Game Preview: Checkers vs Springfield (Nov. 8, 2019)

The Checkers are looking to get back on track in front of their home crowd as they host the Springfield Thunderbirds for a two-game series. Here's everything you need to know before puck drop.

1. ON THE SKIDS

The Checkers were able to pull one point out of the weekend in Cleveland, but are now winless in three straight games dating back to their last home contest. That is the first such skid the Checkers have found themselves on this season, as they had not lost consecutive games prior to this.

“It would be huge but that can’t be our mindset,” said head coach Ryan Warsofsky of breaking the slump and starting to string some wins together. “We can’t win three games on Friday night. Each guy has to do their job to an extremely high level and we need to play together.”

2. NED HEATS UP

Alex Nedeljkovic may still be searching for his first win of the season, but the netminder has turned in consecutive strong performances between the pipes, regardless of outcome. Nedeljkovic has combined to make 70 saves over his last two outings, including 31 on Friday as he helped the Checkers salvage a point in Cleveland.

His counterpart in the goalie tandem, Anton Forsberg, dropped his first decision of the season in his last outing, but remains responsible for each of the team’s wins thus far.

“Ned’s been good and Forsberg’s been good,” said Warsofsky. “The goalies have been the best things that we’ve got going right now. We just need continued success from those guys. Our forwards and D need to pick up the slack and we all need to be better.”

3. SEARCHING FOR OFFENSE

One of the Checkers’ biggest struggles over the weekend was finding production offensively. They mustered just two goals over the two games in Cleveland, and now find themselves ranked in the bottom half of the league offensively.

“We’ll tweak the lines a little bit,” said Warsofsky. “We’ve introduced some new concepts this week in practice to help us score some goals.”

After ramping up shot production over the previous few games, the Checkers couldn’t replicate that over the weekend, logging just 21 and 23 shots in the respective contests. Granted, Cleveland stands as one of the league’s top defensive squads, but the Checkers had a hard time creating the quality chances they’ve been successful on earlier in the season.

“There’s been some times where we’ve had our structure and done what we need to do without the puck and things have turned out pretty well,” said Warsofsky. “When we get away from that is when it ends up with us playing defense for 30 or 40 seconds. You can’t sustain pressure or any zone time when you’re playing defense the whole time.”

4. SCOUTING SPRINGFIELD

After a tough go last season, Springfield looks revitalized and currently sits near the top of the Atlantic Division standings. The Thunderbirds are 6-1-0 over their last seven games and have outscored their opponents 30-16 over that stretch. They boast plenty of offensive power throughout the lineup, ranking eighth in the AHL in goals-for average, but their biggest strength thus far has been defensively. With the tandem of Philippe Desrosiers and Chris Driedger, the Thunderbirds have surrendered the fewest goals against per game in the AHL.

“They’ve got a good team coming in here,” said Warsofsky. “They have four deep lines that can score, mobile defensemen so we have to be ready to go from the drop of the puck.”

The Checkers and Thunderbirds have faced off once already this season, with the Checkers using a strong start to pull out a 4-2 road win.

5. FAMILIAR FACE

Another member of last year’s Calder Cup-winning team returns to the Coliseum tonight as Aleksi Saarela will suit up for Springfield. The forward led the Checkers with 30 goals last season and added 15 points in 17 playoff games. He logged one assist in five games to start this season with Rockford before being traded Florida, where he now has three points (2g, 1a) in his first five games with the Thunderbirds.

6. KILLING IT

The Checkers shined on the power play in their last two outings, shutting down the Monsters on each of their seven power plays last weekend. The Checkers currently boast the fourth-best penalty kill in the AHL, operating at a 91.8 percent clip.

7. FAST START

A strong start will be key for the Checkers this weekend, as all four of the team’s wins this season have come when they scored the first goal. Additionally, each of those wins have come in games where the Checkers have either had a lead or were tied after one period.

8. TUNE IN

You can tune in to every broadcast this season with a subscription to the league’s streaming platform AHLTV.

As always, the radio broadcast will be available via the Checkers app or this link, so tune in and tweet Jason Shaya to let him know you’re listening!