Game Preview: Checkers vs Hershey (Oct. 19, 2018)

After a red-hot start on the road, the Checkers are back at Bojangles’ Coliseum for the first time this season to host the Hershey Bears. Here are 9 things to know before tonight’s puck drop.

1. HOME SWEET HOME

The Checkers return tonight to Bojangles’ Coliseum, where they enjoyed a ton of success last season. Charlotte finished 26-11-0-1 on home ice in 2017-18, the second-most home wins in the AHL, and finished the regular season with eight wins in their last 10 home games.

Overall the Checkers hold a 3-5-0 record in home openers all time. A defeat of Grand Rapids in 2016-17 is the team’s lone home-opening win of the last five seasons.

2. HOT START

With another sweep last weekend Charlotte moved to 4-0-0 this season, marking the best start in the franchise’s nine AHL campaigns. The Checkers are now one of three teams across the league that have yet to lose a game this season, joining the Chicago Wolves and Iowa Wild.

3. OFFENSE CLICKING

After finishing last season as the league’s best, Charlotte’s offense has come storming out of the gates once again. The Checkers are tied for the third-most goals-per-game this season and have yet to be held below four in any contest thus far.

The Checkers have proven to be consistently potent early in games, having scored in the first period each of their four games so far and recording a pair of goals in three of those. In fact, they have not entered the first intermission trailing this season.

4. POWERING UP

Charlotte’s power play hasn’t seen much drop off from a year ago, with the Checkers converting at a 40-percent clip that ranks second in the league and notching multiple power-play goals in three of their four games.

The top unit has been especially lethal for the Checkers early on this season. Andrew Poturalski has led the way with four points (1g, 3a) on the man advantage while Nicolas Roy (2g, 1a), Janne Kuokkanen (2g, 1a) and Trevor Carrick (0g, 3a) all pulling their weight as well.

5. NED STAYS WINNING

Alex Nedeljkovic took his spot between the pipes for both contests over the weekend, marking the first time in franchise history has started each of the first four games of a season. After leading the lead in wins a season ago, Nedeljkovic is picking up where he left off by logging a perfect 4-0-0 record to take his spot at the top of the AHL leaderboard. The third-year pro has also helped push Charlotte to a tie for the third-fewest goals against per game in the league.

Dating back to last season, Nedeljkovic has earned at least a point in each of his last nine appearances and 12 of his last 13.

6. POTTING POINTS

Andrew Poturalski has carried a big load of the offense to start this season, racking up seven points (2g, 5a) through the first four games. The third-year pro is the only Checker to record at least one point in each of the team’s four games thus far.

7. TOP PROSPECTS

The Checkers added two strong pieces heading into the weekend with Carolina sending forward Martin Necas and defenseman Haydn Fleury to Charlotte. With the addition of those two, the Checkers now have four first-round picks on their roster (Necas, Fleury, Jake Bean and Julien Gauthier).

8. SCORE FOR CHARITY

The Checkers and their corporate partners are introducing a new community initiative at home games this season that lets fans play along.

At every home game this season, fans can place a $5 bet on which participating player will score. If your player scores, you will win a collectable card autographed by that player. All proceeds from fan bets will go directly to the Checkers Charitable Foundation.

For every goal that a Score for Charity player scores at home this season, their partnered business will donate $100 to the charity of their choice

9. TUNE IN

It's opening night so you should be at Bojangles' Coliseum.

But if for some reason you can't be here, you can tune in to this weekend's broadcasts with a subscription to the league’s new streaming platform AHLTV. Sign up here and catch the action on the road.

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!