Game Preview: Checkers vs. San Antonio (Dec. 12, 2013)

The Checkers finish a two-game set with San Antonio looking to do something they haven't done the previous six times they've welcomed a team for conesecutive matchups at Time Warner Cable Arena - win both games.

They're no strangers to their current situation, having started wins over Rockford, Milwaukee and Rockford again in the last few weeks before dropping the subsequent rematch. Should they win tonight, it would mark the first time they've recorded two wins in a row since the regular season's opening weekend over two months ago.

Tonight's game is the third meeting between Charlotte and San Antonio this season, with each team winnings its home game thus far. They will not meet again until March, at which time they will play out the remaining five games in their season series in the span of 28 days.

Charlotte

Having stressed the importance of putting together the kind of winning streak that can help them attack a widening gap between themselves and playoff position – one that currently stands at seven points – the Checkers need no reminders of what needs to be done tonight.

“Maybe we’ll try something different. We won’t even talk about it,” said Chris Terry, who became the first player to record 200 points as a Checkers with a goal on Tuesday. “I think this time we all know what we need to do. Maybe less talk, more action.”

“I told the guys after (Tuesday’s) game that I’m not going to say anything,” said coach Jeff Daniels. “We’ve talked about it enough. We know where we’re at and what we need to do, and hopefully we can follow it up with the type of game we played (Tuesday).”

That first meeting with the Rampage marked the first time the Checkers have won while scoring fewer than two goals this season – something that had occurred 11 times previously. That Terry’s goal, a quick response after the team fell behind 1-0 in the second period, and Justin Shugg’s winner on the power play were enough spoke to the team’s defensive effort and that of goalie John Muse, who has been in goal for each of the team’s seven victories since signing a pro tryout contract on Oct. 23.

That at least makes it a possibility that Muse will again play tonight, with Daniels saying that he’ll choose between Muse and Mike Murphy, who has only played three games this season due to a prolonged stint as an NHL backup and an injury upon his return, on a game-by-game basis.

“The stats speak for themselves with (Muse), and the fact that he’s winning games for us certainly comes into consideration,” said Daniels. “We’re just going to take it one game at a time and do what’s best for the team.”

Muse (7-6-0) ranks ninth in the AHL with a 2.27 goals-against average, is tied for 12th with a .922 save percentage and is tied for second with two shutouts. Including Tuesday, when he stopped 26 of 27 shots, he has won each of his last three starts. The six other goalies who have played for the Checkers this season have a combined record of 2-8-1 with a 3.74 goals-against average and .865 save percentage.

If Muse were to get another start, the Checkers would use the exact same lineup as Tuesday, with forwards Sean Dolan and Jared Staal and defenseman Rasmus Rissanen likely to miss out due to injury.

San Antonio

After winning six of nine games under new head coach Tom Rowe, who led the Carolina Hurricanes’ AHL affiliate prior to switching places with Daniels, an NHL assistant at the time, in 2008, the Rampage are now winless in their last five (0-4-1). A Checkers win tonight would put them just one point behind San Antonio in their attempt to climb out of the West Division cellar.

Goal scoring has been a primary issue for the Rampage of late, with the team scoring two or fewer goals in four of their last five. However, they field what Daniels has called one of the deeper lineups that the Checkers have seen this season, with a mixture of experienced players like Bobby Butler, captain Greg Rallo and former Checker Jon Matsumoto supporting a younger cast of Florida Panthers prospects like scoring leader Vincent Trochek, Quinton Howden and Drew Shore.

Many of those players have struggled to score of late, though Butler came extremely close to scoring for the third consecutive game if not for a sparkling save by Muse on a back-door player in the first period of Tuesday’s game.

Matt Gilroy and Ryan Whitney, experienced NHL defensemen who started this season with Florida, will try to help get things going. Gilroy was scoreless in his first AHL game of the season on Tuesday, while Whitney picked up an assist to give him eight points (2g, 6a) in nine games with the Rampage, his longest AHL stint since the 2005-06 season.

Jacob Markstrom, who started the season in contention for the Panther’s No. 1 job, stopped 24 of 26 shots on Tuesday. He has played in eight of San Antonio’s last nine games, making it very likely that he starts over backup Dov Grumet-Morris again tonight.

Checkers Notes

Mr. 200

With his ninth goal of the season that tied him with Zach Boychuk for the team lead on Tuesday, Chris Terry became the first player to record 200 points with the Checkers. Terry, who led the team in scoring for two of his three seasons with the club, has 29 more points than Boychuk, who has second most, and is one of five players to have cleared the 100-point mark with Charlotte (Zac Dalpe, Jerome Samson and Brett Sutter).

Terry, who has seven points (3g, 4a) in eight game since returning from an NHL stint, is also the Checkers' all-time leader in games played (242), goals (84) and assists (117). Including his rookie season with Albany, he is now just three points shy of 250 for his AHL career.

Special Teams Surge

The Checkers, who rank fourth in the AHL with a 23.5 percent success rate on the power play, have scored at least one man-advantage goal in each of their last five games (6-for-17; 35.3 percent). It is the second-longest streak they have posted this season, narrowly trailing a six-game run from Oct. 20-31.

Though Charlotte still ranks tied for 22nd in the league in penalty killing at 79.8 percent, it has held opponents off the board in six of its last eight games to convert at an 89.3 percent clip during that time (25-for-28).

Winning with Muse

John Muse, who has won three consecutive starts, has been in goal for each of the Checkers' last seven wins dating back to Oct. 25. The last time a Checkers goalie other than Muse won a game was on Oct. 5, when Mike Murphy took home the victory in the team's second game of the season.

Muse is 7-6-0 this season, ranks ninth in the AHL with a 2.27 goals-against average, is tied for 12th with a .922 save percentage and is tied for second with two shutouts. The six goalies the team has used - Murphy, Justin Peters, Jesse Deckert, Allen York, Rick DiPietro and Rob Madore - are a combined 2-8-1 with a 3.74 goals-against average and .865 save percentage.

Boychuk Powers Up

After starting the season with two goals in his first 13 games, forward Zach Boychuk now has seven in his last 11 to give him a share of the team lead along with Chris Terry. Seven of Boychuk's nine goals have come on the power play, putting him into a three-way tie for most in the AHL. He is the Checkers' all-time leader with 35 power-play goals, at least nine more than any other player.

Floodgates Open

Mark Flood's eight goals rank third on the team and are the second-most among all AHL defensemen, while his five power-play goals are tied for first among league blueliners.

In just 24 games, Flood, 29, already has the third-highest single-season goal total by a Checkers defenseman behind Bobby Sanguinetti (10 in 2011-12) and Bryan Rodney (nine in 2010-11). He is also just three away from his AHL career high of 11 set with Manitoba during the 2010-11 campaign. He scored just one goal in 52 games in the Russian KHL last season.

Home Again

The Checkers' current 10-game home stand ties the longest in franchise history, a record originally set from Nov. 25-Dec. 15 of last season. Dating back to Nov. 7, the Checkers are in the midst of a stretch in which they play 16 of 19 games at Time Warner Cable Arena. After starting the season 0-6-0 on home ice, the Checkers have won four of seven in their own building.

Divided Division

In 24 games, the Checkers have played against their own division, the West, just four times (3-1-0), marking the fewest games that any AHL team has played within its own division. They will play just one more divisional game, Thursday's outing against San Antonio, over their next eight. The West Division is the only division that the Checkers have a winning record against.

Against San Antonio

After splitting a pair of games against San Antonio this season, the Checkers now have an all-time record of 8-6-0 against the Rampage since joining the Western Conference prior to the 2011-12 season.

The Checkers and Rampage have been involved in a player transaction in each of the last three seasons, including a Nov. 22 trade that saw Charlotte acquire Philippe Cornet in exchange for Adam Brace. Rampage forward Jon Matsumoto played parts of two seasons with Charlotte from 2010-12, while the Checkers' A.J. Jenks played 25 games with San Antonio during the 2011-12 season.

Quick Hits

• The Checkers have won two games in a row only once this season, having started the season with two victories in Oklahoma City on Oct. 4 and 5
• The Checkers have not recorded consecutive victories at home since wins over Texas and Norfolk on March 17 and 26 of last season, respectively
• Tuesday's 2-1 victory marked Charlotte's first when scoring fewer than three goals this season (1-10-1)
• The four total power plays in Tuesday's game (two for Charlotte and two for San Antonio) were the fewest in any Checkers game since Feb. 17 of last season (three for Charlotte, one for Grand Rapids)
• The Checkers' five shorthanded goals allowed are tied for the fourth-most in the AHL
• Charlotte is one of three teams that have yet to score a shorthanded goal
• Matt Corrente ranks tied for fourth among all AHL defensemen with five major penalties
• Charlotte has both scored (24) and allowed (29) more goals in the third period than in any other period

Player Streaks

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Milestones

• Chris Terry scored his 200th Checkers point with a goal against San Antonio on Dec. 10
• Chris Terry is three points away from 250 AHL points
• Philippe Cornet is one point away from 100 AHL points
• Nicolas Blanchard is two goals away from 25 Checkers goals

Transactions

Incoming

• Dec. 7 - (LW) Zach Boychuk reassigned from Carolina (NHL) to Charlotte
• Dec. 5 - (LW) A.J. Jenks signed to a professional tryout contract

Outgoing

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