Game Preview: Checkers vs Texas (Nov. 8, 2014)

The Checkers continue their current four-game homestand looking to string together back-to-back wins for the first time this season.

Charlotte will attempt to build off of their first home win last weekend, after dropping their first three attempts, as they face the defending Calder Cup champion Texas Stars. The Stars are hoping to snap a three-game losing skid on the road.

Today's matchup with the Texas Stars is the first of eight this season between the division rivals. The two squads will square off again on Monday.

Charlotte

When the Checkers take the Time Warner Cable Arena ice tonight, it will be in search of their first winning streak of the season. After starting the 2014-15 campaign by going 0-3 at home, the Checkers earned their first win on home ice last week, squeaking out a 2-1 victory behind a pair of goals from leading scorer Greg Nemisz.

The Checkers are now looking at an opportunity to put together consecutive wins for the first time this season. They followed each of their other wins this season with losses, scoring just one goal in each instance.

Back-to-back wins will be no smal feat, as the Checkers are hosting the reigning Calder Cup champs, the Texas Stars, who return this season with much of their title-winning roster still intact.

"They're the defending champs, they got a lot of guys back from last year's team," said head coach Jeff Daniels. "For me, they're still the team to beat and it'll be a good test for us this weekend."

The Stars field a dangerous offensive attack, finishing last year second in scoring. To combat that, the Checkers will utilize their physical style of play to make the game more suited to their liking.

"We can't get into a track meet with that team," said Daniels. "We're not capable of trading chances back and forth. We have to be smart with the puck and we have to finish our checks to try and slow them down and make them grind it out. We don't want to get into a game where we're going back and forth because it doesn't suit our team."

Drew MacIntyre has been a fixture in goal for the Checkers, starting seven of the first nine games. MacIntyre has consistently been one of the strongest performers on the team, keeping them in games despite the lack of offense, and he can also possibly provide some scouting tips on Texas.

Last season, his Toronto Marlies squared off with the Stars in the Western Conference Final, a hard-fought series that went seven games, with Texas ultimately coming out on top. MacIntyre was impressive in net and nearly single-handedly carried his Marlies team to the finals, before succumbing to the eventual Calder Cup champs. The veteran goalie will get a shot at redmpetion against many familiar faces from that series.

"They're a top notch team," said MacIntyre. "They have a lot of veteran leadership and you can tell when you play against hem. There's no highs and lows, it's just the same team all the time."

John Muse could also get the nod in net for the Checkers, as Daniels has mentioned wanted to get both goalies into games, but with MacIntyre continuing to put up solid outings, like his 24 save win over Hamilton on Sunday, it could go either way.

Texas

The Stars come to Charlotte to kick off a five-game road trip and are looking to snap a three-game road losing streak. Texas has dropped three of their four games away from home so far this season, but have taken four of the five games played at Cedar Park Center.

Reigning AHL MVP and scoring champ Travis Morin has picked up this season where he left off, ranking second in the league in points with 14. He has been aided by rookie defenseman John Klingberg, who has tallied nine points through nine games, tying him for fourth among AHL defenseman and fifth among all rookies. The Stars offensive production has been fairly spread out, with 12 players registering more than two points this season.

In goal, Texas has been utilizing the tandem of returning netminder Jack Campbell and newcomer Jussi Rynnas. Both have appeared in five games, with Rynnas holding the edge over Campbell in goals-against average, save percentage and wins. Neither goalie has started consecutive games for the Stars this season, and Rynnas played in Wednesday's win over Toronto, so if that pattern holds, there is a good chance the Checkers will face Campbell tonight.

A first-round pick for Dallas, Campbell split time last season as part of a duo with Cristopher Nilstorp, though injuries forced him to miss significant time.

Checkers Notes

Against the Stars

Today marks the first of eight matchups of the season between the Checkers and the defending Calder Cup champion Stars.

In the eight games last season, the Checkers took three victories from their West division rivals. Of those eight matchups, six were decided by two or more goals.

Goalie Drew MacIntyre faced Texas in last season's Western Conference Finals as a member of the Toronto Marlies. MacIntyre was an integral part of the Marlies postseason run, finishing second in save percentage and saves in the playoffs. Toronto came within one game of the Calder Cup Finals, forcing a game seven with the Stars, but Texas proved to be too much, taking the series en route to the Calder Cup title.

Heating Up

While the overall production has been down this season, Greg Nemisz has started to get the ball rolling with his offensive game. A pair of goals Sunday, including the game-winner, gives Nemisz five points in four games and sole possesion of the team scoring lead. Since the Hurricanes acquired him from the Abbotsford Heat last season, the 24-year-old now has 17 points (7g, 10a) in 23 games with Charlotte.

Veteran Chad LaRose has also showed signs of getting his game going, tallying three points (2g, 1a) in his last four games.

Dropping The Gloves

With five fights in Sunday's game against Hamilton, the Checkers find themselves ranked third in the league with 16 major penalties and third in penalty minutes per game. Forward Kyle Hagel is tied for the AHL lead in major penalties with five, and defenseman Trevor Carrick is tied for the major penalties lead among rookies with three.

Close Call

After starting the season losing four of the first five games, the Checkers narrowly avoided the slowest start in franchise history, set in the inaugural 2010-11 season, with their win over Iowa on Oct. 24. The 2010-11 team, which went on to set franchise records for highest point total (97) and deepest run into the playoffs (Eastern Conference Final), didn't find its second win until the seventh game of that season, whereas this year it came in the sixth.

Offensive Struggles

The Checkers, who average 1.89 goals per game thus far (29th AHL), have been held to a single goal in five of their nine games this season, all resulting in a loss, and have scored more than two goals just twice.

Two of the four lowest shot totals seen in the AHL this season belong to the Checkers, who took a franchise-record 15 against Chicago on Oct. 11. Their single shot in the first period of that game also set a franchise record and is tied for the lowest single-period total seen in the league this season. The Checkers rank last in the AHL with an average of 24.3 shots per contest.

Depth Contributions

With his four assists thus far, Brendan Woods has already surpassed his total from 42 games last season and is halfway to the eight points he scored in 42 games as a rookie last season. He leads the team in assists and is tied for third in scoring.

Jared Staal has already matched his total from 50 games last season and is halfway to his career high of four set in the 2012-13 campaign. He currently has more goals than all of his brothers (NHLers Eric, Jordan and Marc) combined.

MacIntyre's Workload

Drew MacIntyre has seven starts thus far, which is the most a Checkers goaltender has ever recorded in the first nine games of a season. A 12th-year pro who appeared in 48 games for the Toronto Marlies last season, MacIntyre currently ranks seventh in the AHL with 206 saves.

Quick Hits

• Forward Kyle Hagel is tied for the league lead in major penalties (5)
• Defenseman Trevor Carrick has three major penalties, tying him for the most among AHL rookies
• The Checkers' four third-period goals are the second fewest of any AHL team
• Phil Di Giuseppe's 26 shots on goal are at least eight more than any other Checker

Injuries

• Justin Shugg - missed six games starting 10/17
• Ben Holmstrom - missed one game starting 11/2

Milestones

• Greg Nemisz is one shy of 100 professional points and two shy of 100 AHL points
• Keegan Lowe is three shy of 100 AHL/professional penalty minutes

Transactions

Incoming

• Nov. 2 - (LW) Andrew Rowe signed to a PTO from South Carolina (ECHL)
• Oct. 30 - (D) Ryan Murphy assigned to Charlotte from Carolina (NHL)
• Oct. 29 - (C) Brody Sutter reassigned to Charlotte from Carolina (NHL)
• Oct. 28 - (C) Patrick Brown reassigned to Charlotte from Carolina (NHL)

Outgoing

• Oct. 29 - (C) Mike Aviani released from professional tryout contract to Florida (ECHL)