Game Preview: Checkers at Cleveland (March 28, 2017)

After a successful home stand put them back in the hunt, the Checkers find themselves in the most important series of the season, traveling to Cleveland to battle the Monsters for the fourth and final playoff spot in the Central Division. Here are 8 things to watch heading into tonight's contest.

1. PLAYOFF IMPLICATIONS

Tonight’s matchup in Cleveland is pivotal in the chase for the final Central Division playoff spot. The Checkers and Monsters entered today tied in terms of win percentage, with Cleveland holding one more point in the standings but Charlotte having one game in hand.

The ramifications of tonight’s game are pretty straight-forward: the winner, regardless of whether it’s in regulation or overtime, will move ahead of the other team and into sole possession of fourth place.

2. MONSTER MASH

The Checkers and Monsters have squared off six times this year so far, with the former holding an edge in the season series.

After dropping the first two meetings in Cleveland just before Christmas, the Checkers have notched four straight wins over the Monsters. Two of those wins took more than 60 minutes to accomplish, with one going to overtime and the other to a shootout, but the most recent tilt was a lopsided 6-1 blowout win for the Checkers on home ice a month ago.

Charlotte’s leading scorer Andrew Poturalski has put up some strong numbers against Cleveland this season, notching six points in as many games, while the newly returned captain Patrick Brown has logged three goals and five points in the six contests against the Monsters.

On the other side, the Monsters have enjoyed some similarly stellar offensive performances. Rookie Jordan Maletta, who has 11 goals in 66 games this season, has a staggering five in six games against Charlotte, while the high-powered duo of Sonny Milano and T.J. Tynan have also racked up five points in in those six games. Leading the way, however, is blue liner John Ramage, who has averaged a point-per-game in the six-game series, aided mostly by a four-point outburst in the first two contests, a performance that earned him AHL Player of the Week honors.

3. ON THE RISE

Tonight’s matchup pits two of the hottest teams in the Western Conference against each other. Both squads are 7-3-0 in their last 10 games, with the Monsters riding a five-game winning streak and the Checkers coming off a loss that shattered their record-breaking seven-game win streak.

All five wins in Cleveland’s current streak have come on home ice, where they have turned in an impressive 19-10-4 record this year. The Monsters are 7-2-2 in their last 11 home games, but three of those four losses have seen them be shutout.

Meanwhile the Checkers, who have struggled for much of the year on the road, appear to have possibly turned a corner. They picked up a sweep of Manitoba on their last trip, running their road points streak to a season-best four games and improving to 5-2-1 in their last eight road games.

4. GOALIE DUEL

A key driving force behind both team’s ascension has been the play between the pipes. For Charlotte, Tom McCollum has taken full control of the crease, starting each of the last seven games and earning wins in six of them while turning in a stellar 1.85 goals-against average. For Cleveland, Anton Forsberg is in the midst of another strong season, ranking fifth in the AHL in both saves and save percentage and 10th in goals-against average while picking up 22 wins so far. Forsberg come into this week’s series after one of his most dominant stretches of the season, allowing just two total goals in three wins last week and earning AHL Player of the Week honors.

Completing the Checkers’ goaltending tandem this week will once again be Daniel Altshuller, as the Hurricanes tapped Alex Nedeljkovic to join the NHL club after Eddie Lack suffered an injury at the end of last night’s overtime loss to Detroit. Nedeljkovic had been playing for the ECHL’s Florida Everblades since the team acquired McCollum at the AHL trade deadline.

5. OFFENSE RELOADED

The Checkers lost an important offensive weapon with this week’s recall of leading goal scorer Lucas Wallmark, but they received two big pieces in return.

Valentin Zykov rejoins the Checkers after recovering from an injury suffered in the first shift of his second NHL game earlier this month. The power forward still ranks third on the team in both goals and points despite missing Charlotte’s lasts eight games and had eight points in his last nine games with the team before heading to the NHL.

In addition to Zykov, the Checkers received Carolina prospect Aleksi Saarela, who’s SM-Liiga season wrapped up earlier this month. The 20-year-old forward, who was selected in the third round of the 2015 draft, was traded from the New York Rangers to Carolina at last year’s deadline as a part of the Eric Staal deal. Saarela has proven to be a dangerous goal scorer in his time as a pro in his home country, leading his team in goals each of the last two seasons. This marks the first jump to North America for the 5-foot-11 forward, who could make his debut this week in Cleveland.

6. POWERING BACK UP

The Checkers’ power play, still stuck at the bottom of the league rankings, has shown a spark of life as of late. The team has notched four power-play goals in the last six games, producing at a 20 percent rate. This run comes directly after a 10-game run that saw Charlotte go scoreless on 25 consecutive man advantages.

The Checkers, whose power-play percentage now sits at 11.1, are trying to avoid making the AHL record books for the wrong reason, as the lowest power-play percentage in league history is 10.36, set in 2001-02.

7. FLEURY FLOURISHES

While Andrew Poturalski and Lucas Wallmark have garnered most of the attention this season, fellow rookie Haydn Fleury is somewhat quietly turning in an impressive first year. The 20-year-old has become one of the Checkers’ most consistent forces on the blue line, logging a team-best +13 rating, seven more than the next highest defenseman (Jake Chelios is +6 this year). Justin Krueger’s +16 for the 2011-12 season remains the best plus/minus overall, among defensemen and among rookies in franchise history.

Aside from being a strong defensive stopper, Fleury has shown some of the offensive flair that made him the seventh overall selection in the 2014 draft. His five goals this season lead all team defensemen, while his three power-play goals are tied for second on the team overall. Fleury trails Jake Chelios by four points for the team lead among blue liners.

8. TUNE IN!

Make sure to tune in to Jason Shaya's call of tonight's game live from Cleveland via the Checkers app or online. The pregame show kicks off at 6:45.

You can also use the Checkers App to receive score updates and to play the new Top Line game!