QUICK HITS
HEATING UP
This past week saw the Checkers rattle off their longest win streak of the season when they notched four consecutive victories. While that streak came to an end with Sunday’s overtime loss to Cleveland, the Checkers have earned a point in each of their last five games - a new high mark for the season.They’ll go head-to-head with a Providence squad that has won three consecutive games and five of their last six contests.
BATTLE FOR THE ATLANTIC
Starting with tonight’s contest against the Bruins, three of the Checkers’ next four games are against teams ahead of them in the Atlantic Division standings. As it stands now, the difference between the fourth-place Checkers and the second-place Bruins is .025 percentage points, while the first-place Thunderbirds sit atop the standings just .050 percentage points ahead of Charlotte.CARRICK CHIPS IN
Connor Carrick is coming off a historic outing against Cleveland on Sunday, where he matched a franchise record by racking up four assists. The blue liner has now posted 15 points over his last 16 games - in fact, since Jan. 15 only one defenseman in the AHL has recorded more points than Carrick.POWERING UP
The Checkers have found some success on the power play as of late, posting three goals in 10 man advantages over the last three games. That run - which broke up a 1-for-14 stretch in the four games before that - keeps the Checkers in the league’s top 10 when it comes to the power play, coming in at number nine. On the other side, Providence boasts the second-best penalty kill in the AHL and has gone three straight games without surrendering a power-play tally.QUOTES
Checkers Head Coach Geordie Kinnear on the focus heading into this road trip"We always talk about five guys being in sync and on the same page. We’ve had numerous changes within the lineup, but we spent some time [Thursday] morning doing video and then on the ice working to be five guys on the same page for each shift so we can play with a lot of tempo and pace."
Kinnear on getting his defensive corps back to near full strength
"It’s a good boost. The issue is when you haven’t played or practiced you need reminders on some of the stuff. We spent [Thursday] morning getting up to speed. We want to go out in games and not have to think, we want to be able to perform at a high level."
Kinnear on adding Owen Tippett to the lineup
"He’s a gamebreaker within the group. You put him on the power play and it can be in the back of the net. When he skates and plays fast, his skill will take over. We want to get him up to speed and feeling good about himself. But as we’ve talked about all year, this is a team and we have to play as a team - it’s not just one guy, it’s everybody. We expect Tip to come in and be a part of the group."
Kinnear on Charlotte's penalty kill slump
"I’m not worried about it. You look at it, some guys are getting opportunities that haven’t been on the PK, they’re more power-play guys. It’s important that they get out there because they have to develop. The only way to get better at something is to make your mistakes, honest mistakes. We’ve made some honest mistakes from guys who haven’t been on there before, but we’re going to work with them and they’re going to get better. I’m not really worried about it because I know the PK has been at a high level for a long period of time."
Kinnear on his goalie tandem of Joey Daccord and Spencer Knight
"I use the word trust a lot with that group. When you trust somebody in the game, you don't have to think. But if you lose trust, the game becomes more difficult because you’re doing everyone else’s job. There has to be a good trust between our forwards and our D and our goalies, then you have something special. When you have goalies that are going to do their jobs very well, it makes the trust a lot easier to build within your group so you can play with that tempo and pace that we want to."
Kinnear on his approach to the upcoming road trip
"One game at a time, win one shift at a time. Never look back, you can only look ahead. That's important. We just came off a six-in-nine and we had a tough road trip the week before that in Rochester. This group of games is really no different. Our approach doesn’t change because there’s more games or we’re on the road more. It’s one shift at a time - win that shift. If you don’t, move on and win the next one."
COMING IN
CLT: 4-0-1-0 in last five games this seasonPRO: 4-1-0-0 in last five games this season
WHO TO WATCH
CLT
Connor Carrick - 8 points in last 5 gamesScott Wilson - 11 points in last 11 games
Chase Priskie – 6 points in last 6 games
PRO
Justin Brazeau – 3 points in last 3 gamesCameron Hughes – 6 points in last 4 games
Eduard Tralmaks – 5 points in last 3 games
TUNE IN
Tonight's contest starts at 7:05 p.m. in Providence, and as always you can listen to the game for free via the Checkers app on iPhone or Android. You can also watch via the league’s AHLTV service.And new for this season, our friends over at Ed's Tavern on 2200 Park Road are going to be showing the game on their TVs!
