Playoff-bound Checkers not in a giving mood for final regular-season games

The Cleveland Monsters are in a down-to-the-wire battle for an American Hockey League playoff spot, but they probably won’t get much of a break from the Charlotte Checkers later this week.

In theory, the Checkers could coast through their final two regular-season games – Thursday and Friday nights in Cleveland.

Charlotte has clinched the AHL’s Atlantic Division title and the Macgregor Kilpatrick Trophy as the league’s top overall team and No. 1 seed in the playoffs. But Checkers coach Mike Vellucci doesn’t want to glide into the playoffs.

“It’s great to get that,” Vellucci said of the No. 1 seed, “but we want to make sure we’re playing well before the playoffs. That’s the key.

“We’re happy to get the first title for (owner) Michael Kahn and the front office staff. They’ve put in a lot of hard work for a lot of years.”

But Vellucci plans to go all-out against Cleveland, which holds a one-point lead over Belleville in the race for the North Division’s fourth and final playoff berth.

“I want to be playing well,” he said.

Checkers forward Julien Gauthier, who scored a goal in Sunday’s 5-0 whitewashing of Springfield, says the Cleveland games “have a meaning for us. We play like it’s a playoff game for us.

“These two games can be useful for us, to get as many points as possible, and to adjust what we do before the playoffs.”

Here’s what we know about the playoffs:

▪ The first round is a best-of-5 format, and the Checkers will face the Atlantic Division’s fourth seed, probably Providence.

▪ Games 1 and 2 will be on the road, somewhere in the time frame of April 18-21. Game 3 will be at 7 p.m. Wednesday, April 24, at Bojangles Coliseum. If Games 4 and 5 are needed, they will be at 7 p.m. April 26 and 6 p.m. April 27 – also in Charlotte.

▪ Playoff tickets are on sale, and fans can use a buy-as-we-play ticket purchase plan, agreeing to buy tickets for all home postseason games at a discounted rate.

Here’s a look at the past week and what’s ahead:

Tuesday: A Bojangles Coliseum crowd of 6,422 watched Charlotte thrash Lehigh Valley 5-2. Aleksi Saarela scored two goals, and Andrew Poturalski had three assists.

Wednesday: Before 4,752 fans, the Checkers trounced Lehigh Valley 6-2. Tomas Jurco had a goal and two assists.

Saturday: A near-capacity crowd of 7,964 watched Charlotte lost at home for the first time since February, 5-3 to Springfield. The Thunderbirds’ Dryden Hunt scored the go-ahead goal with 5:27 to play, and Springfield added a fifth goal when Charlotte pulled goalie Alex Nedeljkovic for an extra skater.

Sunday: A crowd of 5,123 watched the Checkers bounce back and blank Springfield 5-0. Dustin Tokarski, acquired by the Checkers in late February, improved his record as backup goaltender to 6-0. It was his first shutout with Charlotte.

Missing faces: Jake Bean, the AHL’s leading scorer for rookie defensemen, was called up by the Carolina Hurricanes to prepare for their Stanley Cup playoff series against Washington. And Andrew Poturalski, who has 70 points this season, was injured in Charlotte’s game Saturday.

Week ahead: The Checkers wrap up the regular season with 7 p.m. games Thursday and Friday in Cleveland.

This story was originally published April 8, 2019 at 12:23 PM.