COMPLETE NUTRITION GAME PREVIEW VS CHARLOTTE 10.22.16

Oct 22, 2016

MEDIA KIT - HERE

Charlotte Checkers (1-2-0-0, 2 Points) at Iowa Wild (1-3-0-0, 2 Points)
Iowa welcomes Charlotte for a pair of games this weekend, which includes Friday’s series opening 8-3 win for the Checkers. Saturday’s rematch marks the second meeting of the season between the two clubs. Iowa continues its seven-game home stand on Saturday, going 1-3-0-0 through the first four. The two teams met eight times last year, with the Checkers posting a 5-1-2-0 mark, including a 2-2-0-0 at Wells Fargo Arena. Iowa was 3-3-0-2 in the season series and 2-2-0-0 at home last year.  Overall, this marks the 22nd meeting between the clubs, as Charlotte leads the all-time series mark with a record of 14-5-2-0, including an 8-2-1-0 record in Des Moines. The Wild is 7-12-0-2 all-time with a 3-7-0-1 record at home.

Upcoming Games:
Team                                      Date    Time              Radio / TV
vs. Charlotte                             10/22    7:00 PM CT     KXNO / iHeartRadio / MC22
vs. Cleveland                           10/25    7:00 PM CT   KXNO / iHeartRadio
vs. Milwaukee                          10/28    7:00 PM CT   KXNO / iHeartRadio
at  Milwaukee                          10/29    6:00 PM CT   KXNO / iHeartRadio
at  Grand Rapids                        11/4     6:00 PM CT   KXNO / iHeartRadio

Transactions:
10.19.16: Delete – D Mike Reilly – recalled by Minnesota (NHL)
10.20.16: Add – D Mike Weber – signed PTO

Last Time Out
The Iowa Wild was defeated by the Charlotte Checkers 8-3 on Friday night in front of 4,531 fans at Wells Fargo Arena. Charlotte scored five goals in the first period en route to its first victory this season. Checkers forward Andrew Poturalski scored twice and added two assists to lead the way. Charlotte goalie Michael Leighton made 22 saves for the win. Wild goalie Steve Michalek was pulled after 6:35 of action and surrendering three goals on as many shots. Alex Stalock was saddled with the defeat, stopping 23 of 28 in relief. Iowa rookie center Adam Gilmour, set up two goals in the defeat.

Iowa Wild
Through the first four games of the regular season, defenseman Zach Palmquist leads Iowa in scoring with four points. After going scoreless in the first game of the season, Palmquist posted back-to-back multi-point games. He leads the team with three assists. Rookie forward Sam Anas, and center Grayson Downing follow Palmquist in scoring with a pair of points each.  Downing picked up two assists on Tuesday for his first two points of the season.

Veteran Alex Stalock and rookie Steve Michalek split time in net for Iowa. Stalock is (0-3-0) with a 4.24 GAA and a .852 SV%.  Michalek is 1-0-0 with a 4.19 GAA and a .872 SV%.

Iowa’s power play sits 20th in the league after going 3-for-22 (13.6%). The Wild’s penalty kill also sits 20th after stopping 19 of 24.

Notables –

●       Veteran defenseman Mike Weber made his debut Friday.

●       Iowa gave up five goals in the first period on Friday to the Checkers. The team record for most goals allowed in one period took place in Charlotte on Nov. 26, 2015, when the team surrendered six in the third period.  

●       The team record for most goals allowed in one game is nine by Milwaukee on Feb. 28, 2014.
 

Charlotte Checkers
The most notable change for Charlotte comes behind the bench with newly appointed Head Coach Ulf Samuelson, who replaces Mark Morris. The aforementioned Morris departed to become the head coach at St. Lawrence University.  Samuelsson was a longtime NHL defensemen who won multiple Stanley Cups with Pittsburgh in the 1990s. He spent the last three years as the Assistant of the NHL’s New York Rangers.  He also served as an assistant in Phoenix with the Coyotes from (2006-11) and with the AHL’s Hartford Wolf Pack in 2005-06.  This marks Samuelsson’s first season as an AHL Head Coach.

Rookie Andrew Poturalski leads the team in scoring after picking up four on Friday night.  He has four goals and six points three games into the season. He is tied for the league lead in scoring.  Captain Derek Ryan and Patrick Brown are tied for second in scoring.  Ryan has two goals and four points in three games. Brown has set up three goals and totaled four points in three outings.

Veteran Michael Leighton and rookie Alex Nedeljkovic split time in net for Charlotte. Leighton is (1-0-0) with a 3.00 GAA and a .878 SV%.  Nedeljkovic is 0-2-0 with a 5.27 GAA and a .829 SV%.

Charlotte’s power play has been slow to start, going 2-for-17 (11.8%), The Checkers are 16th on the penalty kill, stopping 10 of 12 (83.3%).

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