCESS
Janne Kuokkanen’s goal last Saturday gave the Checkers their first overtime win of the season, moving the team – which, at the time, was the only AHL team without an OT win – to 1-3 on the year. The Checkers have played the second-fewest overtime/shootout games at six, and are .500 in those contests – 1-3 in overtime and 2-0 in shootouts. Rochester has logged a 5-2 record in overtime this season and a 1-4 mark in shootouts.HOME COOKING
With their wins over Hartford the Checkers have swept three of the last four opponents to visit Charlotte and are 7-3-0 over their last 10 home contests. The Checkers have 14 home wins this season, the fifth-highest total in the Eastern Conference. Rochester has had significantly more struggles away from home this season, posting a 14-10-1 record on the road.COACH'S QUOTES
Head coach Ryan Warsofsky on breaking through against Rochester's strong defense"We’re going to have to move our feet and get traffic in front of their goaltenders. They have two really good goalies and we have to make their job difficult. Let’s see if we can hold onto some pucks and make them defend and wear them down."
On Rochester's ability to put shots on goal
"It’s more of being aware of it. Being aware of when we don’t have the puck what we’re doing. Winning races when there’s a loose puck or a rebound, that will be the big key for us. Win those races, get out of our end quickly and efficiently so we can go play offense and make them defend."
On the power play
"We worked on it a lot today, it’s something that needs to be a little better. I think we can shoot the puck more and it will create more space in the middle. We need to get some more pucks to the net with traffic, similar to our offensive approach."
On getting production from the bottom of the lineup
"It’s been really important. [Terry] Broadhurst has been playing a lot better, [Derek] Sheppard has been really good and has given us some identity on our fourth line with Bish [Clark Bishop]. I think [Spencer] Smallman’s last two games were probably his best of the season. It deepens your lineup and that’s so important this time of year."
PREVIOUS MATCHUPS
Dec. 6 – Charlotte 0 at Rochester 4CHA Standouts: Alex Nedeljkovic (27 saves)
ROC Standouts: Zach Redmond (2 assists), Dalton Smith (2 assists), Sean Malone (Game-winning goal)
Dec. 7 – Charlotte 3 at Rochester 1
CHA Standouts: Julien Gauthier (1 power-play goal), Morgan Geekie (1 power-play goal), Anton Forsberg (32 saves)
ROC Standouts: J-S Dea (1 power-play goal), Andrew Hammond (27 saves), Jacob Bryson (1 assist)
COMING IN
CHA: 3-game winning streak, 7-3-0 in last 10ROC: 2-game losing streak, 6-4-0 in last 10
WHO TO WATCH
CHA
Chase Priskie - 7 points in last 7 gamesTerry Broadhurst - 4 points in last 4 games
Janne Kuokkanen – 4 pts in last 3 games
ROC
Sean Malone – 7 points in last 7 gamesCasey Mittelstadt – 7 points in last 8 games
Jacob Bryson – 5 points in last 5 games
TUNE IN
Tonight's game starts at 7p.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!
