Game Preview: Checkers vs Grand Rapids (Dec. 17, 2016)

The Checkers continue their final homestand of 2016 by hosting the Grand Rapids Griffins.

Here are 14 things to watch for in tonight’s game.

1. HOME COOKING

After Wednesday’s victory, the Checkers are now 8-2-0 at Bojangles’ Coliseum this season, giving them the second-highest number of home victories in the Central Division. Meanwhile, the team, which has two games left on a four game home stand, is 3-11-2 on the road, the most road losses in the AHL.

Charlotte’s 10 home games played so far are tied for the second-fewest in the league behind San Jose (eight) and the fewest among teams not in the Pacific Division, who play eight fewer games over the course of the season.

Of the Checkers’ 38 home games on the schedule for this season, only 12 will be played in 2016.

2. BACK ON TRACK

With wins earlier this week against Manitoba, Charlotte has now emerged from a seven-game winless streak (0-6-1) that tied the second longest in team history. It trailed only last season’s franchise record of 10 games without a win and tied the third longest posted by any AHL team this season. Of the most recent seven-game skid, all but the first game was played on the road.

Keeping the attitude and momentum from earlier this week, appears to be the key to the Checkers continuing their upswing.

""We’ve just got to play with more confidence," said Kris Newbury. "It seems like when I first got here we got down a goal or two and then got down on ourselves. So I think if we just play with confidence, we definitely have enough skill here to score goals. If we get down, we know we can come back."

3. MCKEOWN'S BACK

The Checkers will again see their lineup shift a bit heading into this weekend’s series, but in a positive way. Roland McKeown, originally thought to be week-to-week with an injury that has kept him out of the last two games, will be making his return to the Checkers’ blue line, a definite plus.

“He’s ready to go,” said head coach Ulf Samuelsson. “There’s been a lot of juggling back there, so hopefully now we can get back some stability with our pairings and spread the ice time out more evenly.”

McKeown joins Haydn Fleury in returning from injury. Fleury came back earlier this week for the Manitoba series and was a game-changer, lighting the lamp twice on Tuesday. The hope is that the return of McKeown can help keep that defensive production rolling.

“It’s very important that we get that in our daily routine, to be a four-man attack team,” said Samuelsson. “That requires everyone to be involved.”

With McKeown’s return, the Checkers have assigned fellow rookie Josh Wesley to the Florida Everblades.

4. POTURALSKI HEATS UP

Andrew Poturalski has been at the top of the Checkers’ scoring leaderboard for a bit now, but had gotten stuck in a bit of a scoring drought. That is no longer the case, as the rookie has broken out over the last few games and is back to his old ways.

Including a two-point effort in Charlotte’s OT victory on Wednesday, Poturalski has four points in his last four games.

5. FREE HOCKEY

Wednesday against Manitoba, the Checkers found themselves in overtime for the fourth time overall this season, the second time in their last four games and the third time in the last 10. With Phil Di Giuseppe’s game winner, Charlotte is now 2-2 in extra frames this season.

In all four overtime games the Checkers have played this season, the final score was 3-2. Charlotte has yet to head to a shootout this year.

6. RUSSIANS ROLLING

Including picking up the primary assist on each of the Checkers’ first two goals Tuesday night, Sergey Tolchinsky has recorded 5 points over the last five games. Immediately prior to that run, he had seven in his first 21 outings to start the season.

Valentin Zykov has also shaken off a bit of a quiet period, putting up a goal and an assist over the last four games.

Tolchinsky and Zykov are now tied for third on the active roster in scoring.

7. POWERING UP

After sinking into a prolonged slump on the man advantage, the Checkers have broken out with three over their last two games and four over the last four. Prior to that, the team was mired in a 3-for-56 slump over the course of 14 games – a stretch that saw it fall to last place in the AHL in terms of overall efficiency.

8. PHIL-ING IT UP

After returning from the NHL last week, Phil Di Giuseppe has continued his run as one of the Checkers’ biggest offensive weapons.

The third-year pro potted a pair of goals in Wednesday’s victory over Manitoba, including the overtime winner. That brought his AHL season total up to nine points (4g, 5a) in 10 games with Charlotte thus far.

9. BETWEEN THE PIPES

Samuelsson was non-committal regarding who would be starting in goal tonight for the Checkers, saying the staff still needed to discuss it. But whoever is between the pipes will have had a solid week’s worth of work behind him, as Hurricanes goalie coach David Marcoux spent the last several practices with the two netminders.

“It’s been big,” said Samuelsson. “The guys are working on technical things and it’s carried over to their play right away, even just in shooting drills. It’s been very helpful.”

A big factor in how the young netminders fare this weekend could be the Checkers’ offense. After a dismal showing during their winless streak away from home, Charlotte’s attack has looked sharp and reloaded over the last two games at home. Keeping that momentum rolling is huge for the team as a whole.

“Scoring goals is very important for us,” said Samuelsson. “If you don’t score, every mistake and goal against gets magnified. If you score three goals, you can allow yourself room for a couple mistakes in a game.”

10. FORWARD INJURY UPDATE

Up front, things appear to be the same as the Manitoba series. Andrew Miller was the only question mark, missing yesterday’s practice and being deemed questionable by the coaching staff, but he was a full participant in today’s morning skate.

Newbury, sidelined for the last three games due to an upper body injury, took a crack at skating yesterday but felt “not great” and will not be an option tonight.

11. AGAINST THE GRIFFINS

Grand Rapids has once again emerged as a powerhouse in the Central Division, but the Checkers got the best of them during the two squads’ previous meetings this year.

The Checkers opened their home schedule by clinching a two-game sweep of the Griffins, outscoring them 7-2 overall, but are aware that it won't be easy to replicate that.

""Those games were very good," said Samuelsson. "We anticipate facing a very strong team with a very good power play. They’re a high-skilled team and we’re definitely going to need our A-game to compete with them this weekend."

12. BACK IN BLACK

Tonight marks the return of the Checkers' black alternate jerseys, presented by Parks Heating and Cooling.

13. TEDDY BEAR TOSS

Tonight is also the Checkers' annual Teddy Bear Toss benefitting Novant Health Hemby Children’s Hospital. Bring a stuffed animal wrapped in plastic to throw onto the ice after the Checkers score their first goal. The stuffed animals will be collected and delivered by the players to children at the hospital at a later date.

Other promos tonight include Slap Shot Saturday, Family Night and Ugly Sweater Night.

14. TUNE IN!

If you can't make it to the Coliseum tonight, first off, you're missing out. But you can still follow @CheckersInGame on Twitter for updates and head here to listen to Jason Shaya's call of the game! You can also tweet at him to let him know you're listening!

You can also download the new Checkers App, available for both iPhones and Androids, for score updates and to play the new Top Line game!