Game Preview: Checkers vs Syracuse (December 10, 2021)

The Checkers are back home with back-to-back wins in their rearview mirror, and they’ll look to keep that run going in their first meeting with Syracuse this season.

FIVE STORYLINES

PUTTING THEM TOGETHER

The Checkers enter Friday’s contest having won each of their last two contests. This is the third time this season that the Checkers have won two games in a row, and in each of the previous two instances they have at least picked up a point in the following contest.

NAILBITERS

With last Sunday’s 3-2 win over Bridgeport, the Checkers have now had nine of their 21 games this season decided by one goal – including four of their last six. They are 4-3-2-0 overall in those seasons and 2-1-1-0 in their last four one-goal games. Additionally, both of the Checkers last two wins have been decided by a game-winning goal with less than six minutes to go in regulation.

HEAD NORTH

Syracuse is just the second North Division team that the Checkers have faced this season. Charlotte is 0-3-0 against the Utica Comets so far, while meetings with Rochester and Cleveland await on the schedule. Dating back to the 2018-19 season, the Checkers are 6-1-1-0 in their last eight matchups against the Crunch.

CARRICK'S HELPING HAND

Connor Carrick found the scoresheet in both games over the weekend, posting his second two-assist effort of the season on Friday and following it up with another helper on Saturday. The blue liner now ranks second on the team with nine assists this season and has put up six helpers in his last seven games.

LOCKING IT UP

Both of Charlotte’s wins last weekend came with holding its opponent to three or fewer goals. The Checkers will look to keep that stingy defense going against a Syracuse squad that has struggled to put pucks in the net as of late. After winning four games out of a stretch of five, the Crunch are 1-5-1-1 over their last eight games and have scored a total of seven goals over their last five games - never breaking the two-goal mark.

QUOTES

Head coach Geordie Kinnear on his team winning each of their last two games
"We’re starting to play the right way, from the first guy to the last guy. Playing with more physicality and when you do that you have more skin in the game."

On getting late game-winners in each of the last two games
"What I liked about the game-winning goals was their net presence, we were in the blue paint. Those are the goals that you end up scoring in playoff-type games. It was a great lesson learned for us."

On getting scoring in clutch moments
"We talk about a singular focus - we want to win the next shift. We don’t like to look in the rear view mirror. Our mentality is small micro-goals. Win your next shift. Work hard and good things will happen at the end of the night."

On call ups and injuries affecting the lineup
"You have to work hard and be ready for your opportunity. We had guys do that. To win in the end you have to have depth and you have to have guys ready to jump in and contribute and have a positive impact."

On the addition of Devan Dubnyk
You need depth at every position and obviously we lost a couple goalies to Seattle and to injury. You can never have enough depth. And obviously it’s an opportunity for him, it’s an opportunity for our group to get to know Devan. It’s a win-win.

COMING IN

CLT: 3-2-0-0 in last five games this season

SYR: 1-3-1-0 in last five games this season

WHO TO WATCH

CLT

Alexander True - 4 points in last 6 games

Zac Dalpe - 3 points in last 4 games

Aleksi Heponiemi – 2 points in last 3 games

SYR

Charles Hudon – 4 points in last 4 games

Remi Elie – 5 points in last 5 games

Gabriel Dumont – 6 points in last 4 games

PROMOS

TUNE IN

Tonight's game starts at 7 p.m. If you can't be at the Coliseum, 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 on iPhone or Android.