Game Preview: Checkers vs. Rockford (April 11, 2015)

The Checkers' final weekend at Time Warner Cable Arena starts with the first of a back-to-back set against the Rockford IceHogs.

A record-setting crowd is expected tonight as the Checkers and Rockford play the first of three consecutive games each other continuing with Sunday's 1 p.m. rematch and a game in Rockford on Wednesday. Charlotte won the first matchup in Rockford back on Jan. 13 by way of shootout.

Before making plans to attend tonight's game, please consult this traffic advisory concerning other events in the surrounding area of uptown Charlotte.

Charlotte

Despite no longer being in contention for the playoffs, the Checkers enter tonight’s tilt riding high. They handled a desperate Oklahoma City squad and took three out of four points last week. They will have to channel that play once again as they welcome the red hot Rockford IceHogs to town for the final home series of the season.

Offensively, several Checkers have found their scoring touch and continue to power the team. Brody Sutter has led the way with nine points in his last nine games and 13 in his last 13. After missing a sizeable chunk of the beginning of the season due to injury, the center has really come into his own as of late, ranking tied for fifth in goals despite playing just 43 games.

Leading the way, as they have all season, however, have been Chad LaRose and Justin Shugg. With LaRose sidelined for a slew of games during the second half of the season, Shugg has overtaken the team’s goals and points lead. His 19 goals are a new career high for the forward, while he is one shy of setting a new career-high in points.

On the other side of the ice, the Checkers’ blue line could be sporting several new faces. Even with the release of Mike Cornell and the assignment of Austin Levi, there are currently eight defensemen on the Checkers roster. If that holds, at least one of the newcomers (Roland McKeown, Josh Wesley and Haydn Fleury) would be poised to make their pro debut. They would be following in the footsteps of Brett Pesce, who has appeared in two games and recorded an assist in his short stint with the Checkers.

The Checkers will also get a boost from the addition of a familiar face. Danny Biega has returned to the team after spending the last few weeks in the NHL with the Carolina Hurricanes. He will replace Keegan Lowe in the Checkers lineup after the second-year defenseman earned his first NHL recall.

In net, the Checkers are once again carrying four goalies on their roster. Newcomer Rasmus Tirronen has spent the last few weeks practicing with the team but has yet to make an appearance in a game. Should he get a start this weekend, it would mark his pro debut. Alongside Tirronen will be Daniel Altshuller, who the Checkers recently recalled from the Florida Everblades.

Rockford

Despite having a playoff spot locked up, tonight’s contest still carries a lot of weight for the visiting IceHogs.

With just three games remaining on their schedule, the IceHogs find themselves just one point out of the Midwest division lead and just three points out of the number one seed in the Western Conference. Rockford has blazed its way to this point by rattling off a 17-5-1 record in their last 23 games, including entering tonight with four straight wins.

Rockford’s offense has been an integral part of their recent success. In each of their last four games, all wins, the IceHogs have scored five or more goals. Pacing that charge has been their trio of 40-point scorers, Spencer Abbott, Garret Ross and Mark McNeill.

Abbott, who was acquired at the trade deadline from Toronto, has been lethal for Rockford, racking up 19 points in his 15 games as an IceHog. Ross and McNeill each hold a share of the team goals lead with 21 markers. Aside from those three, the IceHogs have enjoyed production from forward Alex Broadhurst, who has put up 10 points in the nine games he’s played since missing a substantial amount of time due to injury.

The IceHogs have been just as impressive on the defensive side of the game, ranking in the top five in the league in terms of goals allowed per game. Their blue line has been anchored as of late by a pair of point-producing rookies in Ville Pokka and Stephen Johns, with the former being named to the AHL All-Rookie Team last week.

In net, Rockford has leaned on Michael Leighton and he has delivered. Along with the 20 wins under his belt, Leighton’s goals-against average of 2.22 puts him in the top 10 in the AHL. The veteran has split the majority of the playing time down the stretch with Antti Raanta, who is an impressive 7-1-1 in his 10 appearances this season.

Checkers Notes

Against Rockford

Tonight's game in Charlotte marks the second of the four-game season series between Charlotte and Rockford. They will conclude the series with three consecutive matchups (at Charlotte tomorrow and at Rockford next Wednesday) after playing only once previously - a 3-2 shootout win for the Checkers on Jan. 13.

Charlotte holds an all-time record of 12-7-2 against Rockford but is just 4-5-1 against the IceHogs at Time Warner Cable Arena.

In the previous game between the two teams, Brendan Woods and Jared Staal scored to give the Checkers a 2-0 lead before the IceHogs tied it courtesty of Phillip Danault and Ryan Hartman. Drew MacIntyre, who stopped 41 of 43 in regulation and overtime, blanked all three comers in the shootout to get the win, with Alex Aleardi netting the winner on the Checkers' first attempt. Michael Leighton stopped 43 shots in the losing effort.

Checkers forward Kyle Hagel played parts of two seasons for Rockford under current Hurricanes coach Bill Peters from 2009-11, racking up 13 points (5g, 8a) and 281 penalty minutes in 86 total games and capturing the first of his five consecutive team Man of the Year awards in 2011. Leighton, who spent parts of three seasons with the Carolina organization between 2007 and 2010, captured the Baz Bastien award as the AHL's top goaltender while playing for the Albany River Rats in 2007-08.

Eliminated

The Checkers were mathematically eliminated from playoff contention last week. This will be the third time in Checkers' five seasons as an AHL franchise in which they did not qualify for the Calder Cup Playoffs and the first time that they have missed the postseason in back-to-back years.

LaRose's Shorty Success

With his goal on April 3, Chad LaRose is now tied for the AHL lead with five shorthanded points. That also establishes a new franchise single-season record, snapping the previous mark of four, set by both Brett Sutter and Chris Terry during the 2010-11 season. Three of those points have been helpers, tying him for the league lead in shorthanded assists as well.

Those five shorthanded points also move LaRose all the way to fourth on the Checkers all-time list.

Muse Steps Up

While Drew MacIntyre has taken the bulk of the workload for the majority of the season, John Muse has been lights out when called upon as of late. In his last five appearances, the Checkers' all-time wins leader is 3-0-0 with a goals-against average of 1.68 and a save percentage of .945.

After starting the season slow, going 2-8-2 in his first 14 appearances, Muse has battled back and now sits just one game below .500 at 10-11-2. He has started consecutive games just once this season: after the holiday break when MacIntyre was representing Canada at the Spengler Cup in Switzerland. Muse went 0-3-1 in those four consecutive starts and allowed 12 goals total during that stretch.

Boychuk Chases History

With five games remaining on the schedule, Zach Boychuk stands just five points away from being the Checkers' all-time leading scorer. His current total of 250 trails only former linemate Chris Terry's 254. Boychuk became the franchise's all-time goals leader earlier this season.

Boychuk, who, after playing the first two games of the season with the Checkers, spent a large chunk of this season in Carolina before being returned to Charlotte in January. Despite only having 37 games under his belt with Charlotte this season, both his 24 points and 12 goals are tied for fifth on the team. He has six points (1g, 5a) in his last seven games.

Sutter Strikes

With seven in his last seven games, center Brody Sutter has more than doubled the five goals he scored in his first 36 games of the season. Of his 24 points, 14 (7g, 7a) have come in his last 15 games dating back to March 1. During that time, he has notched his only two multi-goal games aside from when he scored twice in a playoff game at Oklahoma City on April 26, 2013, and a career-high, three-point effort (2g, 1a) at Iowa on March 21.

Sutter, who has been limited to just 43 games this season due to injury, has set a new career high of 12 goals, eclipsing the eight he scored in 69 games last season.

MacIntyre's Workload

Checkers goalie Drew MacIntyre, who has played in 10 of the team's last 13 games, ranks sixth in the AHL with 2,757 minutes played and is second with 1,361 saves. His last appearance against Oklahoma City on April 2 was his 48th of the season, tying Justin Pogge's franchise record, set in 2010-11, for most games played by a goaltender in a single season.

MacIntyre's most recent victory in Norfolk on March 25 was the 211th of his career, moving him into a tie with Nick Damore for ninth in AHL history. He is now just 21 away from tying Frederic Cassivi for fifth. MacIntyre, a 31-year-old veteran now playing his 12th professional season with his eighth AHL club, has a 211-141-26 record, 2.49 goals-against average, .934 save percentage and 16 shutouts in 401 career AHL games dating back to the 2004-05 season.

Though he has yet to record a shutout, MacIntyre has won five games by a 2-1 score. He owns a .920 save percentage in overtime games this season (46 saves on 50 shots) and has stopped 21 of 23 in the shootout. He is tied for second in the leauge in shootout victories this season (4-1 record).

Carrick Lights It Up

With 14 points (3g, 11a) in his last 16 games, Trevor Carrick currently leads all Charlotte defensemen in goals (seven), assists (21) and points (28), all of which are new records for a Checkers roookie defenseman. Of his five multi-point outings this season, four occurred during the month of March.

Carrick currently ranks third on the team in scoring and leads the team in assists. Eleven of his assists have come on the power play, a total that leads the Checkers, is tied for fourth among all AHL rookies and is first among AHL rookie defensemen.

A fourth-round pick in 2012, the 20-year-old Carrick put up 51 points in his final season of junior last year, split between Mississauga and Sudbury, and ranked second among OHL defensemen in goals (22).

Streaks

• Brody Sutter has goals and points in each of his last two games (April 2-3: 2g, 0a)
• Chad LaRose has points in each of his last two games (April 2-3: 1g, 1a)
• Zach Boychuk has assists and points in each of his last two games (April 2-3: 0g, 2a)
• Patrick Brown has assists and points in each of his last two games (April 2-3: 0g, 2a)

Quick Hits

• Kyle Hagel ranks tied second in the AHL in major penalties (22), all fights.
• Phil Di Giuseppe ranks fifth among AHL rookies in shots (159)
• Patrick Brown is tied for the AHL rookie lead in shorthanded assists (2)
• The Checkers are 2-6 in games decided during the seven-minute overtime and 5-1 in shootouts.
• The Checkers are 0-12 on the power play over their last four games.

Injuries

• Greg Nemisz - missed 50 games starting 12/8 (out for season)

Milestones

• Kyle Hagel is one shy of 350 professional games
• Danny Biega is one shy of 100 AHL/professional penalty minutes
• Jared Staal is one shy of 100 AHL penalty minutes
• Brett Pesce made his pro debut on 4/2 and recorded his first pro point on 4/3
• Drew MacIntyre tied Justin Pogge's franchise record for games played by a goalie in a single season (48) on 4/2

Transactions

Incoming

• April 9 - (G) Daneil Altshuller recalled from Florida (ECHL)
• April 8 - (D) Haydn Fleury signed to amateur tryout contract from Red Deer (WHL)
• April 8 - (D) Danny Biega reassigned from Carolina (NHL)
• April 6 - (D) Roland McKeown signed to amateur tryout contract from Kingston (OHL)

Outgoing

• April 8 - (D) Keegan Lowe recalled to Carolina (NHL)
• April 6 - (D) Mike Cornell released from professional tryout contract to Florida (ECHL)
• April 6 - (D) Austin Levi released from professional tryout contract to Stockton (ECHL)