Game Preview: Checkers at Oklahoma City (Jan. 11, 2014)

The Checkers look to win their third game in a row overall and fourth in a row in Oklahoma City as they take on the Barons again tonight.

Charlotte started a two-game road trip with a 5-2 victory on Friday night, scoring four goals in the first period before having to hang on as the visitors made a late push in the third. That gives them wins in all three games against their West Division rivals this season, all of which have taken place on the road, giving them a solid early lead in what will become a grueling 12-game series.

Tonight’s game is the third of a three-in-three for the Barons, who took an overtime victory over Utica on Thursday while the Checkers were just wrapping up a full week off. Charlotte will be in for more downtime following this contest with a five-day break before beginning a three-in-three of their own against the Texas Stars next Friday.

Charlotte

Though the Barons were clearly the better team in Friday’s third period, out-shooting the Checkers 17-7 and out-scoring them 2-0 before Aaron Palushaj sealed the victory with an empty-net goal, Charlotte had already done its damage thanks to one of the best starts in team history.

Friday’s game marked just the second time that the Checkers have scored four goals in a first period, tying a team record, and first in nearly three full years. It was the most productive single period the team has produced this season, though it fell well short of the franchise record of eight goals in a single frame set during the team’s inaugural 2010-11 campaign.

With the offense already clicking at such a high rate, the expected return of two first-line players in Zach Boychuk and Brett Sutter will give it a further boost. The Carolina Hurricanes assigned both forwards, who rank third and seventh on the Checkers in scoring, respectively, to Charlotte on Saturday morning. Should they suit up tonight, it would mark their third game in three nights in three different cities, having played at home against Toronto on Thursday and in Columbus on Friday.

In terms of players that had already been with the team, Matthew Pistilli, a former Checker who rejoined the team on a professional tryout contract late last month, scored two goals on Friday, giving him four over a four-period span that included his two-goal performance against Texas one week earlier. Victor Rask also got the monkey off his back by scoring on the first shot of the game just 33 seconds in, breaking a 24-game drought with his first goal since Nov. 2, before Chris Terry extending his point streak to four games with a rush down the left side.

When Palushaj scored the empty-net goal to give him two points in his first game back from a brief NHL stint, he allowed the Checkers to tie their season high with five goals. They had already ensured that they would break the three-goal mark for the sixth consecutive game, tying a team record, no small feat with Boychuk and Sutter in the NHL.

With all that firepower, one may not have expected the team to have to rely upon goalie Mike Murphy, but all of his 41 saves that tied the most by a Checkers netminder this season were needed down the stretch. The fifth-year pro has now turned in two excellent performances in a row, stopping 73 of the last 78 shots he’s faced to pick up his first two wins since defeating the Barons in his first start of the season on Oct. 5.

Given the back-to-backs, it’s still likely that the Checkers will turn to John Muse for tonight’s rematch. If Boychuk and Sutter are available, the team will have to make decisions on offense, with Friday callup Kyle Bonis likely vacating one of the two spots. Rookie defenseman Austin Levi, who made way for the return of Rasmus Rissanen from injury on Friday, is available if needed.

Oklahoma City

As was the case in last season’s playoffs, in which the Barons trailed Charlotte 2-0 early in the first period in Game 2 only to storm back in that game and win three of four to move on to the next round, the Checkers found that Oklahoma City isn’t a team that goes away quietly.

After an evenly-played second period that stole some momentum back from the hot-starting Checkers, the Barons were easily the better team in the third, giving the Checkers a real scare by cutting the lead to two goals and spending enough time in the offensive zone to draw a minute-long two-man advantage at one point. However, it was too little, too late for a team that had played one night earlier, had lost two skaters in the first period and faced a confident goaltender in Murphy.

“That was one of the worst periods I've seen our team play in my four years here,” Oklahoma City coach Todd Nelson told The Oklahoman of Friday's start. “The bottom line is it's a team game. The game was lost the first 15 minutes.”

The Barons were down to 10 forwards for most of the game with Curtis Hamilton and Andrew Miller both suffering injuries that will prevent them from playing tonight, according to Nelson. That will put additional pressure on the team’s remaining skaters, who will be playing for the third time in three nights against a more rested team.

It’s a virtual certainty that No. 1 goalie Richard Bachman gets tonight’s start after getting what was supposed to be a rare night off on Friday. He stopped all 22 shots he faced in relief of Chet Pickard, who gave up four on 15. Bachman has played in nine of the Barons’ last 10 games, including wins in each of his last two starts.

Checkers Notes

Pistol Blazing

Forward Matthew Pistilli has back-to-back two-goal games, marking the first time a Checkers player has accomplished that feat since Riley Nash did it on Feb. 16 and March 23 of last season, games that came on either side of a lengthy NHL recall. Prior to his last two games, Pistilli had two two-goal outings in his previous 171 AHL games with Albany and Charlotte.

Pistilli, the ECHL's leading scorer with 36 points (16g, 20a) in 28 games at the time of signing a professional tryout contract on Dec. 27, now has four points, all goals, in six AHL games with Charlotte this season.

Palushaj Picks up the Pace

Checkers forward Aaron Palushaj has 16 points (4g, 12a) in his last 12 AHL games. During that time period, he has at least one point in 10 of those 12 games and has posted five multi-point outings, allowing him to overtake Zach Boychuk for the team's scoring lead with 30 points in 35 games (t-15th AHL).

Palushaj also leads the Checkers with 20 assists, which rank tied for 12th in the AHL and are at least six more than any other Charlotte skater. He ranks second on the team with 93 shots on goal.

Consistent Offense

The Checkers have scored three or more goals in each of their last six games, tying the longest such streak in team history that was set from Oct. 21-Nov. 4 of last season. They are 15-6-0 when scoring at least three goals and 1-12-1 when scoring fewer than three. The Checkers rank 18th in the AHL with an average of 2.80 goals per game.

Power Players

The Checkers, who rank tied for third in the AHL with a 23.3 percent success rate on the power play, have scored 37.8 percent of their goals on the power play (37 of 98), which is the highest percentage of any AHL team. However, that percentage has been dropping steadily of late, with 17 of the team's last 21 goals scored at even strength or shorthanded.

For the season, Charlotte's 61 even-strength goals are the fifth-fewest in the league.

Fast Start

The Checkers scored four goals in the first period for just the second time in team history on Friday, having also accomplished the feat on Jan. 23, 2011. It was the team's first four-goal period since the second period of a game in Milwaukee on Feb. 16 of last season. It also produced 21 shots on goal, tying a season high set in the third period of a game against Hershey on Nov. 13.

The franchise record for most goals in a single period is eight, set during the second period of a game against Syracuse on Dec. 6, 2010.

Big Win

Friday's 5-2 victory marked the first time the Checkers have won a game by more than one goal since defeating Milwaukee 4-1 on Nov. 30. Each of the team's eight victories between those games had come by a single tally.

Ten of the Checkers' last 15 games since Dec. 1 have been decided by one goal, with the team posting an 8-2-0 record in those games. Prior to Dec. 1, the team had played seven one goal games in their first 20, going 2-4-1 in those contests.

Meet the Division

In 35 games, the Checkers have played against their own division, the West, just eight times (6-2-0), marking the fewest games that any AHL team has played within its own division. However, five of their next six will be played against divisional opponents, with the West counting as the only division that the Checkers have a winning record against.

Against the Barons

The Checkers' 12-game season series against Oklahoma City ties the longest in team history (Norfolk in 2010-11). Of Charlotte's remaining 41 games, nine of those will come against the Barons (22 percent).

Not including playoffs (Oklahoma City defeated the Checkers 3-2 in last season's first round), Charlotte holds an all-time record of 12-5-2 against the Barons, including a 9-2-0 mark on the road and three wins in Oklahoma City this season.

Checkers forwards Matt Marquardt and Philippe Cornet are both former Barons, with Cornet representing them in the 2011-12 All-Star Game. Defenseman Keegan Lowe's father, Kevin Lowe, is a member of the parent Edmonton Oilers' front-office staff, while forward Brody Sutter's father, Duane Sutter, is an Oilers scout.

Barons forwards Matthew Ford and Steve MacIntyre both played for Charlotte during its ECHL era.

Quick Hits

• The Checkers' 21 shots on goal in the first period of Friday's game tied a season high
• Charlotte's three overtime games are the fewest in the league, as is its lone shootout appearance.
• Seven of Nicolas Blanchard's 10 points this season have come in his last nine games. He had three points in his first 26.
• Matt Corrente's plus-8 rating since Dec. 1 leads all Checkers skaters
• The Checkers are one of three AHL teams to have a losing record at home (8-12-0) and a winning record on the road (8-6-1)
• Despite not scoring a goal since Dec. 7 (12 games) Mark Flood is tied for third among all AHL defensemen with eight goals and five power-play goals.
• The Checkers' four-first period goals gave them a plus-3 differential in that period this season (33 for, 30 against), their only period with a positive margin.
• Charlotte has both scored (34) and allowed (43) more goals in the third period than in any other period.

Player Streaks

• Zach Boychuk has points in each of his last five games (Dec. 12-21: 5g, 3a)
• Chris Terry has points in each of his last four games (Dec. 30-Jan. 10: 3g, 2a)
• Philippe Cornet has points in each of his last three games (Jan. 2-10: 1g, 3a)
• Justin Shugg has assists and points in each of his last three games (Jan. 2-10: 0g, 3a)
• Matthew Pistilli has goals and points in each of his last two games (Jan. 3-10: 4g, 0a)
• Nicolas Blanchard has points in each of his last two games (Jan. 3-10: 1g, 1a)

Milestones

• Nicolas Blanchard earned his 400th penalty minute as a Checker on Jan. 3
• Greg Nemisz made his Checkers debut picked up his first Checkers assist/point against Texas on Jan. 3

Injuries

• Sean Dolan - missed 15 games starting Dec. 1
• Danny Biega - missed 10 games starting Dec. 15
• Jared Staal - missed two games starting Jan. 3
• Greg Nemisz - missed one game starting Jan. 10

Transactions

Incoming

• Jan. 11 - (LW) Zach Boychuk reassigned to Charlotte from Carolina (NHL)
• Jan. 11 - (C) Brett Sutter reassigned to Charlotte from Carolina (NHL)
• Jan. 10 - (LW) Kyle Bonis recalled to Charlotte from Florida (ECHL)
• Jan. 8 - (RW) Aaron Palushaj reassigned to Charlotte from Carolina (NHL)

Outgoing

• none