Game Preview: Checkers vs Milwaukee (Jan. 17, 2017)

With three straight wins under their belts, the Checkers will look to keep their magic at home going as they host Central Division rival Milwaukee. Here are 10 things to know about tonight's game:

1. 50S NIGHT

ATonight’s game is completely sold out. There will be no tickets available for purchase at the box office.

Since we’re expecting a large crowd, we advise that ticket holders arrive as early as possible to get in the building in a timely manner. Doors will open at 5:30, an hour and a half before puck drop.

Bojangles’ Coliseum will be offering throwback pricing on some concessions, including $1 hot dogs, 50 cent small sodas and 50 cent small popcorn, at these locations: Bojangles’ Stand in section 107-109, Rt 74 in lower-level section 110-112, Kelly’s Diner in section 120-124 and Local Tap (popcorn and soda only) in lower-level section 119-120.

2. HOME SWEET HOME

Returning after their longest road trip of the season, the Checkers continue to turn in strong play within the friendly confines of Bojangles’ Coliseum. The team picked up a pair of big wins against Cleveland this week to move their home record to 10-4-0, giving them the second-highest home winning percentage in the Central Division.

The good news for the Checkers is that their schedule for the second half of the season will see them spend a lot of time in Charlotte, as 24 of the remaining 38 games on the slate are at home.

3. GOALS GALORE

The Checkers have spent much of the season so far struggling to find the back of the net, but that problem has vanished as of late.

Over the course of their current three-game winning streak, the Checkers have totaled 13 goals, including potting five goals in a game twice. Prior to that outburst, Charlotte had scored two or fewer goals in 15 of their last 18 contests.

The Checkers have been dramatically more successful when able to score more than two goals. They are 14-0-0 in those situations compared to 2-20-2 when falling below that threshold.

4. TOP-TIER SCORING

A big part of that scoring boom can be attributed to several of the Checkers’ high-end scorers catching fire at the same time. Each of the team’s top-five scorers this season – Andrew Poturalski, Lucas Wallmark, Sergey Tolchinsky, Valentin Zykov and Phil Di Giuseppe – averaged at least a point per game over the three-game winning streak, with the latter four all putting up four.

5. LEIGHTON RETURNS

After spending the majority of the last few months in Carolina serving as Cam Ward’s backup, Michael Leighton is back in Charlotte for the time being.

The veteran netminder hasn’t made and appearance for the Hurricanes since Dec. 13, though he has periodically been assigned to Charlotte for short stints along the way. Leighton’s most recent game with the Checkers came on Jan. 3.

Leighton boasts the league’s seventh-best goals-against average this season and was selected as an AHL All Star for the fifth time in his career. He is responsible for eight of Charlotte’s 16 wins this season, but has dropped three of his last four appearances in a Checkers sweater.

6. SHOOTOUT SUCCESS

The Checkers experienced their first shootout of the season on Tuesday, besting the Monsters. As mentioned above, Nedeljkovic was flawless against the Cleveland shooters. For Charlotte, the only skater able to break through was Valentin Zykov, using a quick wrister to convert on the first shootout attempt of his career.

7. AGAINST THE ADMIRALS

Tonight marks the first visit by the Admirals to Charlotte this season. The two clubs have met in Milwaukee twice this season, both in one-off contests. The Checkers dropped the first matchup in November in overtime, but evened the series with a blowout 5-1 win just last week.

8. SINKING SHIP

Despite sitting in third place in the Central Division, the Admirals have had a rough go as of late. Since defeating Texas 9-1 on Dec. 17, Milwaukee is 3-7-1 and have lost each of their last four games in regulation. During that four-game losing streak, the Admirals’ offense has gone dry, totaling just two goals while surrendering 14.

9. SPECIAL TEAMS TURNAROUND?

The Checkers continue to have some issues on both sides of their special teams, with the power play ranking last in the league and the penalty kill coming in at 23rd, but their play as of late could indicate a righting of the ship.

After potting multiple power-play goals for the second time this season last week in Milwaukee and converting one of their two chances Saturday against Cleveland, the Checkers have three goals in their last 10 man advantages over the past three games. Tonight they’ll look to record power-play goals in back-to-back games for the fourth time this season and the first time since Dec. 13-14.

On the other side, the Checkers have not surrendered a power-play goal in three straight games, matching their longest such streak this season. A big contributing factor to that success is the fact that Charlotte, which has the fourth-lowest penalty total in the AHL this season, was only shorthanded one time in each of those three contests.

10. TUNE IN!

If you aren't able to make it to Bojangles' Coliseum for tonight's sold out game, you can still tune in to hear Jason Shaya's call live, with the pregame show kicking off at 6:45.

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!