Game Preview: Checkers at Syracuse (Dec. 4, 2019)

It’s a new week as the Checkers travel to Syracuse and look to get back on the right track. Here's everything you need to know before puck drop.

1. BOUNCE BACK

The Checkers head to Syracuse looking to bounce back after a tough weekend that saw them drop two home games to Providence by a combined score of 8-1. The results were not pretty, especially Sunday’s lopsided 4-0 loss, but after having a few days to reflect and examine the game the coaching staff has pulled some positives away.

“Looking back at that last game, emotions are high right after the game,” said head coach Ryan Warsofsky. “You just lost, the score was 4-0, you give up three shorthanded goals and you look at the box score and you go ‘wow that looked ugly.’ But realistically you look back at that game and we played really good. We couldn’t find a way to score and we did give up those two shorthanded goals but it’s not like it was a lack of effort.”

Another busy week gives the Checkers more opportunities to make up ground after a tough 1-3-0 week on home ice that dropped them two games below .500 in the standings.

“We’ll focus on having a good morning skate and take it hour by hour,” said Warsofsky. “We have to control what we can control and ignore the outside noise and ignore the record and the statistics and things like that. Let’s just focus on what we can control which is how hard we work and the details that we play with.”

2. START STRONG

A common thread for the Checkers this season has been the way their starts have predicted outcome of games. Charlotte has scored first in 12 games this season and logged an 8-3-1 record in those situations, which account for all of the team’s wins. On the flip side, the Checkers are 0-7-2 when surrendering the first goal.

“Our start, first and foremost,” said Warsofsky of the most important part of turning his team’s record around. “We obviously have to play a full hockey game, but the focus is on the first 20 minutes.”

3. FULL 60

Another recurring issue for the Checkers has been their struggles at the beginnings and ends of periods. Over their last 10 games – in which they are 3-5-2 – the Checkers have surrendered 26 total goals. Of those goals, eight have come within the first five minutes of the period and seven have come within the final five minutes of the period, meaning that more than half of the goals Charlotte has given up over the last 10 games have come in those extremes.

“The way we have to play can’t change shift to shift,” said Warsofsky. “I think if you break down the periods we play 17 minutes really good but we take a breath and let off the gas for the rest and it ends up in the back of our net.”

4. SEARCHING FOR POWER

After a strong surge earlier in the season, Charlotte’s power play has gone cold as of late. The Checkers are scoreless in their last seven man advantages and recorded just one goal in 13 opportunities over the four games last week.

With a focus on the power play at practice on Tuesday, the Checkers are working to reinvigorate their man advantage.

“We’ll change some things up, mix the personnel around,” said Warsofsky. “We got some good looks last game, our entries have been pretty good, we just have to get more traffic to the net and our flanks have to be more active. But we did some good things, we just have to start capitalizing.”

They’ll have their work cut out for them Wednesday against a Syracuse team that boasts the third-ranked penalty kill in the league.

5. CHECKING OUT THE CRUNCH

Speaking of Syracuse, the Checkers are heading into a matchup with a Syracuse team that sits near the bottom of the North Division but is plenty dangerous.

The Crunch, who recently snapped a two-game losing streak but have picked up wins in four of their last six games, are propelled primarily by the league’s 10th ranked offense. Leading the way on that front are Alex Barre-Boulet and Chris Mueller – two of the AHL’s top three goals scorers last season – as well as seasoned veterans like Cameron Gaunce and Cory Conacher (though the latter is currently on NHL recall with Tampa Bay).

On the other side the Crunch rank 25th in the league in goals-against per game, with Scott Wedgewood and Spencer Martin standing as the current tandem. The former has seen more ice time, appearing in 13 of the team’s 21 games thus far, though the latter has produced slightly better numbers.

The Checkers will look to reinvigorate their offense against the Crunch, who have allowed at least three goals in each of their last four games.

6. SUCCESS IN SYRACUSE

The Checkers have traveled to Syracuse once already this season, and the result was one of their best games to date. Charlotte hung seven goals on the board – a season high – and crushed the Crunch to the tune of 7-3. The team’s biggest names stood tall in that contest, with Chase Priskie and Brian Gibbons both notching four-point games and Morgan Geekie and Julien Gauthier netting two goals apiece. The Checkers also got a significant boost from the special teams, recording two power-play goals and two shorthanded goals on the night.

7. SHINKARUK SHINES

After recording two points in his first 11 games as a Checkers, Hunter Shinkaruk has come alive as of late. The forward scored Charlotte’s only goal over the weekend, triggering the team’s annual Teddy Bear Toss, and now has four points in his last four games.

8. 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!