Game Preview: Checkers vs Manitoba (Jan. 27, 2017)

The longest home stand of the year reaches its conclusion this weekend as the Checkers look to leapfrog over the Manitoba Moose in the Central Division standings. Here are 10 things to know about tonight's game:

1. NOT LACKING FOR GOALIES

After joining the Checkers on a conditioning stint last night, Carolina Hurricanes goaltender Eddie Lack is poised to become the fifth goaltender to play for Charlotte this season.

Lack, who joins Daniel Altshuller and Alex Nedeljkovic on the active roster, owns a 2.36 goals-against average and .923 save percentage in 112 career AHL contests, the most recent of which came with the Chicago Wolves on Nov. 24, 2012. Lack, recently cleared to return from a concussion, has not played since Nov. 10.

2. NECK AND NECK

This series with Manitoba is a meeting of the sixth and seventh placed teams in the Central Division. The teams are tied with 39 points, though Manitoba holds the points percentage edge, having played one fewer game. Charlotte has found success against the Moose this season, having swept the last two games at Bojangles’ Coliseum on Dec. 13 and 14 before earning a split in Manitoba on Dec. 30-Jan. 1. Charlotte holds an all-time record of 8-4-0 against the Moose.

3. ON A ROLL

The Checkers are 5-1-1 since Jan. 10, which rivals only a 6-1-0 stretch in October/November for the team’s best seven-game segment of the season in terms of points earned. During their current run, the Checkers have climbed from eighth (and last) in the Central Division with a nine-point gap for a playoff spot to their current standing of seventh with a six-point gap.

4. HOME COOKING

This series concludes the Checkers’ season-long, eight-game home stand at Bojangles’ Coliseum that began Jan. 13. Charlotte is 4-1-1 thus far, improving its home record for the season to 12-5-1, which is good for the third-best points percentage in the division (.694). Meanwhile, the Checkers’ road record of 6-16-2 is the second-worst in the AHL, bettering only Rockford.

5. WALLMARK FOR THE WIN

With a strong push as of late, Lucas Wallmark has grabbed a stranglehold on the Checkers’ goals lead. Of the rookies 13 tallies this season, eight have come in the last 14 contests.

Wallmark has also made a habit of coming through in the clutch. Sunday marked the second time this season that the rookie has scored an overtime winner, the most on the team, while the his goal with under a minute left in regulation the game before forced overtime and picked up the Checkers a point in the standings.

13 goals puts Wallmark within three of the second-most in a single season by a Checkers rookie ever, while the franchise record stands at 23, established by Zac Dalpe in 2010-11.

6. HALFWAY THERE

The halfway point of Charlotte’s 76-game season came and went in January. As it stands now, the Checkers .464 winning percentage is the second-lowest in franchise history through 42 games, edging out the 2014-15 campaign. Those two seasons are also the only ones to see the team holding a record below .500 through 42 games.

7. POWER OUTAGE

Despite another slight uptick earlier this month, the power play continues to be a sore spot for the Checkers. Charlotte’s success rate of 10.8% puts them in the bottom spot in the AHL, more than two whole percentage points behind the 29th ranked club. The Checkers have gone four straight games without a power-play goal, their second-longest drought of the season behind a seven-game stretch in late November/early December, and three goals on 32 man advantages over their last nine games.

The lowest power-play percentage in franchise history is 13.7, set in 2014-15. That season marks the only time in franchise history that the Checkers have finished the year with a power-play percentage outside of the top six in the AHL.

8. AGAINST THE MOOSE

The Checkers have enjoyed a good amount of success so far this season against the Moose, winning three of the teams’ four meetings so far. Since the Moose joined the AHL, the Checkers hold an 8-4-0 record against them, including a 5-1-0 in Bojangles’ Coliseum.

The Moose have put up a fight as of late, however. Manitoba picked up a big 4-1 win in the last matchup on Jan. 1, and the two Charlotte wins prior to that required overtime.

9. GLOVE GIVEAWAY

Be one of the first 3,00 fans in the building tonight and you’ll receive a pair of texting gloves courtesy of Piedmont Natural Gas!

10. TUNE IN!

If you aren't able to make it to Bojangles' Coliseum for tonight's game, you can still tune in to hear Jason Shaya's call live, with the pregame show kicking off at 7.

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!