The Charlotte Checkers are the AHL’s hottest team. But one factor may slow them down.

The Charlotte Checkers have won their first American Hockey League playoff series in seven years and completed their first-ever series sweep.

Next up: a seven-game series against the team that won the Checkers’ division.

Charlotte will face AHL Atlantic champion Lehigh Valley in the second round, with the series opening Friday in Allentown, Pa.

The Checkers, third in the AHL Atlantic, finished off first-round foe Wilkes-Barre/Scranton in three games, completing the sweep Thursday with a 7-3 victory. The Penguins had finished second in the Atlantic.

The Phantoms beat the fourth seed Providence Bruins 3 games to 1, finishing the series with a 4-3 overtime victory Saturday night.

The Checkers will be home for Games 3, 4 and 5 of the series, with the first two and last two games at Lehigh Valley.

Charlotte enters the second round as the AHL’s hottest team, with a 10-game winning streak. The Checkers haven’t lost a game since mid-March, and they were dominating in their first-round series.

The team’s only problem against the Penguins were slow starts. Charlotte trailed 2-0 in two of the games and 1-0 in the other contest.

“That’s something we have stressed, getting off to a faster start,” Checkers’ coach Mike Vellucci said prior to Game 3. Once again, however, Charlotte fell behind before rallying.

You won’t find a lot of differences between the Checkers and Phantoms, top farm team of the NHL’s Philadelphia Flyers. The teams split their eight regular-season games. Each team was 3-1 on home ice.

Andrew Poturalski scored five games against the Phantoms this season, and Andrew Miller had two goals and six assists.

Playoff schedule

Game 1: 7:05 p.m. Friday, at Lehigh Valley.

Game 2: 7:05 p.m. Saturday, at Lehigh Valley.

Game 3: 7 p.m. Tuesday, May 8, at Bojangles’ Coliseum.

Game 4: 7 p.m. Wednesday, May 9, at Bojangles’ Coliseum.

Game 5: 6 p.m. Saturday, May 12, at Bojangles’ Coliseum.

Game 6: 7:05 p.m. Monday, May 14, at Lehigh Valley.

Game 7: 7:05 p.m. Tuesday, May 15, at Lehigh Valley.

This story was originally published April 29, 2018 at 8:36 PM with the headline "The Charlotte Checkers are the AHL’s hottest team. But one factor may slow them down.."