Game Preview: Checkers at Grand Rapids (Oct. 25, 2013)

After a disappointing home-opening weekend that saw Iowa sweep the Checkers by a combined score of 10-3, things don’t get any easier for Charlotte as it embarks on the longest road trip in franchise history.

Tonight the Checkers will face the defending Calder Cup champions, the Grand Rapids Griffins, in the first game of a six-game road trip that will span nine days. It will also mark the first of three games in three nights in three different cities for the Checkers, who will then backtrack to play the Griffins again on Oct. 30. This will be the first of four total head-to-head meetings between Charlotte and Grand Rapids, but the teams won’t face each other again after this road trip until April 10.

With the two losses over the weekend, Charlotte is currently sitting in fourth and 13th in the West Division and Western Conference, respectively, with a 2-2-0 record. It does, however, have a couple of games in hand over most of the other teams in the league and finally will be able to get into a routine of playing games regularly and staying in game shape. Going into the road trip, the longest in team history in terms of consecutive days away from home, the Checkers will look to build upon their 2-0-0 record on the road so far this season.

Charlotte

The Checkers will have to deal with a significant dose of lineup adversity heading into a hectic portion of the schedule, with both of their starting goalies, Justin Peters and Mike Murphy, in the NHL to fill in for the injured Cam Ward and Anton Khudobin.

As a result, John Muse, a former Checker who rejoined the team on a professional tryout contract just two days ago, is now the lone netminder on the team's roster. Having originally signed Muse as another reliable option during a time when the team will need to use two goalies given the condensed and grueling schedule, the Checkers will now be in the market for someone else who can split games with Muse this weekend.

Update: The Checkers signed former Columbus Blue Jackets goalie Allen York to a tryout contract late Friday morning.

The good news for the Checkers, despite a winless weekend, is that they can finally fall back into a routine of playing games on a regular basis. Forced into game action after two weeks off – the longest layoff between games in franchise history – Charlotte couldn’t maintain momentum from their sweep of Oklahoma City and suffered two home losses that culminated with a 7-2 defeat at the hands of the Iowa Wild. For a team with as much roster turnover as the Checkers had going into this season, not being able to get comfortable with one another in a game setting and learning new styles and tendencies hindered forward progress. The team isn’t using the scheduling as an excuse, but is glad to finally get back into some rhythm.

“We’re going to play, and I think it’s going to be huge for us just to get in that rhythm and get more video,” said coach Jeff Daniels. “Games show you what your weaknesses are, and we’ll have a chance to see what we’re all about.”

“As an athlete, being in a routine is a good thing,” said defenseman Mark Flood, who scored this third goal of the season on Sunday, tying him for the team lead with Chris Terry. “Not having another long layoff is the best thing for us.”

The upcoming series of games, which includes games against the Chicago Wolves, Rockford IceHogs, and San Antonio Rampage in addition to the Griffins, will be a tough test for the Checkers. The scheduling is once again unfavorable for Charlotte, which will twice have to make the four-hour, overnight bus ride from Grand Rapids to Rockford instead of just playing two games in the same city on consecutive nights. Despite all the difficulties the Checkers are sure to face over the next week and a half, Daniels said he was looking forward to the trip as a way to find out what this team is capable of and to test its ability to rebound after a humbling weekend.

“We play some of the best teams in the league in a short amount of time,” he said. “It will be a really good test. Last weekend was disappointing, but I think we have a good leadership group and a lot of character guys.”

There was some concern over the lack of firepower on this year’s team as compared to those in team’s past, and in the early going, it seems as though those concerns could be valid. Through the first four games of the season, the six goals scored between Terry and Flood account for 67 percent of the team’s total. To put that in perspective, Iowa had six different goal scorers in its 7-2 win on Sunday, or one more than the Checkers have had in their first four games combined.

With some high scorers like Zac Dalpe, Riley Nash, Jerome Samson and Brett Sutter moving on from last year and an influx of new faces playing this year, the brunt of the scoring was expected to fall on the shoulders of Zach Boychuk, Terry, and newcomer Aaron Palushaj. Each has contributed in one form or another, but the supporting cast has yet to find its scoring touch.

Grand Rapids

Grand Rapids’ game against the Checkers will also mark the beginning of its own first three-in-three stretch of the season, which includes games at Chicago and Iowa. The Griffins are coming off a winless weekend themselves, falling 3-2 to Milwaukee in their home opener on Oct. 18 and then coughing up a two-goal lead late in third period a night later to Rockford before eventually losing 5-4 in a shootout.

Save for the 8-1 season-opening victory over Rochester on Oct. 4, each of the Griffins’ contests this season has been decided by a single goal, where they are 1-1-2 on the year. They have been to a shootout twice already, despite outshooting their opponents in four of the five games they’ve played. In contrast, the Checkers are 2-0-0 in one goal games so far, a record they could build upon given Grand Rapids’ lack of success in those situations.

The Griffins are led by forward Gustav Nyquist, who is tied for sixth in the league in scoring with seven points (3 goals, 4 assists). He and fellow forward Jeff Hoggan are tied for the team lead in goals at three apiece, while Tomas Jurco and Adam Almquist are tied for second in scoring with five points each. The Griffins have had 11 different players score for them this season, more than double that of the Checkers, including seven players who have scored two or more goals.

While the offense has been firing on all cylinders (it is among the league leaders with an average of 4.20 goals per game), it’s the Griffins’ defense that could be of more concern. After giving up only one goal in the season-opener, Grand Rapids has given up at least three in each of their past four games. In its last contest against Rockford, the IceHogs scored two goals in the last two minutes of regulation to tie the game and went on to win in a shootout. The Checkers could be poised for an offensive breakout in tonight’s game, but should be wary of getting into a back-and-forth game that could favor the Griffins’ offensive prowess.

Some good news for Grand Rapids comes in the form of Xavier Ouellet, who the Detroit Red Wings assigned back to the Griffins following his NHL season debut on Monday. Ouellet, a defenseman, will be called upon to help provide some stability and experience to the blueline for Grand Rapids. In five AHL games this season, Ouellet has recorded two assists.

Checkers Notes

Musical Goalies

When the Carolina Hurricanes announced that they would recall Mike Murphy on Thursday, it marked the third consecutive season in which the two goalies on Charlotte's opening night roster would go on to be reunited in the NHL during the same campaign. Peters and Murphy also dressed for Carolina at the same time during the 2011-12 season, while Peters and Dan Ellis split duties for the Hurricanes in 2012-13.

With John Muse or an as-of-yet-unsigned goaltender making the start tonight, Charlotte will become the first AHL team to use four different goalies this season (Peters, Murphy and Jesse Deckert). It will accomplish that feat in just five games.

Packing Up

The Checkers' upcoming stretch of six consecutive road games will all be played as part of a single trip from Oct. 25-Nov. 2, making it the longest in team history in terms of consecutive days away from home. The Checkers are 2-0-0 on the road this season, making them one of just three AHL teams (Springfield, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton) with a 100 percent road record.

Change of Pace

After playing four games in the season's first 21 days, tonight's game starts a stretch of playing six in nine, marking the Checkers' busiest nine-day stretch of the season. All games will be played on the road, and never in consecutive locations. The Checkers' four total games played this season put them in a five-way tie for fewest in the AHL. By comparison, three teams, including West Division rival Oklahoma City, have already played eight times.

Floodgates Open

Checkers defenseman Mark Flood scored his third goal in four games on Sunday, tying him with Chris Terry for the team lead. The 29-year-old defenseman is in a four-way tie for second in the AHL in goal scoring by defensemen and has already surpassed his total of one goal from 52 KHL games with Lokomotiv Yaroslavl last season.

Earlier this season, Flood became the first defenseman to score in his Checkers debut with a goal at Oklahoma City on Oct. 4.

Terry Takes Off

With his power-play goal against Iowa on Sunday, Chris Terry became the only Checkers player to score at least one point in all four of the team's games this season (3g, 1a). His three goals are tied with Mark Flood for the team lead.

Terry, who has led the Checkers in scoring for each of the past two seasons, had six point streaks of four or more games last season, including a season-long, seven-game run from Oct. 21-Nov. 16 (6g, 3a). His current streak is tied for the sixth longest in the AHL this season.

Finding Balance

Through four games, just five different Checkers have scored a goal this season. Mark Flood and Chris Terry lead the way with three apiece, accounting for 67 percent of the team's goals total, with Zach Boychuk, Aaron Palushaj and Brody Sutter each chipping in one. Charlotte, which has played fewer games than all but 25 AHL teams, has the fewest players with at least one goal.

Three in Threes

The Checkers play the first of four three-in-three sets this season, which marks the fewest in team history. By comparison, the team played eight three-in-three sets in each of its first two AHL campaigns before dropping down to seven last season.

The Checkers have an all-time record of 39-22-8 in games that are part of a three-in-three set, including a 13-7-3 mark in game one, a 15-4-4 mark in game two and an 11-11-1 mark in game three.

Player Streaks

• Chris Terry has points in each of his last four games (Oct. 4-20; 3g, 1a)
• Justin Shugg has assists and points in each of his last two games (Oct. 19-20: 0g, 2a)

Transactions

Incoming

• Oct. 23 - (G) John Muse signed to a professional tryout contract

Outgoing

• Oct. 25 - (G) Mike Murphy recalled to Carolina (NHL) from Charlotte
• Oct. 24 - (G) Jesse Decert reassigned to Florida (ECHL) from Charlotte