Game Preview: Checkers at San Antonio (March 9, 2014)

Their four-game winning streak now over, the Checkers look to finish a three-in-three weekend on a high note as they visit San Antonio for the second time in three days.

An entertaining game between the two playoff hopefuls on Friday, a 5-4 shootout victory for Charlotte, allowed the Checkers to tie their longest winning streak of the season set twice previously. However, they were not able to find the score sheet for just the second time this season in Saturday’s 3-0 loss to Texas, now the Western Conference’s top team once again.

As was the case in Saturday’s game, the Checkers will be travelling, although it’s only a relatively short 90-minute trip between the two cities, to play a team that rested the night before. They also lose an hour between Saturday’s 8 p.m. start and today’s at 5 p.m. due to daylight savings time as they attempt to win their fourth consecutive game against their West Division rival.

Charlotte

Having averaged 4.50 goals per game over the course of their winning streak with several players contributing offensively, the Checkers couldn’t get anything going in Saturday’s shutout in Texas. Their 24 shots on goal was their lowest total since taking 18 against Milwaukee on Dec. 1, with Jack Campbell shutting them out for the first time since Lake Erie’s Calvin Pickard made 33 saves against them on Jan. 31.

That wasn’t necessarily how the game set up with both teams known more for their offense, though Texas could have scored more than one goal in each period if not for Mike Murphy, who looked solid in making 32 saves in his first game since last facing the Stars on Feb. 20. Based on that, he could make his second consecutive start tonight, although John Muse played better than the final score suggested by making 35 saves in regulation and overtime and four of five in the shootout against this same Rampage team on Friday.

The Checkers remain 10th in the Western Conference despite Saturday’s loss, though a hard-charging Utica team is now level with them on points with one additional game played. Eighth-placed Milwaukee topped Rockford on Saturday, increasing the playoff gap to seven points with 18 games still on the schedule. The Checkers may actually have a better chance of catching seventh-place Rockford, who leads them by nine points but has played four more games.

As was the case on Friday, San Antonio (12th) could catch the Checkers with a regulation victory tonight as they trail by just two points. The teams still play each other three more times after tonight.

Five different Checkers players saw point streaks of three or more games come to an end in Texas, including Chris Terry’s five-game run and those by each member of a recently prolific line of Zach Boychuk, Sean Dolan and Aaron Palushaj that was on the ice for both of Texas’ even-strength goals.

San Antonio

The Rampage have been off since losing for the fourth time in five games on Friday. Having struggled for much of the season, they had only recently rebuilt their playoff hopes by winning six games in a row, all on the road, prior to that stretch. Tonight will mark just the third home game they’ve played since Jan. 31 (not including a March 1 game that was postponed due to poor ice conditions) with the Rampage not winning at home since Jan. 26.

San Antonio has not made any transactions since Friday’s game, as they still have three goaltenders in Michael Houser, who made 36 saves against the Checkers, former Checker Rob Madore and NHL veteran Scott Clemmensen on their roster. As of Friday, Clemmensen, 36, had not yet arrived in San Antonio following his assignment from the parent Florida Panthers two days earlier.

Houser, who has allowed 10 goals while starting San Antonio’s last two games, had been splitting time with Jacob Markstrom prior to the latter heading to Vancouver as part of a trade involving Roberto Luongo. Clemmensen has not played in the AHL since Oct. 19, while Madore, who has spent time on a handful of different AHL rosters this season, including that of the Checkers, last played in the league on Jan. 18.

Forward Bobby Butler, the Rampage’s leading scorer with rookie Vincent Trochek still in the NHL, led the way with two goals against the Checkers on Friday – both of which came in a 2:03 span as San Antonio went up 3-1 following an opening goal by Justin Shugg. The 26-year-old veteran of 128 NHL games with Ottawa, New Jersey and Nashville has 36 points, including a team-high 18 goals, in 56 games.

Drew Shore, who had recently joined the Rampage from Florida, picked up two assists on Friday, while AHL All-Star Mark Mancari went scoreless and netted the Rampage's only successful shootout attempt in his first game with the club following a trade from the St. Louis organization.

Only two of the Rampage’s trio of defensemen with significant NHL experience (1,198 total games) played Friday, with Ryan Whitney sitting out for the first time since Feb. 5. Matt Gilroy and Greg Zanon were both in the lineup.

Checkers Notes

Against San Antonio

The Checkers have an all-time record of 10-6-0 against the Rampage since joining the Western Conference prior to the 2011-12 season, including a 3-1-0 mark this season. Charlotte has won each of the last three between the two clubs, who play four more times this season, including a two-game set in Charlotte on March 21 and 23.

The Checkers and Rampage have been involved in a player transaction in each of the last three seasons, including a Nov. 22 trade that saw Charlotte acquire Philippe Cornet in exchange for Adam Brace. Since joining the Checkers, Cornet has 21 points (11g, 10a) in 42 games, including five (4g, 1a) in his last seven.

Playoff Picture

With 18 games to play, the 10th-place Checkers currently trail eight seed Milwaukee by seven points with equal games played. They also trail seventh-place Rockford by nine points, with the Checkers having four games in hand.

Of the Checkers remaining 18 games, six will be be played against the three teams immediately ahead of them (one against Milwaukee, one against Rockford and four against nine seed Oklahoma City, who they currently trail by three points). Eight will be played against teams below them in the Western Conference standings (four against 12-seed San Antonio, two against 13-seed Iowa and two against 15 seed Lake Erie).

Dolan Steps Up

Checkers center Sean Dolan set career highs with two goals, three points, five shots on goal and a plus-3 rating against the San Antonio Rampage on March 7. He now has six points in his last four games (3g, 3a), marking the most productive stretch of his three AHL seasons.

Dolan, a 26-year-old who has signed three consecutive AHL contracts with Charlotte since intially joining the team on a tryout contract in January of 2012, has toppped his career high for points in a single season with 12 (4g, 8a) in 32 games. He has eight points in 12 games, including two game-winning goals, since missing 21 games due to injury.

Shootout Stars

The Checkers scored twice on four shootout attemps in San Antonio on March 7, giving them a .450 shooting percentage (9-for-20) that ranks second in the AHL. Chris Terry and Aaron Palushaj lead the Checkers with three goals each on four attempts, while Brody Sutter ranks third with goals on both of his attempts both this season and in his AHL career. The only other Checker to score on a shootout attempt this season is Matthew Pistilli, who scored on his one attempt before the Checkers released him from his PTO.

The Checkers are 2-2 in shootouts this season, with their four attempts ranking as the fewest in the AHL.

The Big Three

Along with Texas (four), the Checkers are one of two teams to feature three or more players among the AHL's top 20 scorers. Zach Boychuk leads the Checkers and is tied for 10th in the AHL with 52 points, Chris Terry ranks tied for 12th in the league with 51 and Aaron Palushaj is 14th with 50.

All three players have held sole possesion of the Checkers' scoring lead at one point this season and are on pace for their best scoring seasons at the AHL level. At their current pace, Boychuk and Terry would break Boychuk's team record of 65 points set in the 2010-11 season, with Boychuk on pace for 70 and Terry on pace for 68. Palushaj would tie the record with 65 points.

Hats off to Boychuk

With three third-period goals on March 2, Zach Boychuk recorded his third hat trick of the season and fourth of his career. Three of those hat tricks have come since Jan. 24, while his previous hat trick came almost exactly three years earlier on Jan. 23, 2011. He is responsible for four of six hat tricks in the Checkers' AHL history (Jacob Mikflikier, Brett Sutter).

Boychuk, who set a new career high with his 24th goal of the season on March 1, now ranks fourth in the AHL with 27. He is tied for the league lead with a franchise-record 14 power-play goals.

Now in his fifth professional season, Boychuk is on pace for 36 goals, which would break Chris Terry's team record of 34 set in the 2010-11 season. Terry and Boychuk rank first and second on the Checkers' all-time goals list with 95 and 93, respectively.

Power Players

In Zach Boychuk (t-1st with 14) and Chris Terry (t-8th with 10), the Checkers have two of the AHL's top 11 in terms of power-play goals this season. Boychuk has already broken the single-season franchise record of 12 previously set by Jacob Micflikier in the 2010-11 campaign. Meanwhile, Mark Flood's seven power-play goals are tied for second among AHL defensemen and for the most by a Checkers blueliner in a single season (Bobby Sanguinetti in 2011-12).

The Checkers currently rank second in the AHL with a 22.0 percent success rate on the power play, though they are a combined 0-for-7 in their last two games.

On the Road Again

The Checkers' current 10-game road swing (4-3-1) is the longest in the team's four AHL seasons, narrowly eclipsing a pair of nine-game segments from Oct. 28-Nov. 13, 2011 (5-4-0), and from Oct. 13-31, 2012 (6-2-1). Charlotte is 14-12-2 on the road this season.

Three-in-Threes

The Checkers are in the midst of playing three games in three nights for the fourth time this season, a stretch that began with a 5-4 shootout win in San Antonio on Friday and a 3-0 loss in Texas on Saturday. Following this set, they will have just one three-in-three set remaining on April 4-6.

The team is 6-4-1 in games that are part of a three-in-three this season, including a 3-1-0 record in game one, a 1-2-1 record in game two and a 2-1-0 record in game three. All-time, the Checkers are 16-8-3 in game one, 16-6-5 in game two and 13-12-1 in game three over the course of their four AHL seasons.

Quick Hits

• The Checkers have won four in a row on three separate occasions this season, including a streak that ended March 8. They have not won five in a row since January of last season.
• The Checkers have earned points in seven of their last 10 games (6-3-1).
• Mark Flood ranks second among AHL defensemen with 12 goals. That mark sets a career high and is the most by a Charlotte defenseman in a single season.
• Matt Corrente is tied for third among AHL defensemen with 10 major penalties. On Feb. 26, he became the first Checkers defenseman to top 100 penalty minutes in a season since Zack FitzGerald (229) in 2010-11.
• The Checkers' eight overtime games (5-3) are tied for the fewest in the league. Their four shootouts (2-2) are the fewest in the league.
• The Checkers are 12-9-2 against West Division opponents this season.
• Charlotte's two shorthanded goals are tied with Adirondack for the fewest in the league.

Player Streaks

• none

Milestones

• Brett Sutter is one shy of 450 AHL games
• Michal Jordan is one shy of 250 AHL games
• Aaron Palushaj is two shy of 250 AHL games
• Zach Boychuk is two shy of 150 professional assists
• Justin Shugg is three shy of 100 professional points
• Aaron Palushaj recorded his 200th professional point on March 7

Injuries

• Greg Nemisz - missed one game starting March 8
• Brendan Woods - missed seven games starting Feb. 22