Game Preview: Checkers vs. Milwaukee (Nov. 29, 2014)

The Checkers hope their home ice will continue to be more kind than that of the road as they kick off a five-game stand at Time Warner Cable Arena against Milwaukee tonight.

Charlotte, which will wear special teal jerseys for Hornets Night that will be up for auction after the game, enters tonight’s matchup with losses in each of their last three games. Those defeats extended their road winless streak to six games, tying the franchise record. Meanwhile, they have won three of four at home. Charlotte's overall three-game losing streak is its longest of the season.

The teams play a rematch on Sunday afternoon, with Charlotte’s home stand continuing with games against Norfolk and Iowa ending March 8. Milwaukee opened the four-game season series with a 6-3 victory on opening night back on Oct. 10.

Charlotte

After a brief breakthrough that saw them score six in a win against Norfolk and four in a loss at Oklahoma City, the Checkers have fallen back on hard times offensively with just one total goal in their last two games despite numerous opportunities.

“It’s the same story,” said Daniels of Wednesday’s 4-1 loss in Norfolk. “It’s good that we’re getting the chances and that we’re in the game, but we’re desperate and we’ve got to win games. At some point we’ve got to get guys putting the puck in the back of the net. There’s too many grade-A chances that are being wasted right now.”

One player with a reputation for converting those chances is Chris Terry, who on Wednesday began what he expects will be a five-game conditioning stint from Carolina. The Checkers’ all-time scoring leader with 252 points in 295 games played began the season in the NHL for the first time in his six professional campaigns, scoring seven points in 17 games, but had trouble cracking the lineup of late. Still, Daniels, knows what the former AHL All Star can do.

“He showed some of that on Wednesday with the composure with the puck,” said Daniels. “He gives us a threat on the power play and a big shot up top.”

The Checkers are also expecting to add center Ben Holmstrom, who missed nine games due to an injury suffered against Hamilton on Halloween. Along with A.J. Jenks, he would become just the second natural center on the roster and allow one of Greg Nemisz, Brendan Woods and Kyle Jean to move back to their normal position on the wing. Patrick Brown, Jared Staal and Brody Sutter remain out due to injury, while Chad LaRose and Ryan Murphy are expected to play despite missing Friday’s practice with the flu.

Given the short span between tonight’s game and tomorrow’s 1 p.m. rematch, both Drew MacIntyre and John Muse are likely to play this weekend. MacIntyre is winless in his last four starts, while Muse picked up the most recent victory on Nov. 18.

Milwaukee

Since defeating the Checkers on opening night, Milwaukee has gone on to post one of the league’s better records at 12-4-1. Their most recent effort was a 4-1 victory over Chicago on Wednesday that saw four different players find the back of the net and Marek Mazanec stop 22 of 23 shots.

An historically defensive-minded team that still ranks first in the AHL with an average of just two goals allowed per contest, the Admirals have become a seemingly more well-rounded team with the addition of some skill up front. They’re led offensively by a pair of rookies in Brendan Leipsic (14 points) and Vickor Arvidsson (12), who each rank the AHL’s top 10 for first-year players. The Checkers are already aware of what rookie Pontus Aberg, a 21-year-old who has experience in Sweden’s elite league, can do based on his highlight-reel goal from the first meeting.

With that trio relatively quiet of late (a combined seven points in the team’s last four games), third-year pro Austin Watson, one of the team’s goal-scoring leaders in each campaign, has chipped in three in his last four games.

Though Mazanec has played 10 games to his seven, goalie Magnus Hellberg owns ridiculous numbers to this point of the season – a 6-0-1 record to go along with a 0.96 goals-against average and .961 save percentage, both of which rank first in the league. The 6-foot-5 native of Sweden has started six of the last nine games after watching Mazanec, no slouch in his own right at 2.40 and .914, open the season with six straight victories.

Checkers Notes

Against Milwaukee

Tonight marks the second of four meetings between the Checkers and Milwaukee this season, including the Admirals' 6-3 victory on Oct. 10. Including that game and an even split in last season's four-game series, Charlotte owns a 9-11-1 record against Milwaukee dating back to the 2011-12 season.

Rookie defenseman Dennis Robertson led the Checkers with two assists in the first meeting of the season, while five different Admirals skaters (Pontus Aberg, Zach Budish, Frederick Gaudreau, Brendan Leipsic, Joe Piskula) recorded two points each. Last season, Chris Terry led returning Checkers skaters with three points (1g, 2a) in four games against Milwaukee, while Miikka Salomaki (3g) did the same for the Admirals.

In goal, Drew MacIntyre stopped 21 of 26 shots to take the loss in his Checkers debut on Oct. 10, while Marek Mazaec stopped 24 of 27 to pick up the win. John Muse won two of three games against Milwaukee last season, posting a 2.67 goals-against average and .914 save percentage along the way. Mazanec won his only game against Charlotte by stopping 29 of 30 in his last apperance of the season on April 18. Meanwhile, Magnus Hellberg took both of his team's losses against Charlotte while allowing a total of six goals.

Searching for Victories

The Checkers' current three-game losing streak is its longest of the season. The team has not lost four in a row in regulation since setting a franchise record with seven consecutive losses from Nov. 2-19 of last season. It more recently endured a five-game winless streak (0-4-1) from Feb. 4-15 of last season.

The Checkers' five victories are the lowest total through 17 games in any of the team's five AHL seasons, narrowly eclipsing the six earned last season (6-10-1) and seven earned in the inauguarl 2010-11 campaign (7-7-3).

Home and Road

Though the Checkers are winless in each of their last six road games (0-5-1) dating back to Oct. 25, tying a franchise record set from Feb. 18-March 25, 2012 (0-2-4), and marking the second-longest active streak in the AHL, they have wins in three of their last four home games since Nov. 2.

Entering tonight's game, the first of a five-game home stand, Checkers seven home games were tied for the fewest in the AHL (Toronto).

Offensive Struggles

The Checkers, who average 2.18 goals per game thus far (29th AHL), have been held to a single goal or less in eight of their 17 games this season, all resulting in a loss, and have scored more than two goals six times. After scoring 10 goals in a two-game span from Nov. 18-21, they followed up with just one goal in each of their last two despite topping the 30-shot mark in each contest.

Charlotte is the only AHL team to have just one player reach double digits in terms of points (Greg Nemisz - 13).

Quick Hits

• Brendan Woods' seven points (2g, 5a) in 17 games are just one shy from his total from 42 games last season.
• Drew MacIntyre's eight losses are tied with two other goaltenders (Andrew Hammond, Johan Gustaffson) for most in the AHL.
• Forward Chad LaRose leads the league in shorthanded assists (3) and is tied for the lead in shorthanded points (3)
• Forward Kyle Hagel is tied for the AHL lead in major penalties (7)
• Rasmus Rissanen leads AHL defensemen and ranks third in the AHL overall with 14 minor penalties.
• Defenseman Trevor Carrick is tied for fourth in major penalties among rookies (3)
• Charlotte's two overtime games are tied for the fewest in the league.

Injuries

• Ben Holmstrom - missed nine games starting 11/2
• Patrick Brown - missed seven game starting 11/10
• Brody Sutter - missed five game starting 11/15
• Jared Staal - missed four games starting 11/18

Milestones

• Beau Schmitz is one shy of 50 AHL games
• Chris Terry is one shy of 300 AHL points
• Chad LaRose is one shy of 400 professional penalty minutes and three shy of 100 AHL penalty minutes
• Justin Shugg is two shy of 50 professional goals
• Kyle Hagel is three shy of 300 professional games played

Transactions

Incoming

• Nov. 25 - (LW) Chris Terry assigned to Charlotte on a conditioning loan from Carolina (NHL)

Outgoing

• Nov. 25 - (RW) Alex Aleardi assigned to Florida (ECHL) from Charlotte
• Nov. 25 - (D) Michal Jordan recalled to Carolina (NHL) from Charlotte