Game Preview: Checkers vs San Antonio (March 4, 2015)

The Checkers return home looking to build off a win Saturday that snapped a tough three-game skid.

After a disappointing start to their Canadian road trip, the Checkers got things back on track in a rematch with Hamilton, and will now look to carry that momentum to their own barn, where they have won three straight. Tonight's game, the first of a back-to-back against the San Antonio Rampage, starts a stretch in which they play five home games in nine days.

Charlotte

Back on their home ice, the Checkers will be looking to put last week’s road trip behind them and continue the recent string of success that they’ve had at Time Warner Cable Arena.

The Checkers have won each of their last three contests at home, putting them one shy of their longest such streak of the season. To keep that going, they’ll have to shake off what was a less than stellar swing through Canada. The Checkers kicked off their trip north of the border with a pair of losses against the Marlies. But despite the back-to-back losses, head coach Jeff Daniels saw an improvement in his team.

“I didn’t think we were very good in the first game even though we had a lead at different times, I thought they were the better team,” said Daniels. “I thought we played real well on Wednesday morning in Toronto – after getting off to a tough start I thought we controlled the play from that point on.”

After traveling to Hamilton for a back-to-back series with the Bulldogs, the Checkers didn’t fare much better in the third game of the trip, getting blanked for the fifth time this season. But the rematch was a different story.

“We weren’t sharp in Hamilton early in the game (on Friday) and dug ourselves in a hole, but I thought the last game was probably the best game of the trip,” said Daniels.

That overtime win over the Bulldogs showed a lot of resiliency by the team, as they erased three different deficits to earn two points in the standings. For a team that has struggled playing from behind, the Checkers showed they still have some fight left in them. “It was good to see us get rewarded because we gave up a goal and battled back, gave up another one and had to battle back to tie it up and eventually got the game-winner in overtime,” said Daniels. “I really liked the way we played.”

With some momentum now on their side, the Checkers will aim to carry that fire into a two-game series with the San Antonio Rampage. They will be doing so with a different looking lineup, as injuries have begun to mount. Chad LaRose has been ruled out for an extended period of time, leaving a huge hole in the Checkers group of forwards. LaRose has been the most consistent scorer on a team that has a hard time turning in any offense, and the Checkers will need other skaters to step in and try to replace the production lost.

The team will also be without rookie forward Brock McGinn, one of the team's hottest goal scorers of late, who was suspended for one game as a result of a charging incident this past Saturday in Hamilton. In his stead, the Checkers brought former center Sean Dolan back into the fold on PTO.

Along with LaRose, Keegan Lowe will be missing significant time due to injury. That loss, combined with the recent recall of Rasmus Rissanen, has left the Checkers’ defensive corps incredibly thin. Charlotte will be forced to piece together their blue line using PTOs (Mike Cornell) and call ups (Austin Levi), and players like Beau Schmitz and Dennis Robertson will see their roles increased even more.

In net, the Checkers continue to alternate between their tandem of Drew MacIntyre and John Muse, with the two netminders trending in different directions. Muse, who started the year slow, has won four of his last five starts. MacIntyre, who has carried the majority of the workload all season, has struggled recently, dropping seven of his last eight contests. The veteran goalie has allowed four of more goals in five of those eight starts. By their alternating method, tonight would be MacIntyre’s turn back in net, but with this being a lengthy five-game home stand, there is a chance that Daniels rides one of his netminders.

San Antonio

The Rampage have been a pleasant surprise this season, rebounding from a tough year last season to spend most of this campaign battling atop the division standings. But despite that success, they have cooled considerably as the Western Conference playoff race gets tighter and tighter.

Despite going 3-4 over their last seven games, the Rampage still possess one of the most dangerous offensive attacks in the AHL. They currently rank second in the league in terms of goals per game, led by the high-powered duo of Bobby Butler and Mark Mancari. Butler in particular is enjoying a huge year, with career highs in both points (48) and goals (23) ranking him in the top five in the AHL in both categories.

Their production is aided by the emergence of rookies Rocco Grimaldi and Connor Brickley. Grimaldi, a second-round pick, has shined in his first season and even got a stint in the NHL. Brickley, another Florida second-round pick, has torn things up on the offensive side of the game, with his 19 goals tying him for the lead among AHL rookies. Both first-year pros rank in the top 10 in scoring among league rookies and are third and fourth on their team.

Former Checkers netminder Dan Ellis has been the team’s rock in goal this season. He has handled a large portion of the workload, ranking in the top five in the AHL in both wins and minutes played. His veteran presence has helped catapult San Antonio up the standings, but their defense hasn’t given him much help, as the team ranks in the bottom third of the league in terms of goals allowed per game. Spelling Ellis in net has been Michael Houser, who has struggled this season, loggin a goals against average over three and a save percentage below .900. The young goalie has been hot as of late, however, winning each of his last three starts.

The Rampage could be without one or both of Ellis and Houser tonight, as Florida Panthers goaltenders Roberto Luongo and Al Montoya both suffered injuries during Tuesday's game against the Toronto Maple Leafs. In a highly unusual situation, those goaltenders took turns playing the remainder of that game despite their injuries, with goaltending coach Robb Tallas having to dress as backup.

Checkers Notes

Against San Antonio

Tonight marks the sixth of eight meetings between the Checkers and San Antonio this season. The Rampage lead the series with a record of 4-1-0, with two of those going to overtime and San Antonio winning the most recent matchup on Jan. 30. In 25 all-time contests between the two clubs, the Checkers hold a 13-10-2 record, including a 7-4-1 mark in Charlotte.

Justin Shugg (2g, 1a) leads all active Checkers in scoring against San Antonio this season. Two active San Antonio skaters - Bobby Butler (3g, 2a) and Rocco Grimaldi (0g, 5a) - sit atop San Antonio's side of the head-to-head leaderboard.

In goal, Charlotte's Drew MacIntyre played the entirety of all five matchups, posting a 2.52 goals-against average and .915 save percentage. San Antonio's Dan Ellis has a sparkling 1.60 goals-against average and .946 save percentage in three games against the Checkers this season, while Michael Houser has a goals against average of 2.51 and a save percentage of 0.919 in two contests. Ellis played 18 games for the Checkers during the NHL lockout portion of the 2012-13 season, going 8-7-2 with a 2.46 goals-against average and .922 save percentage.

San Antonio coach Tom Rowe coached the Carolina Hurricanes' AHL affiliates in Lowell and Albany prior to switching places with current Checkers coach Jeff Daniels, who was an assistant with the Hurricanes at the time, prior to the 2008-09 season.

Offensive Rollercoaster

The Checkers have scored three or more goals in five of their last seven games, including four consecutive games from Feb. 16-22, their longest such stretch of the season. In the two games where they didn't, however, they scored just one total goal.

Charlotte's 4-0 loss in Hamilton on Feb. 27 marked its fifth shutout of the season, one shy of the single-season franchise record set in 2011-12. The Checkers are tied with Norfolk for the fewst goals (123) and lowest goals-per-game average (2.20) of any AHL team.

Home And Road

By sweeping their most recent three-game home stand, the Checkers improved their record at Time Warner Cable Arena to 14-11-2 this season. Meanwhile, they have lost three-of-four road games and are now 7-18-4 on the road, with their 18 points earned away from home marking the fewest of any AHL team.

Important Games

The Checkers are nearing the end of a stretch in which 13 of 14 games played are against teams currently ranked between fifth and 15th in the Western Conference. Thus far during the stretch, which started Jan. 30 and ends March 5, the Checkers have posted a record of 4-8-0 against those teams. Two of the victories were against the only team trailing them in the conference, the Iowa Wild.

Killing It

The Checkers have killed 19 consecutive penalties since allowing their most recent power-play goal in the third period of a game at Lake Erie on Feb. 12. It ties the most consecutive games without a powerplay goal (7) by the team this season, matching a 25-for-25 stretch from Dec. 19-Jan. 7.

Charlotte's penalty kill ranks ninth in the league at 85.8 percent. The Checkers are tied for sixth in the league with seven shorthanded goals, which are two behind the league lead and four more than their AHL-low total from all of last season.

Brock's Breakout

After going 29 games without a goal (Nov. 30) and 20 games without a point (Dec. 29), Checkers rookie forward Brock McGinn has found the back of the net five times in his last eight games (5g, 1a). That stretch includes a four-game goal streak, tied for the longest by a Checkers player this season. McGinn has scored at least one goal in eight games this season, with the Checkers posting a 6-2-0 record in those contests.

McGinn, who scored 43 goals in his final junior hockey campaign with Guelph last season, has recorded two multi-goal games this season (Nov. 21 and Feb. 18). He is tied for third on the team with 10 goals and tied for fourth with 19 points in 54 games, leading all Checkers rookies.

Welcome Back Alex

Since returning from the ECHL's Florida Everblades on Jan. 4, forward Alex Aleardi has posted 14 points (8g, 6a) in 19 games, including eight in his last nine (5g, 3a). Even though Aleardi did not dress for four games since that recall, he is tied for the Checkers lead in scoring behind Chad LaRose (14 points in 20 games) during that time.

Aleardi, an undrafted forward who the Checkers signed to an AHL contract during the offseason, has 37 points (18g, 19a) in 75 career AHL contests with Springfield and Charlotte. He scored 19 points (8g, 11a) in 16 ECHL games with the Everblades this season.

We Meet Again

This week's series against San Antonio marks the 23rd time the Checkers have faced the same opponent in two consecutive games this season. They are a combined 5-13-4 in the first halves of those series and are 12-9-1 in the second.

In those two-game series, the Checkers have won both games twice (against Milwaukee on Nov. 29 and 30 and agianst Iowa on Feb. 18 and 19) and have suffered five sweeps (vs. Grand Rapids on Oct. 17-18, at San Antonio on Nov. 14-15, at Oklahoma City on Nov. 21-22, vs. Chicago on Feb. 6-7 and at Toronto on Feb. 22 and 25).

Penalty Shot Party

Including one saved by John Muse in Toronto on Feb. 25, the Checkers have been involved in six penalty shot situations this season, tying their single-season record set during the inaugural 2010-11 campaign. In both seasons, those situations break down to four attempts for (with one goal scored) and two attemps against (with one goal scored).

In the three seasons between 2010-11 and this season, the team had been involved seven total penalty shot situations (three for, four against). Ben Holmstrom's goal in the team's first opportunity this season was the Checkers' first penalty shot goal since Jon Matsumoto scored against Oklahoma City on Dec. 20, 2011. A goal by Lake Erie's Troy Bourke against Drew MacIntyre on Feb. 12 marked the Checkers' first penalty shot goal allowed since Albany's Michael Swift scored against Justin Pogge on Jan. 7, 2011.

The Checkers were involved in two penalty shot situations in the same game for the first time in team history on Jan. 31 of this season, with Texas goalie Jussi Rynnas stopping attempts by Alex Aleardi and Zach Boychuk.

Streaks

• None

Suspensions

• Brock McGinn (charging) - will miss tonight's game

Injuries

• Keegan Lowe - missed one game starting 2/27
• Chad LaRose - missed three games starting 2/25
• Gabriel Desjardins - missed 23 games starting 1/4
• Greg Nemisz - missed 35 games starting 12/8 (out for season)

Milestones

• Jared Staal is three shy of 50 pro points
• Mike Cornell is three shy of 250 pro PIM

Transactions

Incoming

• March 3 - (D) Austin Levi recalled to Charlotte (AHL) from Stockton (AHL)
• March 3 - (C) Sean Dolan signed to PTO from South Carolina (ECHL)

Outgoing

• March 2 - (D) Rasmus Rissanen recalled to Carolina (NHL) from Charlotte