Game Preview: Checkers at Cleveland (Nov. 1, 2019)

The Checkers are back on the road looking to string wins together in their first visit to Cleveland this season. Here's everything you need to know before puck drop.

1. BREAKING THE PATTERN

After alternating wins and losses for the first six games of the season, the Checkers earned their first consecutive victories by topping the Phantoms last Friday. They fell back into that trend the following night, however, and have now split all four two-game sets they’ve had this season.

2. ON THE ROAD AGAIN

The Checkers return to the road for the first time since throttling the Syracuse Crunch on Oct. 19 for what has arguably been the team’s strongest performance this season.

It’s obviously a small sample size but the Checkers’ offense has been more lethal away from home so far, averaging four goals per game on the road and boasting the league’s best road power-play percentage.

3. MONSTER HUNTERS

The Checkers squared off with Cleveland four times last year and came out on top against their North Division foe. Charlotte won three of those matchups, including both in Cleveland, though the three wins were by just a combined four goals.

4. THE CLEVELAND KID

A native of the nearby Parma, Alex Nedeljkovic got two starts against his hometown team last season and turned in a couple of stellar performances. The netminder won both outings while sporting a 1.96 goals-against average and a .934 save percentage. He also won three of his four starts against the Monsters in 2016-17, the last time the two sides faced each other before last season.

Nedeljkovic is still in search of his first win of the 2019-20 season, having dropped each of his first four starts. The reigning AHL Goalie of the Year is coming off his strongest performance, however, having made 39 saves in Charlotte’s loss to Lehigh Valley last Saturday.

5. FAMILIAR FACES LEAD THE WAY

The Monsters head into the weekend with one of the strongest offensive attacks in the AHL, powered in large part by former Checker Zac Dalpe. Coming off a career-best 33-goal campaign a season ago, the 30-year-old leads the Monsters in goals this season and is tied for the team lead in points, snapping a four-game pointless drought by recording points in each of his last three games.

Sharing the team scoring lead with Dalpe is Nathan Gerbe, a veteran of nearly 400 NHL games and a former Hurricane from 2013 to 2016.

6. GOING STREAKING

With an assist in each game this weekend, Eetu Luostarinen has now recorded a point in six consecutive games. That is tied for the second longest active streak in the AHL and is two shy of the longest this season.

The longest points streak last season was eight games, set by Aleksi Saarela, while the longest points streak in franchise history is 12 games, set by Ryan Murphy in 2014 and matched by Greg McKegg in 2018.

7. FOURS-BERG

After helping the Checkers to defeat Lehigh Valley last Friday, Anton Forsberg improved to a perfect 4-0-0 this season. He is the sixth goalie in franchise history to win each of his first four starts on the season, with Daniel Altshuller starting 4-0-0 in 2015-16, John Muse and Alex Nedeljkovic starting 5-0-0 in 2011-12 and 2018-19 respectively, Michael Leighton starting 6-0-0 in 2016-17 and Dustin Tokarski starting 7-0-0 in 2018-19.

This weekend will see the netminder face his former squad. A seventh-round pick in 2011, Forsberg spent three seasons in the system, including helping lead the Monsters to a Calder Cup in 2016.

8. TUNE IN

You can tune in to every broadcast this season with a subscription to the league’s streaming platform AHLTV.

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!