Game Preview - Charlotte Checkers at Iowa Wild 3.25.14
Mar 25, 2014Charlotte Checkers (32-30-1-2, 67 points) at Iowa Wild (25-28-6-4, 60 points)
Saturday’s game is the third of four meetings this season between Iowa and Charlotte. The two teams met for a pair of games in Charlotte back on Oct. 19 and 20. Iowa claimed the first meeting 3-1 and followed up with a 7-2 victory in the 2nd meeting. The two teams meeting again on Mar. 26, the final meeting of the year.
Iowa dropped its third straight home game on Saturday with a 3-2 loss to Grand Rapids. The team has lost seven of the last eight games on home ice. The defeat dropped Iowa’s record to 11-18-3-1 at home, having been outscored 94-69. Iowa is 3-7-0-0 over the last ten outings and 10-8-1-1 against the West Division.
The Checkers have charged back into the playoff picture with an 8-4-0-0 mark over the last 12 games. Charlotte remains in ninth place in the Western Conference race, three points behind Rochester for the eighth and final spot. The team is 16-13-0-2 on the road this year, having edged the home clubs in scoring 90-89. The team has one win over the last four games. Charlotte is 6-4-0-0 over the last ten games and is 8-9-0-1 versus the Midwest Division.
Upcoming Games:
Team Date Time Radio / TV
vs. Charlotte 3/25 5:35 PM Mediacom 22 / KXNO / iHeartRadio
vs. Charlotte 3/26 7:05 PM KXNO / iHeartRadio
at Toronto 3/29 2:00 PM KXNO / iHeartRadio
Latest Transactions:
3/25 – Add D Nicholas Rioux and D Bryce Aneloski (signed PTO)
3/23 – Delete D Jonathon Blum and F Stephane Veilleux (recalled MN – NHL)
3/14 – Delete forward Mike Ullrich (released from PTO)
Last Time Out:
The Iowa Wild was defeated by the Grand Rapids Griffins 3-2 in front of 6,359 fans at the Wells Fargo Arena on Saturday. Trailing 2-0 after the first period of play, the Griffins scored three goals in the middle period to erase the deficit on their way to a weekend sweep of the Wild. Winger Mitch Callahan scored the difference maker at 12:41 of the second period, as Grand Rapids improved to 11-1-0-1 over the team’s last 13 games. Grand Rapids goalie Petr Mrazek stopped 16 of 18 for the win. Forward Kris Foucalt had a goal and an assist, as the Wild dropped its third straight decision. Goalie John Curry stopped 28 of 31 and Iowa fell to 11-18-3-1 at home this year. Forward Carson McMillan also scored in the defeat.
Iowa Wild
After 63 games, forward Brad Winchester leads the team in scoring with 18 goals and 33 points in 65 games. He has two goals and three points in 10 games with Iowa since he was acquired from Rockford via trade. Defenseman Jonathon Blum, as well as forwards Carson McMillan and Zack Phillips: are also among the top scorers. Blum was recalled on Sunday after seven goals and 22 assists for 29 points in 54 games played with Iowa. Forward Zack Phillips has a career-high, 11 goals and 18 assists for 29 points in 63 games played. McMillan has 12 goals and 13 assists for 25 points in 55 games played. Tied for third in goal scoring, Brett Bulmer (11 goals) has 18 points in 38 games played. Center Warren Peters is also among the active skaters in points with 19 (8g/11a).
Goalies John Curry and Johan Gustafsson man the nets for Iowa. Curry is 7-8-2 with a 2.35 GAA and a .927 SV%. Johan Gustafsson is 11-15-2 with a 2.98 GAA and a .906 SV %.
Iowa is 44-for-254 (17.3%) on the power play and has allowed 48 power-play goals against on 239 attempts (79.9%). The Wild is 30th in the AHL with a 2.33 goals per game average and the team sits 21st with a 2.98 goals against average.
Notables –
· Iowa is 19-6-4-4 when scoring first, while Charlotte is 23-10-1-1.
· Defenseman Bryce Aneloski will make his Iowa debut.
Charlotte Checkers
Left wing Chris Terry leads Charlotte in points with 61 over 59 games played. He is second on the club with 26 goals and tied for first with 35 assists. Terry leads the club in shots on goal (194), as well as power-play points (18). He is also second with 13 power-play goals. Fellow winger Zach Boychuk leads the club with 28 goals, including a team high 14 on the power play. Boychuk is also tied for second in points with 57 in 58 games played. Right wing Aaron Palushaj is tied for second with 57 points in 65 games played. He has 22 goals and 35 assists. Defenseman Mark Flood leads all blueliners in points with 28 in 64 games played. He also has a team low, -23 plus/minus rating.
Charlotte has used nine different goalies, recently rotating John Muse and Mike Murphy. Muse is 22-12-0 with a 2.76 GAA and a .914 SV%. Murphy is 4-11-0 with a 3.85 GAA and a .866 SV %.
Charlotte is second in the league on the power play, going 63-for-286 (22.0%). The Checkers penalty kill has allowed 52 goals on 275 chances (81.1%). The team averages 3.03 goals per game (11th overall) while allowing 3.20 per game (27th overall).