Game Preview: Checkers vs Ontario (March 17, 2017)

Coming up on one of the most crucial stretches of their season, the Checkers welcome the Pacific Division’s Ontario Reign to town for a weekend series. Here are 11 things to know for tonight's St. Patrick's Day contest!

1. PLAYOFF PICTURE

Another hot streak has put the Checkers back into the thick of the Central Division playoff race. Though they technically sit in fifth place in the division by virtue of points percentage, the Checkers trail the Cleveland Monsters by one point but have played one fewer game. The final playoff spot is currently occupied by the Iowa Wild, who sit six points ahead with one more game played than the Checkers.

The next four games for Charlotte could be the most important of the season, as Iowa comes to town for a pair next week. Should the Checkers beat Ontario at least once and sweep the Wild, they could pull themselves up to a playoff spot by next week.

All three teams are in action this weekend, with the Monsters hosting the Texas Stars on Friday and Saturday and the Wild embarking on a home-and-home series with the Milwaukee Admirals.

2. RETURN OF THE KING

The Checkers got one of their top weapons back in their arsenal for the weekend when the Hurricanes returned Lucas Wallmark. After logging three NHL games during his stint, the rookie is back with the Checkers, where he leads the team in goals and has four points in his last two contests.

Wallmark is also chasing history down the stretch, needing two more goals to match Zac Dalpe’s franchise rookie record, set in the Checkers’ inaugural 2010-11 season.

3. MISSING FIREPOWER

Even with Lucas Wallmark returning from the NHL, the Checkers are still heading into the weekend without several key parts due to injury or recall. After Wallmark and Andrew Poturalski, the rest of the Checkers’ top five goals scorers this season are currently with the Hurricanes – Valentin Zykov, Patrick Brown and Phil Di Giuseppe.

On top of that, hot-handed acquisition Danny Kristo is a question mark for the Ontario series after getting knocked out of the Checkers’ last game, while veteran forward Bryan Bickell has been ruled out for the weekend, along with Erik Karlsson. Those are all in addition to the loss of netminder Michael Leighton, who will undergo surgery and be out for the next four-to-six weeks.

With some of those high-end scoring options gone, head coach Ulf Samuelsson has seen some other players step up to help fill those gaps.

“We have guys like Woods who have come in and played good hockey,” he said. “He’s been on the sideline for most of the year with a tough injury but he’s come in and added some depth. Kristo was acquired in a trade and he’s been helpful offensively. Potsy has been our go-to guy all year and now Tolchinsky has come back from injury and started to find his rhythm over the last few games. That’s another guy who can help when he gets hot.”

The good news for Charlotte is that they are preparing for the return of Patrick Dwyer from injury, as the forward had a three-game point streak and five points in his last six games before getting hurt and missing the next 11 games.

4. MAKE IT REIGN

Ontario is the final California-based team to make the cross-country trip to Charlotte this season. In the two matchups on their home ice, the Reign got the best of the Checkers, picking up a pair of wins while the Checkers limped through their tough West Coast road trip.

“They’re a team that wants to play heavy hockey,” said Samuelsson of the Reign. “They have a very simple, strict, but very good, game plan. They have some players really playing hard there. So it’s going to be a patient game and we need to be ready to battle against a heavy team.”

5. OLD FRIENDS

The Checkers will see some familiar faces when the Reign come to Bojangles’ Coliseum this weekend. The most notable is Brett Sutter, who is the longest tenured captain in Charlotte’s history. The forward last donned a Checkers sweater in the 2013-14 campaign, finishing his Charlotte career as one of only seven players to log at least 250 games with the team. Sutter currently ranks fourth on the franchise’s all-time scoring list.

The Reign also boast sharp-shooting forward T.J. Hensick, who spent last season with the Checkers. The veteran tallied 25 points in his 46 games with the Checkers before moving on.

6. FRESHMAN PHENOM

After shaking off a mini two-game scoreless lull with a helper Friday in Manitoba, Andrew Poturalski continues to shine as one of the league’s top rookies.

The forward has pushed his way into a tie for second among all AHL rookies in scoring with his 43 points this season. Poturalski hasn’t gone more than two games without registering a points since Dec. 20, and in the 30 games since then he has racked up 25 points.

He still has some work ahead of him to catch Zac Dalpe’s franchise rookie record with 57 points, meaning Poturalski would need 14 points in the final 17 games of the season to match the mark.

7. BRICK BY BRICKLEY

With several of the team’s top scorers absent from the lineup as of late, Connor Brickley has picked up the slack with a late scoring tear of his own. To go along with an active two-game goal streak, the forward has picked up a point in six of his last seven games, and 10 of his 17 points this season have come in the last 15 contests.

Brickley has also emerged as a clutch presence for Charlotte, with his three game winners leading the entire team.

8. MILLER TIME

Andrew Miller’s hot streak since returning from injury continues to roll on as the forward has rattled off another three-game point streak. With four points along that currently active stretch, Miller has 13 in his last nine games, rocketing his way to fourth on the team in scoring with only 38 games played.

9. WILD STARTS

The Checkers have made things interesting early in games as of late.

They have a -25 goal differential in first periods this season, the third-worst mark of any team in any period this season, and have allowed at least two goals in four of their last five contests.

While they have been on the wrong end of a lopsided goal differential this season, though, they have also recently started a trend of coming out firing. The Checkers have scored three goals in the first period three times in the last five games, including in both games over the Moose this past weekend. Similarly, they have recorded at least two goals in the first period in seven of their last 14 games.

“There have been some crazy games here lately,” said Samuelsson. “I don’t know if it’s because it’s late in the season and both teams are finding defensive errors that the other is making, but it’s been way too much action for both sides. Or it’s a great amount of action for people who like that. But we need to tighten down our defensive play.”

10. PRE-GAME PARTY

A special pregame party in front of Bojangles' Coliseum that begins at 4 p.m., which will include music and "The Oinker" food truck from The Improper Pig. Anyone who holds a ticket for tonight’s game is welcome to attend the pregame party.

The Checkers will be wearing special green jerseys during the game, which will be up for auction immediately following. A special green t-shirt will also be for sale at the merchandise stand.

11. TUNE IN!

If you can't make it to the game tonight, you can still tune in to hear Jason Shaya's call live from Bojangles' Coliseum tonight! Pregame show kicks 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!