Daniel Altshuller made 25 saves to record the Checkers’ first shutout since April of 2014 and improve to 5-0-1 in his AHL career as the team improved to 8-0-2 over the course of its franchise-record, 10-game stretch that marks the longest active point streak in the AHL.
Zach Boychuk and Sergey Tolchinsky scored power-play goals for the Checkers, which has enjoyed a 3-0-1 start to its California road trip that concludes with a pair of games in San Diego next weekend.
Playing against a team that was responsible for their last two regulation losses on Dec. 5 and 6 at Bojangles’ Coliseum and entered the weekend holding the top spot in the Western Conference, the Checkers again capitalized on their first power play of the game to go up 1-0 in the first period. Boychuk did the honors with his fourth goal of the season, depositing a rebound past Reign goalie Peter Budaj.
Tolchinsky added insurance by scoring for the third consecutive game on the tail end of a second-period power play as he collected a drop pass from T.J. Hensick and launched a heavy wrist shot that beat Budaj cleanly.
In addition to streaks extended by the team and Tolchinsky with his goal, Hensick (six games) and defenseman Trevor Carrick, who returned to the lineup after missing three games to represent Team Canada at the Spengler Cup in Switzerland (four games), also kept their personal point streaks going by assisting on Tolchinsky’s tally.
Altshuller, the Carolina Hurricanes’ third-round draft pick in 2012 who led the ECHL in goals-against average, save percentage and shutouts at the time of his recall from the Florida Everblades last month, was not tested much early but came up huge in the third period, including on one of what has become his trademark highlight-reel stops to deny Derek Army on a two-on-one that developed quickly following a giveaway in the Checkers’ zone.
Prior to Altshuller’s effort tonight, the Checkers’ previous shutout was recorded by John Muse. Coincidentally, Altshuller with this victory passed Muse to record the best six-game start by a goaltender in team history. Muse, who went on to become the franchise’s all-time wins leader, went 5-1-0 in his first games with the Checkers during the 2011-12 campaign.
The Checkers could have made any end-of-game drama less compelling by capitalizing on a lengthy two-man advantage near the end of regulation, but the Reign, who had given up two power-play goals on two of their three prior opportunities, held the fort to keep the pressure on and give themselves a chance of spoiling the long-awaited shutout.
With the win, Charlotte split the now-concluded, four-game season series against Ontario at two games apiece, with the road team winning all four. The Checkers have yet to officially face their next opponent, San Diego, though they know certain Anaheim Ducks prospects well from their time in Norfolk as recently as last season.
