Game 61: Grand Rapids Griffins at Charlotte Checkers

Puck Drop: Thursday, 7 p.m.

TV/Radio info: AHL Live / Online

Records: Checkers (23-31-5-1), Griffins (36-17-6-1)

The Charlotte Checkers, who narrowly missed sending Tuesday night's game to overtime thanks to a strong push with Drew MacIntyre off for an extra attacker, gave the hottest team in the AHL just about all they could handle in an eventual 3-2 loss.

Rookie left wing Brock McGinn continued his torrid offensive pace with the Checkers' first goal on Tuesday. The 21-year-old second-round pick now has seven points (6g, 1a) over his last 10 games and 20 points (11g, 9a) on the season.

Tonight is the second of four games this week for the Checkers. Following this series with the Rapids, the team will head on a season-long six-game road trip, starting with a pair of games in Oklahoma City.

Recent Transactions: The Checkers released Gabriel Desjardins from his PTO on Wednesday.

Notes: The Griffins win over the Checkers on Tuesday ran their current point streak to 16 games. That matches the longest such streak in the franchise's history and is the longest in the AHL since the 2011-12 season. ... Grand Rapids rookie Andrea Athanasiou, who scored a highlight-reel goal on Tuesday, now has 13 goals on the season. ... Zach Boychuk (10-7-17) has points in five-straight games and 10 over his last 11 contests. ... Rookie Trevor Carrick (6-13-19) leads all Checkers defenseman in scoring and has five points in his last five games. ... Justin Shugg (16-15-31) has eight points in his last nine contests. ... Tonight's game will be Brendan Woods' 99th as a professional. ... Tonight is the sixth of eight regular-season games between the Griffins and Checkers. Grand Rapids has won four of the five games thus far. ... The Griffins are 17-1-3-0 over their last 21 and currently sit first in the Western Conference.

Checkers lines:  

Zach Boychuk-Brody Sutter-Patrick Brown
Brock McGinn-Brendan Woods- Justin Shugg
Phil Di Giuseppe-Ben Holmstrom-Alex Aleardi
Kyle Hagel-Sean Dolan-Jared Staal

Trevor Carrick-Danny Biega
Dennis Robertson-Mike Cornell
Austin Levi-Beau Schmitz

Drew MacIntyre
John Muse

Healthy scratches: Carter Sandlak

Injured/out: Forwards Chad LaRose (upper Body) and Greg Nemisz (knee) and defenseman Keegan Lowe (undisclosed) have been ruled out of Thursday's game due to injuries.

Game 60: Grand Rapids Griffins at Charlotte Checkers

Puck Drop: Tuesday, 7 p.m.

TV/Radio info: AHL Live / Online

Records: Checkers (23-30-5-1), Griffins (35-17-6-1)

The Charlotte Checkers will close out a five-game home stand with back-to-back showdowns with the Western Conference-leading Grand Rapids Griffins beginning on Tuesday and Thursday. The Checkers are 2-1 on their current home stand and have won five of their last six overall at Time Warner Cable Arena to bring their season home record to 16-12-2.

*The Observer released a profile on Checkers' rookie forward Brock McGinn today online. It will run in print on Wednesday.

Recent Transactions: none.

Notes: Reigning AHL goal-scoring champion Zach Boychuk has found his scoring touch of late with six goals and nine points in his last ten games. Boychuk is the Checkers' all-time leader with 112 goals in 267 games played. He is currently riding a four-game point streak, tied for the longest active streak on the team with Trevor Carrick (2G, 3A). Carrick currently leads all Checkers defensemen in goals (6) and points (19) and is tied for seventh among AHL rookie blue liners in scoring. ... Patrick Brown recorded his first pro fight during Charlotte's 4-2 win over Norfolk on Sunday. ... Charlotte's 7-18-4 mark on the road is the worst in the AHL this season. ... Following Thursday's game, the Checkers will take off on their longest road trip of the season, beginning Saturday in Oklahoma City. ... The Griffins are 9-0-1-0 over their last 10 games and enter Charlotte well rested after a 3-2 overtime win over the Rockford Ice Hogs on Saturday.

Checkers lines: 

Zach Boychuk-Brody Sutter-Patrick Brown
Brock McGinn-Brendan Woods- Justin Shugg
Phil Di Giuseppe-Ben Holmstrom-Alex Aleardi
Kyle Hagel-Sean Dolan-Jared Staal

Trevor Carrick-Danny Biega
Dennis Robertson-Mike Cornell
Austin Levi-Beau Schmitz

Drew MacIntyre
John Muse

Healthy scratches: Kyle Hagel

Injured/out: Forwards Gabriel Desjardins (undisclosed), Chad LaRose (upper Body) and Greg Nemisz (knee) and defenseman Keegan Lowe (undisclosed) have been ruled out of Tuesday's game due to injuries.

Checkers swept by Griffins despite strong effort from a sick Brendan Woods

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Brendan Woods woke up sick Saturday morning.

He tipped off the Checkers training staff and then did what he could to pull himself together. 

“It was up in the air a bit,” Woods said. “We were just taking precautions, but I felt good in warm ups and let the coaches and trainers know that I was good to go.” 

Woods – whose injury history is longer than most 22-year-old forwards’ – is back on the ice this year after a disappointing end to last season, where a knee injury cost him the final 25 games.  

After being sidelined with a broken leg earlier in his career and missing 31 total games in 2013-14, Woods had no intentions of sitting out Saturday’s 4-1 loss to the Grand Rapids Griffins because of an illness.

“I’ve had a tough road in my career so far with injuries,” he said. "It’s just good to be healthy and I want to stay healthy.”

Woods’ physicality showed midway through the first period when he corralled the puck and carried it deep into the Griffins' zone with speed before sending a tape-to-tape pass to Phil Di Giuseppe for a slap shot that was tipped home by Jared Staal.

The puck found the back of the net at 6:14 in the first period and proved to be the lone goal of the game for the Checkers (1-4-0), who fell for the second time in as many days to Grand Rapids (3-1-0) in front of 5,917 at Time Warner Cable Arena.

“It’s a simple play,” said Woods, whose team surrendered two goals in the second and third periods. “That’s how our goals are going to be. They’re not going to be pretty. We’re going to be playing dirty and getting all those ugly ones. The ugly ones are just as good as the prettier ones. We’ve just got to keep plugging away."

For the second day in a row, Charlotte struggled to stay out of the penalty box (they allowed the Griffins nine power plays on Friday) and Grand Rapids took advantage, netting three of its four goals on the man advantage.

With the Checkers trailing 3-1 in the third, Woods was hit with a tripping penalty and his frustrations boiled over when he voiced his opinion that the play was a dive to the on-ice officials.

Woods’ words earned him a 10-minute game misconduct penalty, but the game was all but over at that point.  

“The way the score was and how the game was going, I was frustrated and I let my emotions get to me,” he said. “They’re a good team and they’re good on the power play. We knew that coming in to this weekend and we kind of shot ourselves in the foot by taking too many dumb penalties – me included.

“We have a great team in that locker room,” Woods continued. “We showed that for the first 15 minutes tonight when we dominated. We’ve just got to put a full 60 minutes together.” 

Game 5: Grand Rapids Griffins at Charlotte Checkers

Puck Drop: Saturday, 7:00 p.m.

TV/Radio info: AHL Live / ESPN 730

Records: Checkers 1-3-0, Griffins 2-1-0

The Charlotte Checkers are still looking for their first win at home this season after dropping a 2-1 decision to the Griffins at Time Warner Cable Arena on Friday night. Brody Sutter scored the lone goal in support of Drew MacIntyre (41 saves on 43 shots), who is now 1-2 on the season despite leading the AHL with 112 saves. After Saturday night's game, the Checkers will hit to road, where they will play a two-game weekend series in Iowa against the Wild. 

Following Friday's game, the Detroit Red Wings recalled Griffins starting goaltender Petr Mrazek (18 of 19 saves) to the NHL. ... Tom McCollum (1-0-0; 2.00 GAA) will likely start in net. 

Notes: The Raleigh News and Observer's Chip Alexander put a nice update on former Checkers Victor Rask and Elias Lindholm adapting to play in Carolina. ... C Ben Holmstrom is three shy of 500 AHL penalty minutes. ... Friday was the 100th career AHL game for C Brody Sutter. ... After asking around, it sounds like the Checkers feel as though Friday's game was the best so far this season from rookie LW Brock McGinn, who had a shot hit the post. 

Probable lines: 

Brock McGinn-Ben Holmstrom (A)-Alex Aleardi
Phil Di Giuseppe-Brody Sutter-Greg Nemisz (A)
Carter Sandlak-Patrick Brown-Chad LaRose
Kyle Hagel-Brendan Woods-Jared Staal

Rasmus Rissanen-Michal Jordan (C)
Keegan Lowe-Danny Biega
Trevor Carrick-Beau Schmitz

Drew MacIntyre
John Muse

Healthy scratches: Mike Aviani (signed a PTO with the Checkers on Thursday), Dennis Robertson

Injured/out: Justin Shugg (upper-body injury). Brendan Woods (questionable due to illness)

Brody Sutter's goal not enough as Checkers fall to Griffins in home opener, 2-1

Brody Sutter kept telling himself that once the puck dropped, the arena didn’t matter.

It was Thursday morning, and Sutter, a seventh-round draft pick with a famous last name, was hours away from making his NHL debut – at Madison Square Garden.

“It was awesome, probably the best day of my life and something I’ve worked towards since I was a little boy,” said Sutter, 23, who logged 13 shifts in the Hurricanes shootout loss to the Rangers. “To not only make the NHL, but to do it in New York was not only really cool, but an exciting day for my family and I.”  

Following the game, Carolina activated Jeff Skinner from its crowded list of injured reserves and reassigned Sutter to the Charlotte Checkers just in time for its home opener at Time Warner Cable Arena on Friday.

Less than 24 hours removed from centering the Canes' fourth line, Sutter found himself paired with youngsters Alex Aleardi and Phil Di Giuseppe, again reminding himself that once the puck dropped, the arena doesn't matter.

After using the first period to get his legs under him, Sutter broke into the offensive zone, collected a rebound, and sent a quick shot past Grand Rapids goalie Petr Mrazek for the Checkers’ lone goal in a 2-1 loss in front of a home-town crowd of 7,277. 

“Hockey is hockey,” Sutter said. “You have to come and compete every night. It doesn’t matter if it’s NHL, AHL, juniors, or college. Obviously, it’s a little bit bigger of a stage up top and it’s a little bit faster. But, like I said, once the puck drops, it’s still hockey and you’ve got to be able to compete and win your battles and help the team win.”  

     

Friday night was a solid showing for Sutter (three shots on net) – who played 69 games for the Checkers last season and set career highs in games, goals (8), assists (20) and points (28) – but almost no one else, with the Checkers getting outshot 43-19. 

Charlotte – which surrendered Grand Rapids nine power plays -- allowed the go-ahead goal at 0:46 of the third while playing a man down, when Teemu Pulkkinen found the open net above the right blocker of Drew MacIntyre (41 of 43 saves).

“I think if we cut down on some shots against and some penalties we might be a little fresher to play the other way, but right now we’re killing ourselves with too much time in our end killing penalties and soft plays,” Checkers coach Jeff Daniels said.

Charlotte did what it could to try to even the score in the third period, but was still outshot 16-8 in the frame and ultimately fell to 1-3-0 on the season.

The Checkers will have a chance for redemption on Saturday at 7 p.m. when the two teams face off once more before Grand Rapids heads out of town.

Carolina coach Bill Peters “said I should get another chance up there at some point this season, so that’s encouraging and it was a good first step,” said Sutter. “But we’ve got to execute better on our breakout. There are not too many positives when you get outshot 38-20 or whatever it was at home. We need to be better and we’ll make sure we are tomorrow.”