Game Preview: Checkers vs. Chicago (Nov. 9, 2013)

The Checkers continue to search for their first home victory this season as they host the Chicago Wolves for the second of a two-game set at Time Warner Cable Arena tonight.

A 2-1 loss to the Wolves on Thursday evened the season series between the clubs, with Charlotte having picked up a 5-0 win in Chicago on Oct. 27. It also dropped the Checkers to 0-3-0 at home this season, making them one of just two AHL teams that have yet to prevail in their own buildings, though the Checkers’ three home games are the fewest in the league.

Tonight’s game is the second in a four-game home stand for the Checkers, who play host to the Hershey Bears on Wednesday and Thursday of next week.

Charlotte

After posting a 3-2-1 record on a six-game-in-nine-days road trip that preceded Thursday’s game, the Checkers were left disappointed by their return home.

“I don’t think everybody brought the energy that we needed,” said goaltender John Muse, who stopped 24 of 26 shots. “When we were on the road we had that energy and built off that energy, and (on Thursday) it was lacking a little bit.”

After failing to generate a significant amount of quality scoring chances for much of the game outside of Adam Brace’s first AHL goal in the second period, the Checkers did step on the gas in the third, out-shooting the Wolves by a 16-5 margin. However, they weren’t able to make the breakthrough during an exciting finish that featured several near-misses during a power-play opportunity with five minutes remaining.

“We had some good energy at the end there with putting pucks at the net, but you can’t wait until the last five minutes of the game to put pressure on to get a goal – you’ve got to do it the whole game,” said Brace, who has three points (1g, 2a) in his last three games after sitting out six of the previous eight as a healthy extra. “A little bit too late.”

With the proverbial “first game home after a long road trip” now out of the way, the Checkers hope to carry the ending to their last game – minus the inability to finish their chances – into the start of tonight’s rematch. Barring an unforeseen change closer to game time, they should do so with the same players at their disposal, including 2013 fifth-overall draft choice Elias Lindholm, who made his AHL debut on Thursday, and Brett Sutter, who also came down from Carolina earlier in the week.

Neither player recorded a point on Thursday, with Daniels saying that Lindholm, the first 18-year-old to ever play for the Checkers, had “another level to get to.” Lindholm and Sutter, a linemate from the Hurricanes earlier this season, featured prominently in the team’s top six after finding minutes tough to come by at times in Carolina.

“It was a little bit of an adjustment for us,” admitted Sutter, who served as team captain in his first game back, resuming his role from the past two seasons.

With Muse getting the last start, it’s likely that Rick DiPietro will make his home debut for the Checkers tonight as he continues to get back to top form after missing training camp and the preseason. DiPietro played his first two games on the road last week, going 0-2-0 with a 4.53 goals-against average and .875 save percentage.

Brody Sutter missed his third consecutive game due to injury on Thursday and had yet to practice fully with the team as of Friday, when the team held an optional skate.

Chicago

Thursday’s game was the third in a six-game road swing for the Wolves, who won two of those contests to improve to 5-6-1. Four of those wins came away from home.

A win tonight would mark their first consecutive victories this season and put them at .500 for the first time since Oct. 19, when they were an even 3-3-0, highlighting a somewhat disappointing start for a team loaded with historically prolific AHL scorers. The Wolves rank tied for 25th in the AHL with a goals-per-game average of 2.50, having won Thursdays game despite coming in under that mark. Additionally, the power plya ranks 27th at just 11.5 percent.

Though former AHL MVP Corey Locke was active on Thursday, earning a nice assist on Shane Harper’s game-tying goal less than a minute after Brace’s goal, Harper did most of the damage with a hand in each goal. The 24-year-old native of Valencia, California, also intercepted Victor Rask’s attempted clear up the middle from his own goal line and sent a quick pass to Nathan Longpre for the winning goal.

Harper now has seven points (3g, 4a) in eight games, putting him ahead of more recent AHL All-Stars Keith Aucoin and Mark Mancari, both of whom have six points in 11 games, and Alexandre Bolduc (four in 10). Ty Rattie, a 20-year-old, second-round draft choice in 2011 who scored 110 points in 62 junior games last season, ranks sixth on the team with five points but is tied with Mancari for first with four goals.

Though Charlotte left Thursday’s game feeling it could have given him a tougher game, goaltender Jake Allen still took care of business when necessary, especially when he made a first-period blocker save on a Zach Boychuk breakaway. The Wolves’ workhorse this season, Allen, who has played well in 15 games with the St. Louis Blues last season (9-4-1, 2.46 goals-against average) has played in eight of the team’s 11 games this season.

“He was sharp,” said Daniels. “He’s one of the better goalies in the league.”

Allen, whose 543 minutes played this season rank fourth in the league, has started the last four games, with backup Matt Climie last seeing action on Oct. 26. Allen has a 2.43 goals-against average and .925 save percentage.

Checkers Notes

Back Home

The Checkers, whose three games played at home are the fewest of any AHL team, will correct that discrepancy by playing 15 of their next 18 at home starting tonight and running right up to the holiday break on Dec. 21.

Having lost all three of their games at Time Warner Cable Arena, the Checkers are one of just two teams (Utica: 0-4-2) that have yet to earn a home victory this season. Dating back to last season's playoffs, the Checkers have lost each of their last five games at home. This season marks the first time that the team has lost each of its first three games in Charlotte in regulation, with the inaugural 2010-11 team starting 0-2-1.

Striking First

The Checkers have scored the first goal in nine of their 11 games this season, tying them with Manchester (9-of-13) for the second-most first goals this season behind Portland (10-of-13). The Checkers have a record of 5-3-1 when scoring the game's first goal this season, but have lost each of their last two games in regulation despite having opened the scoring. When not scoring first, the Checkers are 0-2-0.

Power Play

The Checkers have gone two consecutive games without scoring a power-play goal (0-for-8), marking the first time they have done so all season. Prior to that, the team had scored at least one power-play goal in six consecutive games, the third-longest streak in team history, that included three games with multiple power-play goals.

Youth Movement

Elias Lindholm, the fifth overall selection in the 2013 NHL Entry Draft, made his AHL/Checkers debut on Thursday, becoming the youngest player to ever play for the franchise at 18 years and 340 days. Defenseman Justin Faulk, who debuted with the team following the end of his freshman season in college, had the previous record at 19 years and 40 days, set on April 20, 2011.

Lindholm also became the second-highest-drafted player to suit up for Charlotte behind Rick DiPietro, the 2000 first-overall draft choice who made his debut with the team earlier this season. Manny Malhotra (7th overall in 1998), who has since signed with Carolina, gives the team three top-10 picks this season alone. Prior to this season, the highest-drafted player to ever play for the team was defenseman Ryan Murphy (12th overall in 2011), who played his first game with the team last March.

Muse's Hot Start

Since rejoining the Checkers on a professional tryout contract from ECHL Fort Wayne on Oct. 23, goalie John Muse has gone 3-1-0 in four starts and leads the AHL with a 1.26 goals-against average and .959 save percentage and is part of a two-way tie for first with two shutouts.

Muse began his AHL season with a shutout streak of 154:03, breaking Dan Ellis's team record, set one season earlier, by just 59 seconds. The AHL Player of the Week for the period ending Oct. 27 began the streak with back-to-back shutouts at Grand Rapids and Chicago on Oct. 25 and 27, respectively, becoming the second goalie in team history to post consecutive shutouts (Justin Peters in 2012-13). He won each of his first three Checkers starts for the third time in as many seasons, marking the only three times a Checkers goalie has accomplished that feat.

Floodgates Open

Mark Flood scored his fifth goal in six games on Oct. 26, becoming the fastest defenseman to reach the five-goal mark in team history. Justin Faulk set the previous record by scoring his fifth goal in his 23rd game last season. No Charlotte blueliner has ever scored more than 10 goals in a single season, a mark set by Bobby Sanguinetti in 2011-12. His streak of goals in four consecutive road games from Oct. 4-26 is still tied for the longest by any AHL player this season.

Flood, who ranks tied with Victor Rask for second on the team in goals behind Chris Terry's six, is tied for second among AHL defensemen in goals and is tied for fourth in power-play goals (three) despite not finding the back of the net since Oct. 26, a span of five games. He has already surpassed his total of one goal from 52 KHL games with Lokomotiv Yaroslavl last season and is nearly halfway to his AHL career high of 11, set with Manitoba during the 2010-11 campaign.

Against the Wolves

Since the Wolves and Checkers first met in the 2011-12 season, Charlotte holds a 6-6-2 record in 14 all-time meetings between the two clubs. The road team has won both meetings this season, with the Checkers picking up a 5-0 victory in Chicago on Oct. 27 of this season before the Wolves got even with a 2-1 win in Charlotte on Nov. 7.

Checkers goaltender Rick DiPietro played for the Wolves, then an IHL club, during his 2000-01 rookie campaign as a New York Islanders prospect. Chicago forward Keith Aucoin is a former Carolina Hurricane who split three seasons between the NHL club and its AHL affiliate at that time, the Albany River Rats, from 2005-08. Aucoin made his NHL debut with the Hurricanes during the 2005-06 campaign.

Quick Hits

• The Checkers' 16 shots in the third period on Thursday tied a team season high for most shots in a period set during the first period of the Oct. 31 game in Rockford.
• Eight of the Checkers 11 games have been played against Midwest Division opponents (3-4-1). The team has played within its own division, the West, just three times (2-1-0).
• The Checkers have both scored (12) and allowed (14) more goals in the third period than in any other period. It is also the only period in which the team has a negative differential.
• The Checkers have yet to win a game when scoring fewer than three goals

Player Streaks

• Adam Brace has points in each of his last three games (Oct. 31-Nov. 7: 1g, 2a).

Milestones

• Jared Staal passed the 50 penalty minute mark with the Checkers on Nov. 7
• Nicolas Blanchard is 2 goals away from 25 Checkers goals
• Nicolas Blanchard is 5 penalty minutes away from 350 as a Checker
• Michal Jordan is 3 assists away from 50 AHL/Checkers assists

Transactions

Incoming

• Nov. 6 - (C) Elias Lindholm assigned to Charlotte from Carolina (NHL)
• Nov. 4 - (C) Brett Sutter assigned to Charlotte from Carolina (NHL)

Outgoing

• Nov. 6 - (LW) Chris Terry recalled to Carolina (NHL) from Charlotte
• Nov. 3 - (LW) Kyle Bonis reassigned to Florida (ECHL) from Charlotte