Game Preview: Checkers at Rockford (Dec. 30, 2013)

The Checkers conclude their three-game road trip against a familiar opponent – the Rockford IceHogs.

Tonight will be seventh meeting of the season between the two clubs, tying it for the most common match-up seen in the league thus far. Charlotte holds a 3-2-1 edge in the season series, which started fast and furiously but will take a three-and-a-half-month break until the teams reconvene for the final game of the regular season on April 19.

The Checkers will be looking to return home with a winning record on their post-holiday trip that began with a 3-2 win in Milwaukee on Friday and a 4-3 defeat in Chicago last night.

Charlotte

It wasn’t a great surprise that Carolina Hurricanes goaltender Anton Khudobin, who joined the Checkers on a conditioning stint over the weekend, played at the first possible opportunity against Chicago on Sunday. The biggest question was always going to be whether or not he would play on back-to-back nights.

On one hand, it could be a lot to ask of a goalie who had previously not played since suffering an ankle injury on Oct. 13 and ended up getting a lot of work during Sunday’s 36-save effort, particularly with travel involved. On the other, he’s in the AHL to get reps as he tries to work his way back into a Carolina rotation involving Cam Ward and Justin Peters, and this is an opportunity to receive many in a short amount of time.

Khudobin looked up to the task on Sunday, making several tough stops as Chicago out-gunned the Checkers, taking 40 shots on goal despite playing for the third time in three nights. That said, Charlotte goalies other than John Muse can’t seem to make the breakthrough this season, with Muse responsible for all 11 of the Checkers’ wins since Oct. 5 while the other seven goalies the team has used this season are a combined 2-10-1.

On the offensive front, forward Aaron Palushaj has emerged as the most productive Checkers player of late with his second three-point night of the season on Sunday (2g, 1a). That marked his third multi-point outing since Dec. 10 and gave him 12 points (3g, 9a) in his last eight games.

All three Checkers goals on Sunday came at even strength, a good sign for a team that has scored a league-high 40 percent of its goals on the power play this season, though recently strong special teams let them down in the third period. Charlotte, which boasts the league’s third-ranked power play, missed a five-on-three chance early before Chicago, which had the AHL’s worst man-advantage unit, scored the winner with under five minutes left.

Prior to that late power-play goal by Chicago, Charlotte had killed 17 consecutive power plays since Dec. 15.

With the possible exception of a change in goal, the Checkers are not likely to have any lineup changes for tonight’s game. Forwards Sean Dolan and Jared Staal and defensemen Danny Biega and Rasmus Rissanen will remain sidelined due to injury.

Rockford

Having caught their last two opponents in situations where those teams had played the night before and they had not, the Checkers find themselves in the opposite situation tonight. Rockford had the weekend off after playing back-to-back games on Thursday and Friday, a pair of losses to Iowa and Grand Rapids, respectively, while Charlotte traveled roughly two hours by bus following last night’s loss.

What advantage the IceHogs have in the rest department could be negated by their lack of momentum, with those two post-holiday games extending their winless streak to five games (0-4-1), the longest active streak in the league. They had a five-game points earned streak immediately prior to that (4-0-1), including an overtime loss and a win in Charlotte to start the month, illustrating what has been a streaky season for the Midwest Division club.

As was the case in Charlotte earlier this season, the IceHogs simultaneously lost both of their goaltenders, Antti Raanta and Kent Simpson, due to injuries with their NHL parent club in Chicago earlier this month. However, Simpson, who has played in nine of the team’s last 13 games, has since returned to Rockford.

The team as a whole has struggled defensively of late, having given up three or more goals in each of its last 11 games, including both contests in Charlotte earlier this month. As such, the goals-against averages of Simpson (3.38 with a .899 save percentage) and partner Mac Carruth (3.88 with a .861 save percentage) have taken a hit. As a team, Rockford ranks last in the league with an average of 3.48 goals allowed per game.

Goal scoring has also been tough to come by of late, with the team netting a total of eight, never more than two per game, over the course of its five-game winless streak. Defensemen Adam Clendening leads the team with 23 points in 33 games, while reigning AHL scoring champion Brandon Pirri has just one point in his last five, a goal against Grand Rapids on Friday.

Forward Joakim Nordstrom, who has scored three goals in four match-ups against Charlotte this season, enters tonight’s game on a four-game streak (1g, 3a).

Checkers Notes

Goalies Galore

On Dec. 29, Anton Khudobin became the eighth goaltender to play for the Checkers this season, extending a team record that stood at five prior to this season. That number ties Oklahoma City for the most goalies used by a single team this season.

John Muse has accounted for 11 of the team's 13 wins this season, including each of the team's victories since Oct. 5. Muse is 11-7-0 with a 2.46 goals-against average and .918 save percentage and two shutouts this season, while the other seven goalies are a combined 2-10-1 with a 3.73 goals-against average, .883 save percentage and no shutouts.

Palushaj Picks up the Pacee

Forward Aaron Palushaj has scored 12 points (3g, 9a) in his last eight games, marking his most productive stretch of the season. He tied his season high with three points (2g, 1a) on Dec. 29 and now has seven multi-point games on the season, four of which have come since Dec. 10.

Palushaj now ranks second on the team in scoring with 26 points in 31 games and is the team's leader with 17 assists, at least four more than any other player.

Power Players

The Checkers, who rank third in the AHL with a 22.9 percent success rate on the power play, have scored 39.8 percent of their goals on the power play (33 of 83), which is the highest percentage of any AHL team. Meanwhile, Charlotte's 50 even-strength goals on the season are the fourth-lowest in the league.

Charlotte has not scored a power-play goal in its last two games (0-for-6), its only two games of the season without current AHL power-play goals leader Zach Boychuk in its lineup, and is now 2-7-0 when not scoring a power-play goal. However, the Checkers have scored three or more even strength-goals in three of their last six games, including two straight.

Penalty-Killing Prowess

Though the Checkers rank tied for 21st in AHL penalty-killing at 80.8 percent, they have held opponents off the board in 11 of their last 15 games. Since Nov. 23, the Checkers are killing penalties at a rate of 87.8 percent (43-for-49), which would rank fourth in the league if applied to the full season.

Only three other teams have found themselves in fewer shorthanded situations than the Checkers' 125 (Portland, Providence and Utica). Charlotte is the AHL's sixth-best-disciplined team with an average of 14 penalty minutes per game.

Divided Division

In 31 games, the Checkers have played against their own division, the West, just five times (4-1-0), marking the fewest games that any AHL team has played within its own division. They will not play another divisional game until facing Texas on Jan. 2, which marks the start of a run in which they will play eight of nine games against divisional opponents. The West Division is the only division that the Checkers have a winning record against, though they could get to .500 against the Midwest with a victory over Chicago tonight (currently 7-8-1).

Quick Hits

• On Sunday, Anton Khudobin played his first AHL game since March 31, 2012
• Justin Shugg's eighth goal of the season on Sunday marked a new career high
• Eight of the Checkers' last 11 games have been decided by one goal. They are 6-2-0 in those games.
  
• Charlotte's three overtime games are the fewest in the league, as is its lone shootout appearance.
• Charlotte is one of three teams that have yet to score a shorthanded goal.
• Despite not scoring a goal since Dec. 7 (eight games) Mark Flood is tied for third among all AHL defensemen with eight goals and ranks second with five power-play goals.
• Matt Corrente ranks tied for fourth among all AHL defensemen with five major penalties.
• Charlotte has both scored (31) and allowed (36) more goals in the third period than in any other period.

Player Streaks

• Aaron Palushaj has assists and points in each of his last three games (Dec. 21-29: 2g, 4a)
• Matt Corrente has points in each of his last two games (Dec. 27-29: 2g, 1a)
• Brody Sutter has assists and points in each of his last two games (Dec. 27-29: 0g, 2a)
• Justin Shugg has points in each of his last two games (Dec. 27-29: 1g, 1a)

Milestones

• none

Injuries

• Sean Dolan - missed 11 games starting Dec. 1
• Jared Staal - missed 10 games starting Dec. 5
• Rasmus Rissanen - missed eight games starting Dec. 10
• Danny Biega - missed six games starting Dec. 15

Transactions

Incoming

• Dec. 27 - (G) Anton Khudobin assigned on a conditioning stint from Carolina (NHL)
• Dec. 27 - (RW) Matthew Pistilli signed to professional tryout contract from Florida (ECHL)

Outgoing

• Dec. 27 - (LW) Zach Boychuk recalled to Carolina (NHL) from Charlotte