Game Preview: Checkers vs. Oklahoma City (Jan. 23, 2015)

The Checkers continue an unusual three-in-three as they host the first of back-to-back games against the Oklahoma City Barons tonight.

With Oklahoma City idle and waiting in Charlotte, the Checkers went all the way to the last second of overtime in Norfolk on Wednesday before a buzzer-beating goal sent them to a 3-2 defeat. Though it missed another chance to string together consecutive wins for just the second time this season, the result still gives Charlotte points in six of its last eight games (4-2-2).

After these two games against the Barons, who currently hold the best record in the league at 27-9-5, the Checkers will disperse for the AHL's All-Star break.

Charlotte

Fatigue was always going to be a factor in Thursday’s game, with the Checkers coming off an overtime loss in Norfolk on Wednesday and the long bus ride that comes with it while the Barons rested and waited in Charlotte.

That said, the Checkers got the start they wanted when team scoring leader Chad LaRose extended his point streak to four games (2g, 2a) with a first-period goal that put the home team up 1-0. However, that advantage was more than erased with a tough second period that saw the Barons strike three times and out-shoot the Checkers 18-4.

“We lost the game in the second period,” said head coach Jeff Daniels. “We just stopped working and skating in the second period.

“We had four or five guys playing with some emotion out there, and we’re not a team built that can go with four or five going on a certain night. We need everyone going, and we didn’t have that in the second period.”

Tempers began to flare near that end of that fateful frame, with Keegan Lowe seeming to give his club a momentary spark by jumping into defend LaRose in an altercation with Barons agitator Steve Pinizzotto. Several of his teammates picked up their intensity from that point on, which led to a better third period. Though the game’s finish made no impact on the score sheet, it may present an interesting setup for tonight’s rematch against two teams that, after tonight, will have played each other eight times in exactly two months.

“We played a lot faster and we were a lot more physical,” said Checkers forward Jared Staal. “That’s the game we’re going to want to play for three periods tomorrow.”

With John Muse starting the middle game of the three-in-three set on Thursday, the Checkers will more than likely turn to veteran Drew MacIntyre tonight. MacIntyre has been in goal for 12 of the team’s 15 wins this season, with the Checkers earning at least one point in seven of his last eight starts (4-1-3).

Oklahoma City

During a season in which little has gone the Checkers' way, it just so happens that the only team they have to play 12 times is also the AHL's best at the halfway point.

Despite an in-season coaching change and news that the team will cease operations at the end of this season, the Barons have actually improved as the season has gone along. Since the Checkers won their only game of the season series in Charlotte on Dec. 18, the Barons have posted a blistering 12-2-1 record to build a commanding 12-point lead in the West Division.

Even with Anton Lander (31 points in 29 games) in the NHL with Edmonton, the Barons boast several offensive weapons led by Jason Williams and Andrew Miller, who have 34 points apiece. In total, the Barons have seven players who would instantly become the Checkers' leading scorer if they were to swap jerseys today.

Though goals allowed is the only key statistical area in which the Barons fall outside the league's top 10 (14th), goaltenders Laurent Brossoit and Richard Bachman have both enjoyed successful seasons. Bachman's 2.13 goals-against average is the ninth-best in the league, while Brossoit, tonight's likely starter with Bachman playing Thursday, is 3-0-0 with a 1.45 GAA and .952 save percentage against the Checkers this season.

That said, Brossoit's last game did not go exactly as planned as he allowed seven goals on 35 shots in what turned out to be an 8-7 overtime victory over Rochester on Jan. 18.

Checkers Notes

Against Oklahoma City

Tonight marks the eighth of 12 meetings between the Checkers and Oklahoma City this season, with the Barons taking six of seven thus far. Since the Checkers opened last season's 12-game series with six straight wins, the Barons are 9-1-3 in their last 13 games against Charlotte. In 35 all-time contests between the two clubs, the Checkers hold an 18-13-4 record, including an 8-6-3 mark at Time Warner Cable Arena.

Rookie Brock McGinn leads the Checkers in scoring against Oklahoma City this season with five points (2g, 3a) in seven games. For Oklahoma City, Andrew Miller leads all active skaters with seven points (5g, 2a) against the Checkers.

In goal, John Muse has a 1-2-1 record with a 2.62 goals-against average and .923 save percentage against the Barons this season, while Drew MacIntyre is 0-2-0 with a 4.06 GAA and .840 SV%. For Oklahoma City, Laurent Brossoit is 3-1-0 with a 1.45 GAA and .952 SV%, while Richard Bachman is 3-0-0 with a 2.10 GAA and .925 SV%.

In terms of organizational ties, Checkers defenseman Keegan Lowe's father, Kevin Lowe, is the president of hockey operations for Oklahoma City's parent club, the Edmonton Oilers. Checkers center Brody Sutter's father, Duane Sutter, is an Edmonton scout. Oklahoma City forward Matthew Ford played 31 games for the ECHL Checkers from 2008-10 before becoming a full-time AHL player.

LaRose Takes Over

With one point scored in each of his last four games (2g, 2a), Chad LaRose has taken sole posession of the team scoring lead with 23 points (11g, 12a). The alternate captain has put up 12 of those points in his last 15 games (7g, 5a). In addition to being the team's overall points leader, he also leads the team in shorthanded points (three - t-3rd AHL), is tied for second in power-play points (five) and leads the team in shots on goal (100).

LaRose's point streak is one game shy of tying the team's longest of the season, a record shared by LaRose (Dec. 18-28: 3g, 3a) and Ryan Murphy (Dec. 16-27: 0g, 6a).

LaRose, a 32-year-old veteran of 508 NHL games with Carolina, is playing in the AHL for the first time since 2005-06 after taking last year away from hockey. He now has 107 points (52g, 55a) in 169 career AHL games with Lowell and Charlotte.

Boychuk's Goals

With an empty-net goal to seal the Checkers' win over Toronto on Jan. 16, Zach Boychuk became the franchise's all-time goals leader with 105, surpassing longtime teammate Chris Terry.

The reigning Willie Marshall award winner as the AHL's top goal scorer with 36 last season, Boychuk also led the league with 18 power-play goals and took home Second-Team All Star honors. One of five players to appear in at least one Checkers game in all five of the team's AHL seasons (Michal Jordan, Rasmus Rissanen, Jared Staal and Terry), he ranks second on the team's all-time list in points (231) and assists (126) and is fifth in games played (251). He is currently two shy of 300 professional points.

In seven games since returning from an extended NHL stint with Carolina on Jan. 8, Boychuk has four points (2g, 2a), all of which have come in his last four outings.

Murphy's Helping Hand

Despite not playing for the Checkers since beginning a recently-completed NHL stint on Dec. 30, defenseman Ryan Murphy still leads the Checkers with 17 assists, at least five more than any other player. Murphy, who is set to represent the Checkers at the upcoming AHL All-Star Classic, also still leads the Checkers in power-play assists and points (7) and ranks fourth on the team in scoring even though he has yet to score his first goal of the season.

Murphy, a 21-year-old who the Hurricanes drafted 12th overall in 2011, now has 41 points (3g, 38a) in 49 career AHL games. Last season, he posted a 12-game assist/point streak that marked the longest in franchise history and was the longest by an AHL defenseman since the 2008-09 campaign.

MacIntyre Cracks Top 10

Since becoming the 12th goaltender in the AHL's 78-year history to reach 200 wins on Dec. 13, Checkers goalie Drew MacIntyre, who has picked up 12 of the Checkers' 15 wins this season, has recorded four more victories to take sole possession of 10th on the league's all-time wins list.

MacIntyre, a 31-year-old veteran now playing his 12th professional season with his eighth AHL club, is just 28 wins away from tying Frederic Cassivi for fifth on the all-time list. He has a 204-127-25 record, 2.44 goals-against average, .936 save percentage and 16 shutouts in 379 career AHL games dating back to the 2004-05 season. He currently ranks fourth in the league with 767 saves and fifth with 1,603 minutes played this season.

The Checkers have earned points in seven of MacIntyre's last eight starts dating back to Dec. 19 (4-1-3). Including a perfect 3-for-3 performance in Rockford on Jan. 13, he has stopped 13 of 14 shootout attempts this season, helping the Checkers to a 2-1 record despite just two total goals of support.

Long Time Coming

Kyle Hagel's goal in Norfolk on Jan. 21 - his 30th birthday - marked his first scored at any level since scoring for Hamilton against Lake Erie on April 12, 2013 (82 games). The Checkers now have just two active players still looking for their first goals of the season in any league - Ryan Murphy (last goal: April 19, Checkers at Rockford, 40 total games) and Beau Schmitz (last goal: Feb. 22, ECHL Florida vs. Fort Wayne, 13 total games).

Now in his seventh professional season and first with the Checkers, Hagel leads the team with 94 penalty minutes and leads the AHL with 14 major penalties.

Overtimes

Six of the Checkers' nine overtime games this season have been decided prior to the shootout. Charlotte is 1-5 in those games, with only Texas (2-9) owning a lower winning percentage in games decided during the seven-minute period. Meanwhile, the Checkers are 2-1 in the shootout.

Including their most recent overtime in Norfolk on Jan. 21, the Checkers gave up the tying goal with less than 3:30 remaining in regulation in four of their last five overtime losses.

Three-in-Threes

Tonight's game concludes the second and final instance in which the Checkers will play three games in three nights this season. They went 0-2-1 in their first set from Oct. 10-12 and have started their current grouping of games at 0-1-1.

The Checkers have an all-time record of 47-32-10 in games that are part of a three-in-three set, including a 16-10-4 mark in game one, a 16-9-5 record in game two and a 15-13-1 showing game three.

In four previous AHL seasons, the Checkers had never played fewer than five three-in-three sets over the course of a single season.

Power Outage

The Checkers are 3-for-47 on the power play (6.4 percent) on the power play over their last 14 games dating back to Dec. 21 and rank 30th in the AHL with a season-long percentage of 9.2.

In their previous four AHL seasons, the Checkers never finished lower than fifth in the league in terms of power-play percentage. Their lowest-ever percentage to finish a season was 19.8 percent. The lowest recorded power-play percentage for a season in AHL history is 10.4, set by the Rochester Americans in 2001-02.

On Jan. 21 in Norfolk, the Checkers did not receive a power play for just the second time in team history and first since April 13, 2012, at Peoria.

Stalled Offense

For the season, the Checkers rank last in the AHL with an average of 2.19 goals per game. Excluding goals awarded for shootout victories, they have scored two goals or fewer in 28 of their 42 games this season (5-17-6 record in those games), including 11 of their last 13 (3-5-4).

The Checkers have never finished lower than 18th in the league in terms of goals per game. Their lowest-ever average to finish a season was 2.75.

The lowest-ever point total for the team's scoring leader at the end of the season was 59 points (Chris Terry - 2011-12). Current scoring leader Chad LaRose is on pace to finish with 42.

Streaks

• Chad LaRose has points in each of his last four games (Jan. 15-22: 2g, 2a)

Quick Hits

• Charlotte's .625 winning percentage when scoring the game's first goal is tied for the third-lowest in the AHL.
• Charlotte's six shorthanded goals are tied for third in the league and are three more than their league-low total from all of last season.
• The Checkers' one shorthanded goal allowed is tied for the fewest in the league.
• The Checkers have allowed 77 total shots in the last two days.
• Chad LaRose is tied for the AHL lead in shorthanded assists (3) and is tied for third in shorthanded points (3)

Injuries

• Gabriel Desjardins - missed nine games starting 1/4
• Beau Schmitz - missed 20 games starting 12/10
• Greg Nemisz - missed 21 games starting 12/8 (out for season)

Milestones

• Ryan Murphy is one shy of 50 AHL games
• Zach Boychuk is two shy of 300 professional points
• John Muse is two shy of 50 AHL wins
• Alex Aleardi played his 100th professional game on 1/22
• Keegan Lowe played his 100th AHL/professional game on 1/22
• Brody Sutter played his 150th professional game on 1/21

Transactions

Incoming

• Jan. 20 - (D) Ryan Murphy reassigned to Charlotte from Carolina (NHL)

Outgoing

• Jan. 16 - (D) Austin Levi assigned to Stockton (ECHL) from Charlotte