Game Preview: Checkers vs. San Antonio (Feb. 8, 2016)

The Checkers’ home stand continues as they begin a two-game set with the San Antonio Rampage tonight at Bojangles’ Coliseum.

Here are eight things to know about the game:

1. FREE HOCKEY

While the Super Bowl may not have turned out as we had hoped, our offer for free tickets still stands thanks to the Panthers getting some sacks and hitting one of the items on our list. When purchasing tickets online, use offer code PANTHERS. To enter the code, select desktop/full version of Tickemaster's site and look for this entry field. Offer is available until all online sales cease at 5 p.m.

2. HITTING THE SKIDS

The Checkers are coming off a few disappointing results of their own, as back-to-back losses against Lake Erie over the weekend extended their winless streak to five games (0-4-1). It is the team’s longest since another 0-4-1 slide on Feb. 4-15, 2014, and is tied for the longest active winless streak in the AHL. The team has not endured a six-game winless streak since setting a franchise record with seven consecutive regulation losses from Nov. 2-19, 2013.

Prior to their current slide, the Checkers had gone 14-1-3 over an 18-game stretch from Dec. 9-Jan. 23.

3. MISSING PIECES

Already missing Phil Di Giuseppe and Ryan Murphy to NHL recall and Justin Shugg and Danny Biega due to injury, the Checkers played the majority of Saturday’s loss with just five defensemen as Mike Cornell picked up an injury in the first period and did not return. Should none of those players be able to play tonight, the Checkers, who did not have any healthy extra players on Saturday, could be forced to play a man down or made an addition to the roster.

UPDATE: The Hurricanes later reassigned Murphy to Charlotte.

In addition to the playing staff, head coach Mark Morris also missed Saturday’s game due to illness, with Assistant Coach Geordie Kinnear, Sr. VP of Hockey Operations Derek Wilkinson and Carolina Hurricanes’ Director of Defenseman Development Glen Wesley running the bench.

4. OFFENSIVE DROUGHT

Sergey Tolchinsky’s power-play goal with 3:32 left in regulation on Saturday prevented the Checkers from being shut out in consecutive games for the first time in franchise history. As it stood, they went seven full periods without a goal, a season-long drought that started in the second period of their Jan. 30 game in Iowa prior to the All-Star break.

Despite the drought, the Checkers still rank tied for sixth in the AHL with an average of 3.02 goals per game, though they have managed to score multiple goals just once over the course of their current five-game skid.

5. DOG DAYS OF WINTER

This season does not mark the first time the Checkers have struggled at this time of year. Last season, they lost four in a row in regulation from Jan. 30-Feb. 7. In 2013-14, they went 0-4-1 from Feb. 4-15.

Over the last three seasons, the Checkers are a combined 8-14-2 during the month of February.

6. ALL IN ON ALTSHULLER

Since returning from his first NHL recall with Carolina, Daniel Altshuller has picked up where he left off by appearing in each of the Checkers’ last five games, four of which were starts and one of which was a relief appearance.

Though Altshuller did not make his AHL debut until Dec. 17, his heavy workload since (he has appeared in 16 of a possible 20 games), has given him enough minutes played to qualify for the league’s statistical leaders. His 2.15 goals-against average and .929 save percentage each rank third in the AHL.

7. AGAINST THE RAMPAGE

The Checkers have had success against tonight’s opponents this season, winning both games on the road. Both came in dramatic fashion, as the Checkers erased a 3-0 deficit to win 4-3 on Nov. 22 and broke a 2-2 tie with eight seconds remaining in regulation via Derek Ryan’s goal on Dec. 9.

The Rampage, who currently occupy the bottom spot in the Pacific Division, enter tonight’s game with four wins in their last seven games. They began an 11-game road swing with a 4-3 loss at Texas on Saturday.

8. RANTANEN RUNS RIOT

An extremely bright spot for the Rampage and the parent Colorado Avalanche organization has been the play of Finnish rookie Mikko Rantanen, who leads the team with 37 points and a plus-25 rating (14g, 23a) in just 29 games. The 10th overall pick in the most recent NHL Entry Draft, Rantanen leads all AHL rookies in scoring.