Game Preview: Checkers at Oklahoma City (March 14, 2015)

Immediately after playing five games in nine days at home, the Checkers begin their longest road swing of the season as they play the first of back-to-back games in Oklahoma City tonight.

Charlotte, winners of six of their last eight road games, will be looking to carry some of that success to their opponents' buildings. The Checkers' 18 points earned on the road this season (7-18-4) are the lowest of any AHL team. They are 0-3-1 in Oklahoma City this season, with tonight's game and tomorrow's rematch marking their last-ever trip to the city as the Barons are relocating to Bakersfield, California, next season.

The first leg of the road swing contains this weekend's games and a Tuesday trip to San Antonio. The Checkers briefly return home on either side of quick trips to Iowa and Norfolk before playing their next home game on March 27.

Charlotte

In dropping four of their last five on the road, the Checkers have struggled to put pucks in the net, especially during crunch time, for much of the season. They have recently begun to find their way, with Thursday’s win over Grand Rapids a good example of getting those clutch goals that will be a recipe for the team’s ongoing success.

“As I said to the guys, bring that game on the road,” said head coach Jeff Daniels. “That’s been our message all year. I know our record’s not good on the road, but if you look back we’ve had some real good games on the road where we haven’t won or haven’t scored goals.”

While the offensive emergence of rookies Trevor Carrick and Brock McGinn has helped boost the Checkers attack significantly, it is the reemergence of Zach Boychuk and the continued production from Justin Shugg that have really turned things up for Charlotte. Despite seeing his five-game points streak come to an end Thursday night, Boychuk has put up 10 points in his last 12 games, regaining the touch that made him last season’s scoring champ. Shugg has enjoyed a breakout season, setting a new career high with his 17th goal of the season Thursday, giving him sole possession of the team goal and points lead. Similar to Boychuk, Shugg has racked up 11 points in his last 13 games.

The Checkers will be looking to carry that newfound offensive attack with them when they hit the road, but it could take more than that for them to right the ship away from home.

“Just accountability,” said Shugg on the reasons behind the team’s struggles on the road. “Not having your own bed to sleep in and feeling like you’ve got to get out of your comfort zone and bring it home.”

“We’ve got to be better,” said Drew MacIntyre, who turned in a staggering 47-save performance in Thursday’s win. “There’s a clear difference. We’re definitely better at home, so we have to do all those little things. The team is all about the details. When we do those little things we have success, and when we don’t then we definitely don’t. It’s accountability, it’s a lot of things. We have to take pride to be able to play 60 minutes and usually on the road we don’t.”

This six-game road trip, the longest that the team has seen this season, will be a big task for this young Checkers team, but with performances like Thursday’s, they certainly have the ability to turn things around.

“We’ve got to bring that effort into OK City,” said Daniels. “Our schedule doesn’t get easier when you’re going on the road and you’re playing OK City, a top team, and then San Antonio, so it’s a great test for us to see the improvement we have on our team and the character of this locker room.”

Beginning with the split against Grand Rapids earlier in the week and ending with their next three games, the Checkers' are in the midst of a five-game stretch against the Western Conference's top four teams.

Oklahoma City

The Barons continue their impressive march through the regular season, currently residing as the second seed in the Western Conference.

After spending the majority of the season reigning as the top team in the Western Conference, the Barons have hit a bit of a rough patch recently, recording a 7-7-1 record in their last 15 games. That skid, coupled with the incredible points streak that Grand Rapids has put together, has bumped the Barons from the number one spot and as we head down the home stretch of the season.

Oklahoma City has possessed a prolific offense this season, ranking near the top of the league in terms of goals per game for the majority of the year. They have been propelled by their deadly top combo of Andrew Miller and Jason Williams. Miller, who ranks in the top 10 in the AHL in scoring, has put up an astounding 15 points in his last 11 games, while Williams, an NHL veteran, has amassed 45 points in his first year back in North America after spending two seasons in Switzerland.

The Barons have gotten production from other places as well, including rookie Bogdan Yakimov, who has found his groove after a slow start and has eight points in his last 10 games. There is also the dynamic Brad Hunt, who has established himself as one of the AHL's best offensive defensemen, with 124 points in 176 games over the last three seasons. Hunt’s 41 this season rank him near the top of the league’s defensemen scoring leaders, and the blue liner has poured in nine points in his last 10 contests.

With Richard Bachman spending time in the NHL with the Oilers, rookie Laurent Brossoit has taken command of the Barons’ crease. In fact, the 21-year-old has started each of the last 13 games for OKC. While Brossoit has only gone 7-6-0 during that stretch, he has been lights out in his last two starts, both victories, allowing just one goal in each contest.

Checkers Notes

Against Oklahoma City

Tonight marks the ninth of 12 meetings between the Checkers and Oklahoma City this season, with the Barons taking six of eight thus far. Since the Checkers opened last season's 12-game series with six straight wins, the Barons are 9-2-3 in their last 13 games against Charlotte. In 35 all-time contests between the two clubs, the Checkers hold a 19-13-4 record, including a 10-7-1 mark in Oklahoma City.

Checkers scoring leader Justin Shugg (six games) and rookie Brock McGinn (eight games) are tied for the team lead with five points (2g, 3a apiece) against the Barons this season. For Oklahoma City, Andrew Miller leads all skaters with five goals and eight points in eight games against the Checkers.

In goal, John Muse has a 1-3-1 record with a 2.62 goals-against average and .923 save percentage against the Barons this season, while Drew MacIntyre is 1-2-0 with a 3.37 GAA and .878 SV%. For Oklahoma City, Laurent Brossoit is 3-2-0 with a 1.76 GAA and .942 SV%. Barons backup Tyler Bunz has never faced the Checkers.

In terms of organizational ties, Checkers defenseman Keegan Lowe's father, Kevin Lowe, is the president of hockey operations for Oklahoma City's parent club, the Edmonton Oilers. Checkers center Brody Sutter's father, Duane Sutter, is an Edmonton scout. Oklahoma City forward Matthew Ford played 31 games for the ECHL Checkers from 2008-10 before becoming a full-time AHL player.

Home and Road

The Checkers have won six of their last eight games at home dating back to Feb. 16 and are now 17-13-2 at Time Warner Cable Arena this season. Meanwhile, they are just 7-18-4 on the road, with their 18 points earned marking the fewest of any AHL team.

Charlotte averages just 1.83 goals per game on the road (last AHL) as opposed to 2.30 at home. All five shutouts the team has suffered this season have occurred on the road.

Tonight's game begins a season-long, six-game road swing that will be made up of three separate trips ending March 25. Following that, the Checkers return to Charlotte to begin season-long, six-game home stand from March 27-April 12 that will mark their last-ever games at Time Warner Cable Arena.

MacIntyre's Workload

After becoming the first Checkers goalie to start consecutive games since he last did so on Feb. 6 and 7, Drew MacIntyre, who has started each of the team's last three games, now ranks fourth in the AHL with 2,367 minutes played and is second with 1,178 saves. He would only need to appear in seven of the team's last 15 games to tie the franchise record for games played by a goaltender in a single season (48 by Justin Pogge in 2010-11).

MacIntyre has made 40 or more saves seven times this season, including twice in his last four starts. Though he has yet to record a shutout, he has won five games by a 2-1 score. He owns a .933 save percentage in overtime games this season (42 saves on 45 shots) and has stopped 21 of 23 in the shootout. He is tied for the league lead in shootout victories this season (4-1 record).

MacIntyre, a 31-year-old veteran now playing his 12th professional season with his eighth AHL club, ranks 10th on the league's all-time wins list with 209 and is just 23 wins away from tying Frederic Cassivi for fifth. He has a 209-137-25 record, 2.46 goals-against average, .936 save percentage and 16 shutouts in 394 career AHL games dating back to the 2004-05 season.

Shugg Takes Over

Justin Shugg's game-tying goal in the third period of the Checkers' last game on March 12 was his 17th goal of the season, establishing a new career high, and gave him sole possession of team leads in goals and points (32). The third-year forward has 11 points (4g, 7a) in his last 13 outings, including one overtime-winning goal and not including one shootout-winning goal. His eight shots on goal on March 12 marked a new career high and tied the most taken by a Checker this season.

Shugg, 23, now ranks sixth on the franchise's all-time points list with 104 points (45g, 59a) in 197 games played. He needs six more to pass Jerome Samson and move into the top five.

Boychuk's Back

Reigning AHL goal-scoring champion Zach Boychuk has found his scoring touch of late with six goals and 10 points in his last 12 games. Since being held off the score sheet in 10 of 13 games following his reassignment from the NHL on Jan. 8, he has scored at least one point in nine of his last 12.

Five of Boychuk's 10 goals this season have come on the power play, putting him one behind Chad LaRose for the team lead in that category and making him responsible for 17.9 percent of the team's total (28 goals) despite playing in only 27 games. Boychuk led the AHL with 18 power-play goals last season, with that total accounting for exactly half of his team-record 36 on the campaign.

Boychuk is the Checkers' all-time leader with 112 goals and 51 power-play goals in 269 games played.

Carrick Lights It Up

Rookie defenseman Trevor Carrick has found his scoring touch of late, recording five points (2g, 3a) in his last six games. He currently leads all Checkers defensemen in goals (six) and points (19). His goal total is a new record for a Checkers rookie defenseman while his point total ranks second behind Ryan Murphy's 22 in 2013-14.

A fourth-round pick in 2012, the 20-year-old Carrick put up 51 points in his final season of junior last year, split between Mississauga and Sudbury, and ranked second among OHL defensemen in goals (22).

Powering Up

The Checkers have scored a power-play goal in seven of their last nine games dating back to Feb. 22, going 7-for-34 (20.1 percent) during that time. As a result, their power play has risen out of the league's lowest-ranked spot it had occupied since Dec. 14 and now ranks 29th in the AHL at an even 12 percent.

Killing It

Since Feb. 16, the Checkers have killed 31 of 33 penalties (93.9 percent) and have risen into a tie for ninth in the league with a season-long percentage of 85.8.

The Checkers are tied for seventh in the league with seven shorthanded goals, which are two behind the league lead and four more than their AHL-low total from all of last season.

Shootout Success

Charlotte's six shootout appearances and five shootout victories this season tie them for the second-most in the AHL behind Lehigh Valley (seven appearances, six wins) in both categories. Meanwhile, the Checkers are 2-5 in games decided during the seven-minute overtime period.

The Checkers have found success in the shootout by scoring seven goals on 26 attempts (.269, 14th AHL). Meanwhile, their goaltending tandem of Drew MacIntyre (21 saves on 23 attempts) and John Muse (three saves on four attempts) have given the Checkers the third-best save percentage in the league at .889 percent. In MacIntyre's only shootout loss of the season, he stopped seven of eight while receiving no goals of support.

The Checkers' top scorers in the shootout this season are rookie Brock McGinn (two goals on three attempts) and overall scoring leader Justin Shugg (two goals, both game-winners, on five attempts). McGinn ranks second among AHL rookies in shootout percentage (66.7) and Shugg is tied for the AHL lead in shootout-winning goals.

Quick Hits

• Phil Di Giuseppe ranks tied for fourth among AHL rookies with 135 shots on goal
• After scoring 10 points in his first 42 games of the season, Ben Holmstrom has eight (all assists) in his last 10
• The Checkers are the only AHL team that has yet to record a shutout
• Charlotte's two shorthanded goals allowed are tied with Manchester for the fewest in the league
• Despite playing just 25 games this season and none since Jan. 23, Ryan Murphy leads all Checkers with 17 assists
• Kyle Hagel is tied for third in the league with 19 major penalites (all fights). Of his 137 penalty minutes, only 12 are not related to fighting incidents.
• The Checkers' .638 winning percentage when scoring the game's first goal is the third-lowest in the AHL

Streaks

• Dennis Robertson has points in each of his last four games (1g, 3a)

Injuries

• Keegan Lowe - missed six games starting 2/27
• Chad LaRose - missed eight games starting 2/25
• Greg Nemisz - missed 40 games starting 12/8 (out for season)

Milestones

• Brendan Woods is one shy of 100 professional games
• John Muse is one shy of 150 professional games
• Zach Boychuk is one shy of 200 AHL PIM
• Brody Sutter is three shy of 50 AHL points
• Danny Biega is five shy of 100 AHL/pro PIM
• Kyle Hagel is eight shy of 1,000 pro PIM
• Sean Dolan is nine shy of 100 AHL pro PIM
• Justin Shugg is three shy of 200 AHL games
• Zach Boychuk played his 450th professional game on March 12

Transactions

Incoming

• None

Outgoing

• March 11 - (LW) Gabriel Desjardins released from professional tryout contract