Checkers finally back home, but there’s little rest for road-weary team

The Charlotte Checkers certainly are happy to be home again, but it could be a weary squad that hits the ice Monday morning for practice.

The American Hockey League schedule has been a bit rough on the Checkers early in the season, with a lengthy road trip and then a quick turnaround once they returned to Charlotte.

The Checkers completed an eight-game, 18-day road swing Saturday night with a 5-2 loss to Bridgeport (Conn.). Then the team traveled home Sunday.

They are scheduled to be at practice early Monday, and then Charlotte will play back-to-back home games Tuesday and Wednesday at Bojangles’ Coliseum. The good news is the Checkers did reasonably well on the road, going 4-4 (though the last four games were losses).

More good news: Charlotte plays its next six games at home – four of them this week – and has 12 of 17 games at Bojangles’ Coliseum before the start of 2018.

In addition, the Checkers remain third in the AHL’s Atlantic Division, trailing Wilkes-Barre/Scranton and Lehigh Valley.

Here’s how the team fared during the past week:

Wednesday: The Checkers were tied 3-3 against Springfield, but they were whistled for two quick penalties with about three minutes left. The Thunderbirds scored a go-ahead goal and then added an empty-net goal in the closing seconds for a 5-3 victory.

Friday: Entering the game with the AHL’s No. 2 offense (3.93 goals a game), Charlotte lost 4-0 to Springfield. Thunderbirds Rookie goalie Samuel Montembault registered his first career shutout.

Saturday: Charlotte fell 5-2 to the Bridgeport Sound Tigers. Valentin Zykov scored his 10th goal of the season for the Checkers and ranks second in the league in that department.

Injuries: Lucas Wallmark, Jake Chelios and Dennis Robertson missed parts or all of the past two games. None of the three is expected to be out for extended periods.

This week: The Checkers have 7 p.m. home games Tuesday and Wednesday against the Belleville Senators (Ottawa farm team). They are home at 6 p.m. Saturday and 1 p.m. Sunday against the Providence Bruins (Boston).

This story was originally published November 19, 2017 at 4:15 PM with the headline "Checkers finally back home, but there’s little rest for road-weary team."