Game Preview: Checkers at Providence (Jan. 4, 2020)

The Checkers are ringing in 2020 with a two-game set against the Providence Bruins. Here's everything you need to know before puck drop.

1. SO THIS IS THE NEW YEAR

The Checkers kick off a new calendar year Saturday in Providence, where they’ll play their first game of 2020. Across the franchise’s nine previous AHL campaigns, the Checkers are 2-6-1 all time in their first January game of the new year.

2. KEEP ON ROLLIN

The Checkers head into the weekend on their best stretch of the season thus far. They are currently riding a season-best three-game winning streak, having outscored opponents 12-4 over that stretch. The Checkers are also 7-3-0 in their last 10 games, the second-best such record in the Atlantic Division.

3. LOCKING IT DOWN

Charlotte continues to ratchet up their defensive efforts over the last handful of games and climb the league rankings. The Checkers have given up just a single goal in each of their last two games and have surrendered a total of 11 goals in their last six contests combined.

While the defense has been strong over that stretch, the Checkers have also benefitted from stellar play between the pipes. Alex Nedeljkovic has won two of his last three starts and boasts a team-best 2.52 goals-against average, while Anton Forsberg is riding a three-game point streak and has won five of his last six appearances, allowing six total goals over those five wins.

4. CAN'T STOP GOAT

Julien Gauthier has been an unstoppable force offensively as of late, racking up nine points over his last five games. That includes a four-game streak that saw him register five goals and run his total to a team-leading 14, as well as a run of four assists in his last four games. As it stands, the forward heads into Saturday’s game with a point in five straight contests, two shy of Eetu Luostarinen’s team-long for the season.

5. LORENTZ LIGHTS IT UP

Steven Lorentz has found his scoring touch, piling on seven points over his last seven games. That includes his current three-game point streak in which the forward five points. Just 32-games into the season Lorentz has already nearly tripled his 29-game goal total from a season ago with eight, set a career-high with nine assists and almost doubled his point total with 17 thus far, tying him for fifth on the team.

6. BUSY WEEKEND FOR THE BRUINS

The Checkers head into Providence for a pair of games on Saturday and Sunday, but that’s not the start of the Bruins’ busy three-in-three slate. The Bruins hosted Hartford Friday night and lost 3-1 after the Wolf Pack netted the game-winning goal inside of the final minute of play.

7. ON THE SKIDS

Friday’s loss was Providence’s second in a row and dropped the club to a 4-6-0 record over its last 10 games. That skid, paired with the surging success of the Hershey Bears, Providence has fallen into a tie for the second spot in the Atlantic Division, sitting eight points ahead of Charlotte with four games in hand.

The Checkers will look to keep that slide going over the weekend, with the Bruins faring far worse at home (7-7-1) than on the road (13-6-2) this season. The two sides have met twice already this season in Charlotte, with the Bruins picking up a pair of convincing wins.

8. LEADING THE WAY

One of the higher-scoring teams in the AHL, Providence has been led by a pair of AHL All Stars in Paul Carey and Jack Studnicka, both of whom are tied for the team lead with 26 points this season. Additionally there’s former Checkers Brendan Woods, who has five goals in 25 games this season, but racked up three of those in two games against his former squad earlier this year.

Between the pipes, Max Lagace has handleded the majority of the workload and turned in strong numbers, including a gaudy 13-5-2 record. While Lagace has logged 21 of the Bruins’ 36 games this season, Dan Vladar has been stellar in his appearances with a 1.70 goals-against average and a .940 save percentage. The duo have been alternating starts each game throughout the month of December, with Vladar getting the nod most recently.

9. TUNE IN

You can tune in to every broadcast this season with a subscription to the league’s streaming platform AHLTV.

As always, the radio broadcast will be available via the Checkers app or this link, so tune in and tweet Jason Shaya to let him know you’re listening!