Checkers Come up Empty in Milwaukee
February 16, 2016 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Charlotte Checkers News Release
CHARLOTTE, NC - The Checkers' offensive woes continued as their franchise-record winless streak hit double digits in Milwaukee.
A 3-0 loss to the Admirals dropped Charlotte to 0-8-2 over the course of its 10-game skid that is the longest active streak in the AHL and the second longest posted by any team in the league this season. Milwaukee goaltender Juuse Saros made 26 saves as the Checkers were shut out for the fourth time.
Charlotte, which has scored 18 total goals in its last 10 games and just 11 and even strength, put pressure on the Admirals at times but were unable to break through Saros, a rookie netminder who earned his second shutout of the campaign. The visitors also hit a few goal posts over the course of the evening, most notably one by Brock McGinn in the first period and another by T.J. Hensick with time winding down in the third.
Milwaukee got all the offense it would need early in the second period when Max Gortz took advantage of some wide open space caused by an unfortunate Checkers line change and fired a shot that Charlotte's Drew MacIntyre did well to stop. However, the puck just managed to just squeeze through MacIntyre, with Gortz following his own effort and becoming the first to arrive at the loose puck for an easy tap-in.
The Admirals would add another via Matt White's shot from a sharp angle along the goal line midway through the middle period before sealing the deal with Kevin Fiala's empty-net tally with the Checkers pushing to break through in the final minutes.
The result marked the second consecutive shutout for Milwaukee, a team that leapfrogged the Checkers in the Central Division standings over the course of Charlotte's winless streak. The Admirals, who improved to 8-1-1 in their last 10 games, blanked the Iowa Wild by a 2-0 score on Sunday.
The Checkers' six-game road swing continues this weekend as they play three divisional games in three nights starting Friday. The first two will be against the Griffins in Grand Rapids, while the third will see them take on the Chicago Wolves on Sunday.
NOTES
The only winless streak in the AHL this season longer than the Checkers' current slide was a 13-game skid by Iowa from Nov. 1-29 ... The Checkers did not record a power-play goal, ending a five-game streak in which they had scored at least one ... Charlotte fell to 0-6-1 in February and now has a combined record of 8-18-3 during the month over the last three seasons ... Usual line mates Brody Sutter (four games), Brendan Woods (three) and Patrick Brown (two) all saw point streaks come to an end ... Goaltender Anthony Peters, recalled from ECHL Florida earlier in the day, dressed as a Checker for the first time as backup to MacIntyre ... Defenseman Danny Biega missed the game due to injury ... Forward Erik Karlsson and defenseman Tyler Ganly were healthy extras.
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