Weekly Report: Apr. 8, 2019

Week in Review

Team Statistics Overall record 49-17-8

49-17-8 Home record 26-7-5

26-7-5 Road record 23-10-3

23-10-3 Last week's record 1-1-0

1-1-0 Last 10 games 8-2-0

8-2-0 Division Standings 1st

1st Conference Standings 1st

1st League Standings 1st

Checkers 5, Lehigh Valley 1

Checkers 6, Lehigh Valley 2

Checkers 3, Springfield 5

Checkers 5, Springfield 0

Three Stars Of The Week

3rd Star Trevor Carrick 1g, 5a 1g, 5a 2nd Star Tomas Jurco 2g, 4a 2g, 4a 1st Star Martin Necas 2g, 4a 2g, 4a

Notables

RACKING UP THE ACCOLADES

HOME SWEET HOME

CARRICK CONTRIBUTES

DEADLINE UPGRADES

CARRICK'S BIG YEAR

SAARELA STAYS SCORING

GAUTHIER'S GOALS

Ranks

Andrew Poturalski is tied for fourth in the AHL in scoring (70) and ranks fifth in assists (47)

Aleksi Saarela is tied for ninth in the AHL in goals (29) and is tied for third in game-winning goals (8)

Alex Nedeljkovic leads the AHL in wins (33) and minutes played (2854), is tied for the league lead in goals-against average (2.25), ranks fifth in saves (1171) and is tied for eighth in save percentage (.916)

Martin Necas ranks fifth among AHL rookies in scoring (48) and is tied for fourth in assists (32)

Morgan Geekie ranks sixth among AHL rookies in scoring (46), is tied for fifth in goals (19), is tied for third in shooting percentage (21.1) and ranks fourth in plus-minus (+24)

Trevor Carrick ranks fifth among league defensemen in scoring (47), ranks fourth in assists (38) and is tied for third in game-winning goals (4)

Jake Bean is tied for eighth among league defensemen in scoring (44) and is tied for fifth in goals (13)

Roland McKeown ranks fourth among AHL defensemen and sixth overall in plus-minus (+30)

Dan Renouf ranks fourth among league defensemen and is tied for ninth overall in penalty minutes (121)

INJURIES

Andrew Poturalski - Missed two games starting 4/6

Josiah Didier - Missed four games starting 4/2

Clark Bishop - Missed seven games starting 3/27

Janne Kuokkanen - Missed 15 games starting 3/8

Spencer Smallman - Missed 61 games starting 11/11

Transactions

Incoming

Apr. 5: (D) Derek Sheppard - Recalled from Florida (ECHL)

Outgoing

Apr. 7: (D) Jake Bean - Recalled by Carolina (NHL)

Coming Up

Thursday, April 11 at 7 pm - Checkers at Cleveland Broadcast Info: AHLTV | Checkers App

Friday, April 12 at 7 pm - Checkers at Cleveland Broadcast Info: AHLTV | Checkers App

By the Numbers

CATEGORY RECORD AHL RANK LAST WEEK Power play 19.6% t-9th 13th Penalty kill 86.6% 1st 1st Goals per game 3.36 t-5th 9th Shots per game 30.14 14th 16th Goals allowed per game 2.50 2nd 2nd Shots allowed per game 26.84 3rd 3rd Penalty minutes per game 12.86 13th 13th

LEADERS

CATEGORY LEADER(S) Points Andrew Poturalski (70), Aleksi Saarela (53), Martin Necas (48) Goals Aleksi Saarela (29), Julien Gauthier (25), Andrew Poturalski (23) Assists Andrew Poturalski (47), Trevor Carrick (38), Martin Necas (32) Power play goals Julien Gauthier (8), Aleksi Saarela (7), Janne Kuokkanen (6) Shorthanded goals Saku Maenalanen (3), Patrick Brown, Nicolas Roy, Michal Cajkovsky (1) Game-winning goals Aleksi Saarela (8), Andrew Poturalski (6), Nicolas Roy (5) Shots on goal Aleksi Saarela (190), Jake Bean (165), Andrew Poturalski, Julien Gauthier (158) Penalty minutes Dan Renouf (121), Trevor Carrick (84), Julien Gauthier (57) Plus/minus Roland McKeown (+30), Morgan Geekie (+24), Nick Schilkey (+21) Wins Alex Nedeljkovic (33) Goals-against average Alex Nedeljkovic (2.25) Save percentage Alex Nedeljkovic (.916)

The Checkers took three out of four games during a busy week to wrap up the home portion of their regular season.The Checkers made quick work of the Phantoms in the first leg of their final visit to the Queen City. An early power-play goal from Tomas Jurco set the tone and it would be all Charlotte from there. Aleksi Saarela would find the net in both the first and second periods, while rookie Stelio Mattheos knocked home his second career goal to give Charlotte a substantial 4-0 lead through 40 minutes of play. The Phantoms would finally breakthrough in the third to put the only blemish on Alex Nedeljkovic’s otherwise stellar stat line, but a Julien Gauthier tally would slide things back the Checkers’ way for good. Full recap It was more of the same the next night, as Charlotte’s offense made noise early and often. The Checkers struck three times in the opening frame before the Phantoms could find the back of the bet, then tacked on another two unanswered to build a 5-1 advantage early on in the third. Lehigh would muster one more tally but it was too little, too late, and an empty netter from Steven Lorentz sealed the lopsided win for the home side. Full recap The Checkers’ good fortune on home ice came to a halt in their first meeting with Springfield. Despite opening the scoring, the Checkers found themselves in a 3-2 hole early on in the third period. Julien Gauthier came through on the power play to even the score midway through the frame, but the Thunderbirds had one more push in them, going back ahead with five to play. The Checkers had no answer for that, despite a strong rally effort, and the Thunderbirds would escape with a win. Full recap Charlotte didn’t have to wait long to get revenge, throttling the Thunderbirds the next day to wrap up the home portion of the team’s regular season home schedule. Roland McKeown ripped one home just 38 seconds into regulation and that would kickstart the Charlotte offense. Five different Checkers found the back of the net, while Dustin Tokarski stopped all 20 shots he saw to pick up his first shutout in a Charlotte sweater. Full recap The Checkers became the first team this season to punch their ticket to the postseason, then became the first team to clinch a division title, and now they’ve clinched themselves the best record in the AHL.By virtue of the Syracuse Crunch losing on Saturday night, the Checkers have captured the Macgregor Kilpatrick Trophy, given annually to the AHL’s regular season champions. It marks the first time that the Checkers – who are currently the only team in the league to surpass 100 points – have earned the honor in franchise history.The Checkers wrapped up the home portion of their regular season schedule with a 26-7-5 record, coming just one shy of the franchise record for home wins in a season. Still, the 26 victories on home ice currently stand as the most in the AHL.The good news for the Checkers, who finished off their home slate on a 12-1-1 run, is that they’ve locked up home ice advantage for the entirety of the Calder Cup playoffs.After going through a 10-game stretch that saw him record just one point, Trevor Carrick has regained his scoring touch as of late. The All Star – who has assists in each of Charlotte’s last four games – has racked up eight point (1g, 7a) over the last eight contests, pulling himself into a tie with Jake Bean for the team’s defensemen scoring lead.With 15 games to play, Carrick is nine shy of matching his single-season career high in points – set last year – and six shy of his career high in assists – a mark he hit in 2017-18 and 2015-16.The Checkers added a pair of big pieces around the trade deadline and both have paid huge dividends thus far. Tomas Jurco, acquired from Springfield in exchange for rookie Cliff Pu, has racked up 15 points in 17 games for the Checkers, including six (2g, 4a) in his last four. The forward is in the midst of a four-game point streak, matching his longest since joining Charlotte.Between the pipes, the addition of Dustin Tokarski has been a solid boost for Charlotte. The veteran netminder has appeared in six games for his new club and picked up the win each time while never allowing more than two goals in any game, giving him a 1.17 goals-against average and a .950 save percentage while in a Checkers sweater.Currently in the midst of a five-game point streak, Trevor Carrick continues to tack on points to his career year. The blue liner has now set career highs in assists (38) and points (47), both categories in which he ranks among the league’s best blue liners.With two games remaining, Carrick needs just three points to become the second defenseman in franchise history to hit the 50-point mark. Bobby Sanguinetti set the current record of 50 points during the 2011-12 campaign.Aleksi Saarela’s already lethal scoring touch has been ratcheted up as of late. The forward has lit the lamp 13 times over the last 16 contests – including four goals in the last four games – and now leads the team with 29 tallies this season.With one more goal Saarela could become the fourth player in franchise history to reach 30 goals in a season, following Valentin Zykov’s 33-goal effort a season ago.The only Checker rivaling Saarela’s red-hot goal output is Julien Gauthier. The forward has goals in five of the last six games to bring his season total to 25, far eclipsing his rookie total from last season of 16.Gauthier also appears to have found a home as the net-front presence on the power play, knocking home goals in each of Charlotte’s last two games in a nearly identical fashion.