AHL Charlotte Checkers

Checkers Weekly Report

Published on October 17, 2011 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Charlotte Checkers News Release


Overall record: 2-1-1 (Home 2-0-0 | Away 0-1-1)

Last week's record: 2-0-0

Standings: 3rd

Midwest Division | 7th

Western Conference

After winning both of its home games against Peoria over the weekend to improve to 2-1-1, Charlotte ranks third in the Midwest Division, one point behind both Milwaukee and Rockford. The team's five-game home stand will continue this weekend, hosting Houston for two games (Friday and Saturday, 7 p.m.) and Norfolk once (Sunday, 5 p.m.)

WEEK IN REVIEW

Saturday, Oct. 15 - Charlotte 3, Peoria 1

The Checkers broke a 1-1 tie in the third period when center Jon Matsumoto's slap shot on an odd-man rush beat Rivermen goaltender Ben Bishop for the eventual game winner. Drayson Bowman would add an insurance tally on the Checkers' second two-man advantage of the game to secure the weekend sweep of Charlotte's new Midwest Division rival and goaltender Mike Murphy made 31 saves for his first victory of the season.

Sunday, Oct. 16 - Charlotte 4, Peoria 3 (SO)

Matt Pistilli scored the winning goal in the seventh round of the shootout to give the Checkers the victory in their home opener at Time Warner Cable Arena. Charlotte entered the third period with a 3-0 lead after goals from Nicolas Blanchard, Jerome Samson and Zach Boychuk, but let Peoria back into the game with three goals in the span of 3:08 near the beginning of the period. Goaltender Justin Peters made 22 saves and stopped six of seven in the shootout for his first win of the campaign.

NOTABLES

Jon Matsumoto... began the season in Norfolk with back-to-back three-point efforts, before notching three points (1g, 2a) in the series with Peoria. He has nine points (3g, 6a), which ties him with Springfield's Nick Drazenovich for the league lead.

Jerome Samson... led the AHL in shots on goal at the time of his recall to Carolina last season and currently ranks fourth in the league with 18. Samson's three goals are tied with Matsumoto and Drayson Bowman for the team lead.

Bobby Sanguinetti... finds himself in an eight-way tie for third among AHL defensemen in scoring with four assists in the team's first four games, three of which have come on the power play. He has recorded an assist in all but one game.

Staying out of the box... After recording a league-leading 49 penalty minutes in the season-opening, two-game series in Norfolk, the Checkers recorded just 22 in the two games against Peoria and earned seven more power-play opportunities.

Team defense... Charlotte allowed 57 total shots against Peoria, including a season-low 25 on Saturday. This marks an improvement over the first weekend, which saw the Checkers allow a league-high 88 shots in their games against Norfolk.

LEADERS

Points: Matsumoto (9)

Goals: Bowman/Matsumoto/Samson (3)

Assists: Matsumoto (6)

PIM: Roy (11)

+/-: Bowman, Matsumoto, Samson (+3)

Wins: Murphy/Peters (1)

GAA: Mike Murphy (2.52)

Save %: Mike Murphy (.934)

TEAM STATS PP: 5-25 (20% - 14th )

PK: 15-19 (78.9% - 19th )

Goals/gm: 3.75 (8th )

Shots/gm: 32.75 (6th )

Goals allowed/gm: 3.50 (20th )

Shots allowed/gm: 36.25 (29th )

PIM/gm: 17.75 (18th )

Transactions

Oct. 17: Brett Sutter recalled by Carolina (NHL) on an emergency basis

This Week's Games

Friday, Oct. 21 vs. Houston (7 p.m.) - Black Friday - Fans encouraged to wear black to the game

Saturday, Oct. 22 vs. Houston (7 p.m.) - Travel Mug Giveaway to first 2,000 fans, courtesy of team dentist Dr. Larry Seitlin

Sunday, Oct. 23 vs. Norfolk (5 p.m.) - Halloween Game - Coke Family Four Pack: 4 tickets, 4 hot dogs, 4 Cokes for $60

Check out the Charlotte Checkers Statistics

Share: Facebook | Twitter/X | LinkedIn | Reddit | Email



American Hockey League Stories from October 17, 2011


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central