QUICK HITS
ON THE ROAD AGAIN
The Checkers are heading out on the road, where they have fared worse in the standings thus far this season at a 4-3-1-1 record compared to their 8-3-1-0 mark on home ice.That being said, the Checkers turned things around in their last few outings away from home - having picked up wins in each of their last three road contests. The most recent of those two featured most lopsided road victories of the year - a 4-1 win in Bridgeport before a 4-1 win the next night in Springfield.
They’ll face a challenge in Hershey, as the Bears hold the best home record in the AHL at 9-2-1-0 - though both of those regulation losses have come in Hershey’s last three home games.
NEW FACES
For the first time this season the Checkers’ roster and undergone a slew of transactions leading up to tonight’s game. Chris Tierney, Zac Dalpe and Matt Kiersted have all been recalled and join Aleksi Heponiemi on the Panthers roster as Florida visits Winnipeg tonight. In corresponding moves, Xavier Cormier, Dominic Franco and Robert Calisti have all been recalled from the ECHL’s Florida Everblades. The Charlotte roster still has some plenty of cushion to fill out a lineup, but any number of the three call-ups could make their Checkers debut in Hershey tonight.RAINING GOALS
After a stretch that saw them score three or fewer goals in four straight games, the Checkers broke out in a big way on Saturday by pumping in six goals on Lehigh Valley. It marked the fourth time this season that the Checkers have scored at least five goals in a game.They’ll look to keep that momentum going against a Hershey side that could be without the recently recalled Hunter Sheppard, who doesn’t have a regulation loss this season and boasts a 1.83 goals-against average with a .932 save percentage to go with it.
SPECIAL TEAMS STRUGGLES
The Charlotte penalty kill has hit a bit of a skid as of late, dropping to the bottom half of the AHL rankings. In Saturday’s win over Lehigh Valley the Phantoms converted three times on four man advantages, bringing the total over Charlotte’s last four games to five power-play goals allowed on 12 times shorthanded.On the flip side, the Checkers netted a shorthanded tally in each contest over this weekend to give them three on the season - a total that sits two shy of the league lead.
Heading into tonight’s contest the Bears own a power play that clocks in in the bottom half of the AHL rankings, though they have given up just a single shorthanded goal thus far.
HUTSKO AND NASH STAY HOT
Riley Nash turned in a three-point weekend against Lehigh Valley, potting a goal on Friday and a pair of helpers on Saturday. The goal was Nash’s second shorthanded tally of the year, putting him halfway to the franchise single-season record. Over the last nine games Nash has found the scoresheet in seven of them and has amassed 10 points across that stretch.Logan Hutsko has goals in each of his last two games and three points across that stretch. This marks the second time in his career that Hutsko has recorded goals in back-to-back games, with the first instance coming in late October of his rookie season.
COMING IN
CLT: 2-2-1-0 in last five gamesHER: 4-1-0-0 in last five games
WHO TO WATCH
CLT
Logan Hutsko - 3 points in last 2 gamesGrigori Denisenko - 4 points in last 3 games
Riley Nash - 10 points in last 9 games
HER
Mike Sgarbossa - 4 points in last 2 gamesEthen Frank - 3 points in last 3 games
Hendrix Lapierre - 3 points in last 3 games
TUNE IN
Tonight's game starts at 7 p.m. You can tune in to the broadcast with a subscription to the league’s streaming platform AHLTVThe radio broadcast will be available via the Checkers app on iPhone or Android.
Additionally, our friends over at Ed's Tavern on 2200 Park Road are going to be showing the game on their TVs!
