Game Preview: Checkers at Norfolk (Dec. 10, 2014)

For the fourth consecutive week, the Checkers, looking to get back on the winning track, will square off with the neighboring Norfolk Admirals for a weekday tilt.

Charlotte is coming of its most successful stretch of the season, which saw them earn points in four straight games before falling to Iowa on Monday. That loss also snapped the team’s home points streak at six, one shy of the franchise best. The Checkers will now return to the road, where they have struggled, finding themselves winless in six straight games away from home.

Following tonight’s game in Norfolk, the team will travel to Texas for back-to-back matchups with the Stars before returning home for a four-game stand.

Charlotte

The Checkers wrapped up a five-game home stand, their second-longest of the season, with a back and forth contest against the cellar-dwelling Iowa Wild on Monday night. The game was marred by sloppy play on both sides, but, similar to what happened the week before against Norfolk, the Checkers were done in by a game-winner late in regulation.

“We made a couple of bad mental plays that you can’t make at the end of the game or any point,” said head coach Jeff Daniels after Monday’s loss. “Hopefully young mistakes and we’ve got to learn from them.”

The loss was a sour ending to what had been a red-hot stretch for the Checkers. They earned points in six consecutive contests and four straight overall, their best streaks of the season, and gained some much needed ground in the standings. But the team will now head back on the road, which hasn’t fared as well for them.

Their last road win came in Iowa on Oct. 24. Since then, the Checkers have gone an abysmal 0-5-1 away from Time Warner Cable Arena. The current six-game road winless skid matches the franchise’s worst, set from Feb. 18-Mar. 25, 2012.

In order to get back in the win column on the road, the Checkers will need more production from their power-play unit, which has just three goals on 26 man advantages over that six-game road skid. Despite going 0-4 Monday against Iowa, Daniels saw some improvement in his special teams.

“It’s a work in progress,” said Daniels on Monday night. “I thought we were moving the puck better and we were getting some more looks. We’ll just keep working at it.”

The team will also look for their more productive players of late, like Justin Shugg (two goals in last three games) and Brendan Woods (three goals in last three games), to stay hot, while also getting depth contributions from players like Kyle Hagel (two assists in last two games) and Carter Sandlak (1g, 1a in last two games).

As the team heads into a matchup with their most familiar foe of the season so far in Norfolk, they are hoping that the recent success at home will be a shot in the arm to kickstart some wins on the road.

“We’ve got a young group in there and everyone understands how to play to get a win,” said defenseman Ryan Murphy after Monday’s game. “We know that we can win and we know that we can play with the good teams, it’s just a matter of coming in every night and playing a full 60 minutes.”

Norfolk

The Admirals’ struggles continued through the weekend, leaving them at the bottom of the Eastern Conference.

After stunning the Checkers last Tuesday, tying the game with two goals in the final three minutes and then winning with a strike in the waning moments of overtime, Norfolk hit the road for a three-in-three against Springfield and Manchester, coming away with three losses.

The Admirals offense, which ranks 28th in the AHL in terms of goals per game (one slot below the Checkers), certainly missed the presence of leading scorer Chris Wagner, who was recalled to Anaheim, during that three-game set. Their other top producers, Nic Kerdiles (6g, 7a) and Louis Leblanc (7g, 5a), were held in check over the weekend, combining for just one goal and no assists in the three games.  

The other side of the ice hasn’t been any more kind to Norfolk, as they rank 29th in the league in goals allowed per game. In fact, the Admirals hold the worst goal differential in the AHL at -28.

Part of that problem seems to be inconsistency in net, as the Admirals have had a league-high five goalies make an appearance in the crease so far this season. That number is also poised to grow, as NHL veteran Ilya Bryzgalov signed with the Ducks yesterday and is reportedly going to get the start against the Checkers tonight. His conditioning stint should be a welcome addition, as only one of the five goalies to suit up for the Admirals has recorded a goals-against average below 3.00.

Checkers Notes

Against Norfolk

Tonight marks the fourth of eight meetings against Norfolk - the only Eastern Conference team the Checkers play this season. Each of those four meetings have come since Nov. 18, with tonight's contest concluding a stretch in which the teams face each other once per week.

Including a 1-1-1 record this season, the Checkers are 20-15-4 all-time against their former East Division rival. The Checkers have an all-time record of 8-8-2 in Norfolk, including losses in four of their last five visits. Charlotte has won the season series in three of their four previous AHL seasons, with the exception coming in Norfolk's Calder Cup campaign in 2011-12.

Greg Nemisz, who missed the Checkers' last game due to injury, and Brendan Woods lead the Checkers with three points apiece against Norfolk this season. John Muse is 1-0-1 with a 2.36 goals-against average and .936 save percentage against the Admirals, while Drew MacIntyre stopped 25 of 28 to take a 4-1 loss in Norfolk on Nov. 26.

Of players on Norfolk's active roster, Nic Kerdiles leads the team with three points (2g, 1a) against the Checkers. Yann Danis was in goal for all three meetings, posting a 2-1-0 record with a 2.92 goals-against average and .893 save percentage.

Putting Up Points

The Checkers' four-game point streak (3-0-1) that ended Monday marked their longest of the season and longest since winning four in a row from March 25-30 of last season. At 3-1-1 their most recent five-game stretch remains their most productive of the season in terms of points earned.

Road Woes

The Checkers, who will tonight play their first game away from home since last visiting Norfolk on Nov. 26, have not recorded a victory in any of their last six road games (0-5-1), tying a franchise record set from Feb. 18-March 25, 2012 (0-2-4). Their road winless streak is the second-longest active streak in the AHL and the second-longest posted by any team at any time this season.

Meanwhile, the Checkers saw their six-game point earned streak at home (5-0-1) snapped with a 4-3 loss to Iowa on Monday. It was one shy of tying the best streak in team history that was set in 2012-13.

Murphy's Helping Hand

Thanks to a three-assist effort against Iowa on Dec. 8 that tied his AHL career high, defenseman Ryan Murphy now leads the Checkers with 10 assists on the season, at least three more than any other player. He is also tied for second on team in scoring with 10 points despite starting the season in Carolina and playing just 14 Checkers games. He leads the team in power-play assists and points (4).

Murphy, a 21-year-old who the Hurricanes drafted 12th overall in 2011, now has 33 points (3g, 30) in 39 career AHL games. Last season, he posted a 12-game assist/point streak that marked the longest in franchise history and was the longest by an AHL defenseman since the 2008-09 campaign.

Shorthanded Firepower

The Checkers' five shorthanded goals are tied for the third-most in the league and are two more than their league-low total from all of last season.

Chad LaRose leads the league in shorthanded assists and is tied for second in shorthanded points (3). Greg Nemisz and Brendan Woods are part of a 12-way tie for the league lead with two shorthanded goals each. Ben Holmstrom recorded the team's other shorthanded tally with its first penalty-shot goal since Dec. 20, 2011.

The Checkers are one of just five AHL teams that has yet to allow a shorthanded goal.

Power Outage

The Checkers are just 1-for-22 (4.5 percent) on the power play over their last seven games dating back to Nov. 22. That includes an active, season-long drought in which they have not scored on 13 consecutive power plays dating back to their most recent goal off the stick of Justin Shugg in the second period of a game against Milwaukee on Nov. 29.

Charlotte currently ranks 29th in the AHL with a 10.2 percent success rate on the power play In their previous four AHL seasons, the team never finished lower than fifth in terms of power-play percentage. Their lowest-ever percentage to finish a season was 19.8 percent.

Woods Breaks Out

With 10 points (5g, 5a) in 22 games, second-year-forward Brendan Woods has already surpassed his assist (3) and point (8) totals from his 42-game rookie season. The first two-goal game of his career on Dec. 6, including his second Teddy Bear Toss goal in as many campaigns, allowed him to tie last season's goal total.

Woods, who has three goals in his last three games, is now part of a five-way tie for second on the Checkers in terms of points. His two shorthanded goals are tied for the AHL lead.

Worst Behavior

With 21.9 penalty minutes per game, the Checkers are the fourth-most penalized team in the AHL. They rank second in major penalties with 32, 10 of which are courtesy of Kyle Hagel, who is tied for the AHL lead in that category. Rasmus Rissanen has been assessed 15 minor penalties, tying him for third among AHL defensemen. In their four previous AHL seasons, the team never finished with an average higher than 16.5 penalty minutes per game.

The Checkers have done a better job as of late with not letting those penalties hurt them, as they are a perfect 11-for-11 on the penalty kill in their last three games. In their three games prior to that, they allowed six goals on 14 tries.

Quick Hits

• Ryan Murphy is the only Checkers skater yet to record a penalty this season
• Drew MacIntyre is tied for the AHL lead with nine losses
• Justin Shugg is tied for fourth in the league in shooting percentage (28.6)
• Carter Sandlak ranks fourth among AHL rookies in penalty minutes (46). He has recorded penalty minutes in six consecutive games, tying the longest streak posted by any AHL player this season.
• Trevor Carrick is tied for third among AHL rookies in major penalties (4)

Streaks

• Carter Sandlak has points in each of his last two games (1g, 1a)
• Kyle Hagel has assists and points in each of his last two games (0g, 2a)

Injuries

• Greg Nemisz - missed one game starting 12/8
• Brody Sutter - missed 10 games starting 11/15

Milestones

• Drew MacIntyre is one shy of 200 AHL wins
• Ryan Murphy is three shy of 100 professional games and four shy of 50 professional points
• Chad LaRose is three shy of 150 AHL games and four shy of 700 professional games
• Brendan Woods is five shy of 100 AHL/professional penalty minutes

Transactions

Incoming

• Dec. 4 - (G) Drew MacIntyre assigned to Charlotte (AHL) from Carolina (NHL)

Outgoing

• Dec. 7 - (LW) Chris Terry recalled to Carolina (NHL) from Charlotte (AHL) after conditioning stint