Game Preview: Checkers vs. Abbotsford (Feb. 16, 2014)

The Checkers will try to avoid a sweep of their season series against the Abbotsford Heat in today’s rematch at Raleigh’s PNC Arena.

In their second-ever game at the home of their NHL parent club on Saturday, the Checkers dropped a disappointing 5-1 decision at the hands of their West Division rival. That loss and two more against the Heat on Feb. 4 and 5 are part of an active five-game winless streak for Charlotte (0-4-1), which is the team’s longest since losing seven in a row in November.

Today’s game was originally scheduled for 1:30 p.m. but will now be played at 4, with the Heat exercising their right for a delay due to fatigue caused by their 19-hour bus ride from Chicago on Friday.

Charlotte

The Checkers had several reasons to turn in a good performance on Saturday. Among them was their need for points as they slide further away from playoff position, a week of rest during the AHL’s All-Star break and the opportunity to play in their would-be NHL building, which made the result all the more disappointing.

“I don’t think we played the way we wanted right from the start,” said captain Brett Sutter. “The intensity wasn’t there for whatever reason. I don’t know if it was because of the break or what it was, but we didn’t play the right way from the drop of the puck and it cost us.”

The Checkers gave up early goals in the first and second periods to fall behind 2-0, with Victor Rask’s subsequent power play goal getting them back in the game. However, a key turnover started the first of three unanswered goals for the Heat, who have out-scored Charlotte by a 16-5 margin in three meetings.

“We didn’t play well,” said coach Jeff Daniels. “That’s one of the better teams in the league and if we want to turn pucks over and roll the dice and play that game we’re going to struggle and that showed tonight.”

With this stretch of hockey representing the Checkers’ biggest stretch of adversity since their seven-game losing streak, Daniels was able to compare the two after Friday’s game, saying that the team has lost confidence as shown by its inability to rebound from giving up early goals. For his part, Sutter feels the team is better able to cope with this slump with its increased depth and relatively recent success, having won eight of 10 games in January.

“We know we’re a good team and we know we can win,” said Sutter. “Right before this we were on a winning streak, so if we change a few things in our game and the way we’re playing and get a little more north-south we can be a winning team again real easily.”

With Greg Nemisz ruled out for the weekend due to injury, the Checkers can call on forward Matt Marquardt and defenseman Mark Flood, healthy extras on Saturday, if a small shakeup is desired. Mike Murphy will likely start in goal for today’s game, continuing what has become an even rotation with Saturday starter John Muse in recent weeks.

Abbotsford

From watching Saturday’s game, one wouldn’t know that the Heat were the team that endured such tough travel the day before. Instead, they showed why they are atop the Western Conference with a confident display that kept their own mistakes to a minimum while exploiting those of their opponent.

Abbotsford’s concerns about fatigue were significant enough that it exercised its right to force a delay of Sunday’s game for the extra rest, which, as it turns out, may not have been needed.

“Because of the break we had the advantage,” said defenseman Ryan Murphy. “They were on a bus for quite a bit, got into town late and hadn’t skated until (Saturday). We should have taken advantage of that and we didn’t.”

The Heat enter tonight’s game having won six of their last seven since Jan. 31. They’ve done so with an already-strong roster that is back to full strength with players back from the NHL’s Calgary Flames (AHL All-Star Ben Street and Blair Jones, who each scored Saturday, defenseman Shane O’Brien and goalie Joni Ortio) augmenting two of the league’s top six rookie scorers in Markus Granlund and Corban Knight and a former AHL MVP in Corey Locke. They were one of a small group of teams to send two players to the All-Star game given this season’s restrictive format, with defenseman Chad Billins joining Street in St. John’s.

Granlund’s 22nd goal of the season against the Checkers on Saturday tied him with Charlotte’s Zach Boychuk for fourth in the AHL. The second-round pick in 2011 has been extremely productive of late, scoring 12 points (6g, 6a) in his last eight games, though he is hardly alone with Street, Knight, Jones, Locke, forward Max Reinhart and defenseman Derek Smith all going at or near a point-per-game pace during that time.

As a team, the Heat rank tied for fifth in the AHL with an average of 3.16 goals-per game. They also have the league’s second-best power play at an even 23 percent. They have scored three or more goals in six of their last seven.

“They’ve got good depth at all positions and on paper they’re probably one of the best teams in the AHL,” said Boychuk, prior to Saturday’s game.

Ortio stopped 29 of 30 shots in his first game against the Checkers this season on Saturday. Backup Olivier Roy picked up both wins against Charlotte earlier this month, stopping 59 of 63 shots over the two-day series.

Checkers Notes

Bump in the Road

The Checkers' current five-game winless streak is their second-longest of the season, trailing a franchise-record, seven-game regulation losing streak from Nov. 2-19. It is also tied with Adirondack for the longest active winless streak in the AHL. Prior to the current streak, the Checkers had won eight of their previous 10 games.

Before the streak started with a 7-1 loss in Abbotsford on Feb. 4, the Checkers ranked 10th in the Western Conference and were three points behind eighth-place Rockford, which had played five more games. Heading into today's game, they are 13th in the conference and eight points behind eighth-place Rochester.

Defensive Lapses

The Checkers have allowed four or more goals in each of their last five games dating back to Feb. 4, marking their longest such streak of the season. They had previously not allowed four or more goals in more than three consecutive games, a mark initially set on Nov. 13-16 during the team's seven-game losing streak. The team is 1-16-1 when allowing four or more goals.

During the current streak, in which they have an 0-4-1 record, the Checkers have allowed a total of 28 goals for an average of 5.60 per game. Their goals-against average for the season is now 3.27 (27th AHL), which is up from an even 3.00 on Feb. 4.

No Canada

A loss to Abbotsford tonight would cause the Checkers to go 0-8-0 against Canadian teams this season. Earlier this season, Toronto went 4-0-0 against Charlotte to become the first team to hold the Checkers without a point for a duration of a season series, a record that the Heat could match today. Charlotte is not scheduled to play another game against a Canadian team.

Floodgates Open

Mark Flood scored his 11th goal of the campaign against Oklahoma City on Feb. 7 to set a new team record for most goals by a defenseman in a single season. Flood, who needed just 46 games to accomplish the feat, topped the old mark of 10 set by Bobby Sanguinetti in the 2011-12 season and tied his own career high set with Manitoba in 2010-11.

Flood, a 29-year-old veteran who scored just one goal in 52 games in the Russian KHL last season, ranks second in terms of goals by AHL defensemen and is tied for third among league blueliners with six power-play goals.

Boychuk Burst

Checkers forward Zach Boychuk has seven goals in his last eight games, including the second and third hat tricks of his career on Jan. 24 and Feb. 1. He leads the Checkers and is tied for fourth in the AHL with 22 goals, which are just one shy of his career high set last season. He has hit the 20-goal mark in the AHL in each of his four seasons with the Checkers.

Boychuk's 88 career Checkers goals are one short of tying Chris Terry for the franchise's all-time lead. He already leads the franchise with 40 power-play goals, including 12 this season that are tied for the most in the AHL and for the Checkers' single-season record.

Quick Hits

• Saturday's loss dropped the Checkers to 3-1-0 in the first game following the AHL All-Star break.
• Since going five games without a power-play goal, the Checkers have scored on the man advantage in back-to-back games.
• Including their 0-3-0 record against Abbotsford, the The Checkers are 0-7-0 against Canadian teams this season (0-4-0 against Toronto; 0-3-0 against Abbotsford). Tonight's game is their last against a Canadian team this season.
• After allowing a total of 16 goals in his last three starts, John Muse's goals-against average for the season has risen from 2.39 to 2.80.
• Chris Terry has gone 13 games without a goal, tying his career high set on two previous occasions.
• The Checkers are 10-7-1 against fellow West Division opponents this season, making it the only division they have a winning record against. They have lost each of their last five divisional games.
• Charlotte's two shorthanded goals are tied with Adirondack for the fewest in the league
• The Checkers' five overtime games and two shootouts are the fewest of any AHL team

Player Streaks

• Ryan Murphy has assists and points in each of his last three games (Feb. 7-15: 0g, 3a)

Milestones

• Nicolas Blanchard played his 450th professional game against Abbotsford on Feb. 15
• Nicolas Blanchard recorded his 800 professional penalty minute with a fight against Abbotsford's Chris Breen on Feb. 15
• Justin Shugg is one shy of 150 professional games
• Aaron Palushaj is one shy of 200 professional penalty minutes
• Chris Terry is three shy of 350 AHL games
• Matt Corrente is three shy of 500 professional penalty minutes
• Rasmus Rissanen is four shy of 200 Checkers/AHL/professional penalty minutes

Injuries

• Greg Nemisz - missed two games starting Feb. 9

Transactions

Incoming

• None

Outgoing

• Feb. 14 - (D) Beau Schmitz assigned to Florida (ECHL) from Charlotte