Game Preview: Checkers vs. Texas (Jan. 3, 2015)

The Checkers aim to get back on track as they break up a long stretch of road games with a back-to-back set against the Texas Stars at Time Warner Cable Arena tonight.

Tonight’s game and tomorrow afternoon’s rematch come between road trips of three and four games, emphasizing the need for good results on home ice. The Checkers went winless (0-2-1) on their post-holiday trip through Texas and Oklahoma City beginning last week, dropping their away record for the season to 3-11-2. Meanwhile, they are a much better 8-6-0 on home ice, including points in each of their last three (2-0-1).

The Checkers and Texas, their West Division rival, have met five times, including last Saturday when the Stars skated out 4-2 winners. Texas has won three meetings so far, with no team winning consecutive games in the head-to-head series yet this season.

Charlotte

The Checkers’ roster, already somewhat thinner than in recent seasons, has taken a series of hits since the holiday break.

First came the recall of defenseman Ryan Murphy, who is tied with Chad LaRose for the team scoring lead with 17 points, to Carolina. Then LaRose himself was a late scratch prior to Wednesday’s 4-2 loss in Oklahoma City with an injury that has him questionable to play in this weekend’s games.

Throw that together with the release of center A.J. Jenks, who the team was unable to come to terms with on either a new professional tryout contract to replace his initial pact that expired last week or on a more permanent AHL contract, and the team has suddenly lost three players. There’s also the flu bug that has made its way through the team’s locker room – one that hasn’t cost the team many man games lost but may have had something to do with a lackluster performance on Wednesday.

If Jared Staal is able to return from a personal break that kept him out of Friday’s practice, the Checkers would still only have 11 forwards and six defensemen, meaning that at least one player is likely to join the team this weekend. That player would become the fourth on the team to begin the season at the ECHL level, with six of the more “established” Checkers still claiming rookie status.

“We’ve been able to bring guys in, give them a good look and see if they’re capable of playing at this level,” said coach Jeff Daniels.

“We just have to make sure the compete level is high and make sure we’re working. We’ve got to be a team that commits to that 60 minutes of work and hopefully get some timely goals. Our game’s not going to change. Obviously Rosey and Murph are a big part of our team, but it is what it is right now and we’ll be ready to go tomorrow.”

With Greg Nemisz set to miss the remainder of the season with a knee injury, the Checkers, who rank 29th in the league in terms of offense, could be without three of their top four scorers this weekend. Of players likely to be active tonight, Brendan Woods leads the way with 15 points in 30 contests, with Justin Shugg, Phil Di Giuseppe and Brock McGinn not far behind with 13 apiece.

Goaltender Drew MacIntyre should be available after returning from Spengler Cup duty in Switzerland on Thursday. He took Friday off from practice to rest from this three-game appearance in the annual tournament and shake any jet lag, but the reassignment of Daniel Altshuller to Florida signals he will at least be in the lineup.

On the injury front, forward Brody Sutter (20 games missed) and defenseman Beau Schmitz (10) will remain out through this weekend.

Texas

The Checkers should catch a break this weekend as their chief tormenter from the last meeting with Texas, hat-trick-hero Brett Ritchie, has since earned his first NHL recall to Dallas. Ritchie, who later took AHL Player of the Week honors thanks in part to his performance against Charlotte, promptly scored on his first NHL shot earlier this week.

Ritchie, who leads the Stars with 11 goals, joins reigning league MVP Travis Morin, still the club’s leading scorer this season despite not playing since Dec. 10, in Dallas. Hulking defenseman Jamie Oleksiak, a first-round pick in 2011, also earned a recall since facing the Checkers last week.

Together, Ritchie, Morin and Oleksiak have combined for nine points (4g, 5a) against the Checkers this season. Defenseman John Klingberg, who put up three points in an 8-2 drubbing of the Checkers in Charlotte earlier this season, has been in the NHL for the better part of two months.

Despite some roster turnover, particularly in comparison to their dominant Calder Cup campaign of last season, the Stars have scored 13 goals in their three games since the holiday break compared to just five for the Checkers, with Ritchie accounting for five of those. They have won each of their last two, having followed up their win over Charlotte with a 6-3 defeat of San Antonio the following night.

Though an injury to Jack Campbell was partially to blame, veteran Jussi Rynnas received all three starts of the Stars’ recent three-in-three, winning each of the last two after a quick two-saves-on-five-shots outing in the first. He owns a 7-1-5 record, 2.77 goals-against average and .909 save percentage, while Campbell, a first-round pick in 2010, is 3-7-3 with a 3.31 GAA and .896 SV%.

Checkers Notes

Against Texas

Tonight marks the sixth of eight meetings between the Checkers and Texas this season, with the teams alternating victories starting with the Stars 8-2 win on Nov. 8. In 25 all-time contests between the two clubs, the Checkers hold a 10-11-4 record, including a 6-5-1 mark at Time Warner Cable Arena.

Chad LaRose, who is questionable for this weekend's games due to injury, leads all Checkers skaters with four points (1g, 3a) in five games against the Stars this season, while Jared Staal paces the club with three goals. The Stars have four players tied at the top of the leaderboard against Texas with four points apiece (Brett Ritchie, Radek Faksa, Travis Morin and Brendan Ranford), two of whom are currently on NHL recall (Ritchie and Morin). Ritchie, Derek Hulak and Greg Rallo each have a team-leading three goals against Charlotte this season.

In goal, Charlotte's Drew MacIntyre has played four games against the Stars, going 2-2-0 with a 2.88 goals-against average and .920 save percentage. John Muse has played two games, including his only start exactly one week ago, going 0-1-0 with a 3.85 GAA and .857 SV%. For the Stars, Jussi Rynnas is 2-0-0 with a 2.00 GAA and .935 SV%, while Jack Campbell is 0-1-0 with a 2.03 GAA and.935 SV%.

Home and Road

The Checkers enter tonight's game on a three-game winless streak (0-2-1) that ties their longest of the season set twice previously. All three of those games took place on the road, where they are 3-11-2 on the season, including losses in 11 of their last 12 games (1-9-2) dating back to Oct. 25 and a franchise-record, eight-game road winless streak (0-7-1) from Oct. 25-Dec. 12.

Meanwhile, the Checkers are 8-6-2 at Time Warner Cable Arena, including an active three-game point streak (2-0-1) starting Dec. 18. They have points in nine of their last 11 home games (7-2-2) dating back to Nov. 10.

Getting his Phil

Before being held off the score sheet in his most recent game in Oklahoma City on Dec. 31, Checkers rookie Phil di Giuseppe recorded goals in three consecutive games, marking the first goal streak of his professional career and doubling his goal output from his previous 28 outings. His goal streak was one shy of the team's longest of the season, a four-game run by Justin Shugg from Nov. 14-21.

The Hurricanes' top draft choice in 2012 (38th overall), di Giuseppe, 21, is now tied for fifth on the Checkers in points (13) and is tied for fourth in goals (six). He is tied with Chad LaRose for first on the team with 75 shots on goal.

LaRose Finding His Legs

Veteran forward Chad LaRose has recorded points in each of his last five games (3g, 3a), tying a run by Ryan Murphy from Dec. 16-28 for the team's longest of the season. Over the course of his streak, LaRose has climbed into a tie with Murphy for the team lead in scoring with 17 points, seven of which have come in his last seven games.

LaRose, who recently played his 700th professional game, including over 500 in the NHL with Carolina, after taking last year away from hockey, currently leads the AHL in shorthanded assists (3) and is tied for second in the league shorthanded points (3).

Back-Breaking Goals

When the Checkers allowed Oklahoma City to tie the game on Dec. 28 with 1:36 remaining in the third period, it marked the fifth time since Nov. 21 (18 games) that Charlotte gave up the tying or winning goal in the last three minutes of regulation time. Three of those games went to overtime, with the Checkers losing all three.

Career Stretch For Staal

Checkers forward Jared Staal has five points (3g, 2a) in his last eight games, allowing him to set new career highs for goals (six) and points (eight) in a single season. During that time, he posted a career-best, four-game point streak (2g, 2a from Dec. 13-19). Of his six goals this season, three were against this weekend's opponent, the Texas Stars.

Now in his fifth professional season, all with the Checkers, Staal has posted 33 points (16g, 17a) in 194 career AHL contests. Along with Zach Boychuk, Michal Jordan, Rasmus Rissanen and Chris Terry, Staal is one of just five players to play at least one game for the Checkers in all five of their AHL seasons.

Power Outage

Including an active 0-for-18 drought spanning four games since Dec. 21, the Checkers are just 4-for-68 on the power play (5.9 percent) over their last 17 games dating back to Nov. 22. Over the course of that time, they have fallen to 30th in the league with a season-long percentage of 9.0. With Ryan Murphy (seven points, all assists) in the NHL, no active Checker has more than four points on the power play this season (Brock McGinn and Justin Shugg).

In their previous four AHL seasons, the team never finished lower than fifth in the league in terms of power-play percentage. Their lowest-ever percentage to finish a season was 19.8 percent.

Killing Success

The Checkers are a perfect 17-for-17 on the penalty kill over their last five games dating back to Dec. 19, tying their longest streak of the season in terms of consecutive games played without allowing a power-play goal (21-for-21 from Dec. 2-12). During their current stretch, they have cracked the league's top 10 with an 85.5 percent success rate over the course of the entire season.

Charlotte has also been able to produce offense while shorthanded, with their five shorthanded goals tying them for third in the league and already putting them two ahead of their league-low total from all of last season. Chad LaRose leads the league in shorthanded assists and is tied for second in shorthanded points (3), while Greg Nemisz and Brendan Woods find themselves in a 13-way tie for second in the league with two shorthanded goals apiece.

The Checkers are one of just three AHL teams that have yet to allow a shorthanded goal.

Quick Hits

• The Checkers have scored one goal or less in 12 games this season.
• The Checkers are one of just three AHL teams (Hamilton, Iowa) that have yet to record a shutout
• Charlotte has lost each of its last three overtime games after starting the season 2-1
• Charlotte is in the midst of a stretch in which it plays 11 consecutive games agains the West Division. The Checkers are 6-10-3 in divisional play this season
• Kyle Hagel ranks second in the league in major penalties (11)
• Defenseman Trevor Carrick is tied for fourth among AHL rookies in major penalties (5)

Streaks

• Chad LaRose has points in each of his last five games (Dec. 18-28: 3g, 3a)

Injuries

• Chad LaRose - missed one game starting 12/31
• Beau Schmitz - missed 10 games starting 12/10
• Greg Nemisz - missed 11 games starting 12/8 (out for season)
• Brody Sutter - missed 20 games starting 11/15

Milestones

• Chad LaRose is one shy of 150 pro goals
• Danny Biega is two shy of 100 AHL/pro games played
• Andrew Rowe is three shy of 100 pro assists
• Keegan Lowe is four shy of 150 AHL/pro penalty minutes
• Justin Shugg played his 200th pro game on Dec. 28

Transactions

Incoming

• Dec. 31 - (D) Austin Levi recalled to Charlotte from Stockton (ECHL)
• Dec. 28 - (C) Brendan Woods reassigned to Charlotte from Carolina (NHL)
• Dec. 27 - (LW) Gabriel Desjardins signed to professional tryout contract from Florida (ECHL)

Outgoing

• Jan. 2 - (C) A.J. Jenks releaesd from PTO to Toledo (ECHL)
• Jan. 2 - (G) Daniel Altshuller reassigned to Florida (ECHL) from Charlotte
• Dec. 30 - (D) Ryan Murphy recalled to Carolina (NHL) from Charlotte
• Dec. 29 - (D) Mike Little released from professional tryout contract to Florida (ECHL)