Game Preview: Checkers vs. Oklahoma City (Jan. 24, 2014)

The Checkers will try to match their longest winning streak of the season as they host a rematch with Oklahoma City on Race Night tonight.

A 4-0 win over the Barons on Thursday gave the Checkers three consecutive victories and six in their last seven – a stretch that has seen them get above the .500 mark for the first time since early November and enter tonight's match-up just one point out of a playoff spot. It also improved the Checkers to 5-0-0 against their West Divisional rival this season with seven more meetings yet to take place.

Following tonight's game, the Checkers embark on a five-game road swing – their longest since October – before returning home to play two more games against Oklahoma City on Feb. 7 and 9.

Charlotte

Wanting to begin the season’s second half on a high note after getting back to the .500 mark last weekend, the Checkers got 31 saves from John Muse and two goals from Justin Shugg to defeat the Barons on Thursday. Muse, who earned his third shutout of the season and fifth of his AHL career, had to be better than the score might indicate, making several tough stops in a second period that saw the visitors do everything in their power to try and erase an early 2-0 deficit.

Joining Shugg, who scored his career high 10th and 11th goals of the season on Thursday, on the score sheet were newcomer Greg Nemisz, who has at least one point in all five games he’s played as a Checker, and Brett Sutter, who netted the team’s second shorthanded goal of the season to halt the Baron’s second-period push.

That win continued what has been the Checkers’ most successful few weeks of the season, one that in no way resembles their severe struggles from a 2-7-0 month of November.

“It’s our attitude towards the game,” said Shugg, comparing the two distinct portions of the season. “A lot of guys were flustered, the puck wasn’t bouncing their way and maybe there were some systems breakdowns where we were just unlucky.

“It’s night and day. Like any sport, when you’re winning, all the way from the upper management to the lowest guy that helps move the gloves, everyone’s happy.”

Muse, who began the season in the ECHL before rejoining the Checkers on a tryout contract and then another AHL deal, has now won each of his last four starts and 11 of his last 13 dating back to Nov. 30. He has played in each of the Checkers’ last five games, including four starts and a 24-minute appearance in relief of Mike Murphy on Jan. 17.

“He’s a proven winner throughout his college career, won the championship in the East Coast and has proven he can win at this level,” said coach Jeff Daniels. “Last year was kind of an off year for him but he’s bounced back this year. He’s always really focused and ready to play.”

With three days off on either side of this two-game set with Oklahoma City, it’s not out of the question that the Checkers could Muse once again. That said, Murphy looked very solid in his two starts prior to the 7-1 loss to Texas, a game in which few of his teammates turned in noteworthy performances.

Forwards Nicolas Blanchard, Sean Dolan, Jared Staal and Brendan Woods are likely to remain sidelined due to injury. On defense, Daniels may elect to put Beau Schmitz, who has sat each of the last two games as a healthy extra, back into the rotation.

Update: The Hurricanes assigned Ryan Murphy to Charlotte on Friday morning. He is expected to play tonight, with Lowe and Schmitz sitting out as healthy extras. John Muse is expected to start in goal.

Oklahoma City

It’s a long series that isn’t even halfway over, but the Checkers couldn’t ask for much more than they’ve been able to take from their meetings with the Barons this season.

Five straight wins to start the 12-game set have given the Checkers a three-point lead over the Barons in the standings, though the games themselves haven’t always been as dominant as the results. Three of the five games were decided by just one goal, with Oklahoma City making late pushes that made the Checkers nervous on Thursday and in a 5-2 win on Jan. 10.

“It’s been a lot closer than it might look,” said Daniels. “We’re in the same situation, we’re both trying to get in to a playoff spot and we knew that coming in. We knew we had to be sharp because they were going to be desperate and we were going to be desperate, and it’s going to be the same thing (Friday).”

“It’s two clubs battling hard and we’ve had more bounces go our way than they have,” said Shugg. “They’re going to be a different hockey club (Friday).”

The Barons are likely to return to goalie Richard Bachman, who has played in 14 of their last 15 games dating back to Dec. 14. Down 4-0 after Sutter and Shugg scored late in the second period, Bachman exited the game to start the third, presumably to rest for another start tonight. In his stead, backup Chet Pickard, who gave up four first-period goals to the Checkers on Jan. 10, stopped all eight shots he faced to finish Thursday’s game.

Thursday marked the fourth time the Barons have been shut out this season and first since Dec. 12. It marked the end of a four-game point streak for captain Anton Lander, who has nine points (2g, 7a) in eight games since returning from the NHL’s Edmonton Oilers.

NHL veteran Ben Eager recorded 26 penalty minutes on Thursday – all but two of which were the result of arguing with officials – to come just one short of the Barons’ club record.

Checkers Notes

Winning Streak

The Checkers have won three games in a row for the second time this month, tying their second-longest streak of the season. A win over Oklahoma City tonight would tie their season high - a four-game frun from Dec. 10-19.

Since the beginning of that streak on Dec. 10, Checkers have posted a record of 12-5-0.

In the Race

With six wins in their last seven games, the Checkers have climbed to 10th place in the Western Conference - their highest position since they were ninth on Nov. 7 - and are currently just one point out of a playoff spot. Thursday's win over Oklahoma City got them above the .500 mark (20-19-1) for the first time since that same Nov. 7 game, on which the Checkers dropped the second of a franchise-record, seven-game losing streak that still marks the longest posted by an AHL club this season.

The Checkers were at a franchise-record-low six games under .500 as recently as Dec. 7 (8-14-1).

All He Does Is Win

Checkers goalie John Muse has won each of his last four decisions, giving him his third winning streak of three or more games this season. He has now won 11 of his last 13, including a six-game streak from Nov. 30-Dec. 19 that tied the franchise record. Muse is 15-8-0 this season, while the other seven goalies the team has used are a combined 5-11-1.

Since rejoining the Checkers on a professional tryout contract on Oct. 23 (he later signed an AHL contract), Muse has a 2.36 goals-against average, .923 save percentage and three shutouts, including a 31-save performance against Oklahoma City on Jan. 23. A winner of two NCAA National Championships with Boston College and an ECHL Kelly Cup with the Florida Everblades, he has an all-time AHL record of 33-18-3.

Palushaj Picks up the Pace

Checkers forward Aaron Palushaj has 23 points (8g, 15a) in his last 17 AHL games. During that time period, he has at least one point in 15 of those games and has posted seven multi-point outings. His current six-game point streak (5g, 4a) is his longest of the season and the second longest posted by a Checkers player this season (Chris Terry - nine games from Oct. 4-31). It also ties the second-longest of his career, trailing an eight-game run with Hamilton to start the 2010-11 season.

Palushaj now leads the Checkers with 37 points (t-8th AHL) and 23 assists (t-12th AHL), both of which are at least eight more than any other Charlotte skater. His 14 goals are tied for second on the team, one off the lead held by Zach Boychuk, while his 109 shots are most on the team.

Fitting In

Since the Carolina Hurricanes acquired him from Calgary in a Dec. 30 trade and assigned him to Charlotte, forward Greg Nemisz has points in all five games he's played as a Checker (2g, 4a). Prior to joining the Checkers, Nemisz, a 2008 first-round draft pick who scored 248 points (115g, 133a) in 246 career junior hockey games with the Windsor Spitfires, had just 19 points in his previous 87 AHL games with the Abbotsford Heat, including nine (5g, 4a) in 32 games this season.

Floodgates Open

Defenseman Mark Flood scored his ninth goal of the season against Norfolk on Jan. 19, pulling him into a second-place tie for most goals and power-play goals (six) among AHL defensemen.

In just 40 games, Flood, a 29-year-old veteran who scored just one goal in 52 games in the Russian KHL last season, has already tied Bryan Rodney (2010-11) for the second-highest goal total by a Checkers defenseman in a single season and is only one away from the team record of 10 set by Bobby Sanguinetti in 2011-12. He is also just two away from his AHL career high of 11 set with Manitoba during the 2010-11 campaign.

Power Players

The Checkers, who rank fifth in the AHL with a 21.6 percent success rate on the power play, have scored 34.8 percent of their goals on the man advantage (40 of 115), which is the second-highest of any AHL team. Four goals at even strength or shorthanded on Jan. 23 knocked them out of the top spot for the first time in over two months.

Charlotte has scored 33 of its last 40 goals scored at even strength or shorthanded and have received credit for one via a shootout win. The Checkers' six even-strength goals scored against Texas on Jan. 18 were the most since the team also scored six at Peoria on April 13, 2012.

Divisional Dominance

The Checkers have a 10-3-0 record against fellow West Division teams this season. They do not have a winning record against any other division. In 40 games, the Checkers have played against their own division, the West, just 13 times, marking the fewest games that any AHL team has played within its own division.

Against the Barons

The Checkers' 12-game season series against Oklahoma City ties the longest in team history (Norfolk in 2010-11). Of Charlotte's remaining 36 games, seven of those will come against the Barons.

Not including playoffs (Oklahoma City defeated the Checkers 3-2 in last season's first round), Charlotte holds an all-time record of 13-5-2 against the Barons, including a 9-2-0 mark on the road and a 5-0-0 record this season. The Checkers record for most wins in a head-to-head series is seven, set when the team went 7-3-2 against Norfolk in 2010-11 and 7-0-1 against Peoria in 2012-13.

Checkers forwards Matt Marquardt and Philippe Cornet are both former Barons, with Cornet representing them in the 2011-12 All-Star Game. Defenseman Keegan Lowe's father, Kevin Lowe, is a member of the parent Edmonton Oilers' front-office staff, while forward Brody Sutter's father, Duane Sutter, is an Oilers scout.

Barons forwards Matthew Ford and Steve MacIntyre both played for Charlotte during its ECHL era.

Quick Hits

• The Checkers out-shot their opponents by a combined 41-14 margin in the third period of Sunday's win over Norfolk and the first period of Thursday's win over Oklahoma City
• The Checkers have scored three or more goals in nine of their last 11 games. They are 18-6-0 when scoring three or more and 2-13-1 when scoring fewer than three.
• Michal Jordan had a plus-4 rating on Jan. 23, tying the Checkers' season high set by fellow defenseman Rasmus Rissanen on just two games earlier on Jan. 18. They are two of just six games in which a Checkers player had a rating of plus-4 or higher, including the team record of plus-5 set by Mathieu Roy and Bobby Sanguinetti at Peoria on April 13, 2012.
• Zach Boychuk is in a three-way tie with Texas forwards Chris Mueller and Colton Sceviour for first in the AHL with 10 power-play goals.
• The Checkers are 10-2-0 in their last 11 one-goal games. Ten of their last 13 victories have been by one goal.
• The Checkers are one of three AHL teams (Iowa, Syracuse) with a losing record at home (11-13-0) and a winning record on the road (9-6-1).
• The first period is the only period in which the Checkers have a positive goal differential (39 for, 36 against).

Player Streaks

• Aaron Palushaj has points in each of his last six games (Jan. 10-23: 5g, 4a)
• Greg Nemisz has points in each of his last five games (Jan. 3-23: 2g, 4a)

Milestones

• Zach Boychuk is two assists shy of 100 Checkers assists
• Zach Boychuk is four goals shy of 100 AHL goals

Injuries

• Sean Dolan - missed 20 games starting Dec. 1
• Jared Staal - missed seven games starting Jan. 3
• Nicolas Blanchard - missed four games starting Jan. 17
• Brendan Woods - missed four games starting Jan. 17

Transactions

Incoming

• Jan. 24 - (D) Ryan Murphy assigned to Charlotte from Carolina (NHL)

Outgoing

• none