Game Preview: Checkers at Bridgeport (March 27, 2019)

The final stretch of the season is here and the playoff-bound Checkers are looking to keep their hot streak rolling through it. Here is everything to know before pucks drops tonight.

1. BATTLE FOR THE ATLANTIC

The Checkers make a pair of visits to Bridgeport this week to face the Sound Tigers, who currently rank second in the Atlantic and trail Charlotte by 10 points for the division lead. The Sound Tigers enter the week riding high with a 7-2-1 record over their last 10 games, including picking up a point in four straight. They especially thrive on home ice, posting a 23-5-4 record that ties them with Charlotte for the second-most home wins in the AHL, and have defeated the Checkers in their first two visits this season.

Bridgeport comes in at the middle of the league rankings for both goals for and against, but boasts significant talent on both ends. Between the pipes they’re anchored by the duo of Jeremy Smith and Christopher Gibson, who have split playing time fairly evenly this season and have picked up 20 and 19 wins, respectively. Veterans Chris Bourque and Steve Bernier have propelled the offense for much of this campaign, though high-end prospects Josh Ho-Sang and Sebastian Aho have torched the Checkers for eight and six points in four matchups with Charlotte this season, respectively.

2. COMING IN HOT

The Checkers enter tonight’s contest having picked up a point in seven straight games, going 6-0-1 since March 10 for their longest such streak of the season. Over the course of that stretch Charlotte has outscored its opponents 25-9 while not allowing more than two goals in any single contest.

The Checkers – who were the first AHL team to clinch a playoff berth and have possessed the league’s best record since early November – went through a (relatively) rough 2-4-4 skid from late January into early February, but have come out with a scorching 12-2-1 mark since then.

3. NED MAKES HISTORY

By picking up his 31st win of the season on Saturday, Alex Nedeljkovic matched the franchise record that he set a season ago. Nedeljkovic, who became the franchise’s all-time winningest goalie earlier this season, currently leads the league in wins by five. Should he finish out the season on top, he would be the first netminder to lead the AHL in wins in back-to-back seasons since at least 2005-06. In fact, Nedeljkovic is already the first goalie in that time frame to record consecutive 30-win seasons.

4. BEAN STAYS HOT

Jake Bean continues to thrive on the Charlotte blue line. With a goal and an assist in Sunday’s win over Hartford, the defenseman now has three straight multi-point games to give him 10 on the season. Bean, who is tied for first or second among rookie blue liners in goals, assists and points, is chasing down franchise records at this point, needing just one more goal to match Mark Flood’s single-season defensemen mark set in 2013-14. The 20-year-old is also nine shy of the most points scored by a blue liner, as Bobby Sanguinetti’s 2011-12 campaign is the only 50-point effort in franchise history.

5. OH CAPTAIN MY CAPTAIN

With 10 points in his last 10 games, Checkers captain Patrick Brown is having himself a career year. After notching a pair of helpers in Sunday’s win over Hartford – his eighth multi-point game of the season – Brown has eclipsed the 30-point mark for the first time in his career, but his biggest growth has been in the goals category. The forward has lit the lamp 16 times this season – a new career high – a total that ties him for fifth on the team.

5. OH CAPTAIN MY CAPTAIN

With nine games left in the season, Andrew Poturalski is now the seventh player in franchise to record 60 points in a single season. At 61 points, the forward leads the second-highest scoring Checker by 16 and ranks fourth in the AHL, trailing only a trio of 70-point scorers – Jeremy Bracco (72), Daniel Carr (71) and Carter Verhaeghe (70).

Only one player in franchise history has eclipsed 70 points: Zach Boychuk, who set the record with 74 in 2013-14.

7. TUNE IN

You can tune in to tonight's broadcast with a subscription to the league’s new streaming platform AHLTV. Sign up here and catch the action on the road.

As always, the radio broadcast will be available via the Checkers app or this link, so tune in and tweet Jason Shaya to let him know you’re listening!