The Charlotte Checkers have won 5 straight games. Now for the really good news.

The Charlotte Checkers have won five straight games without three of their best players, clinching an American Hockey League playoff spot.

But now for the really good news.

Those three injured players are expected back in the lineup soon. And the Checkers’ National Hockey League parent club, the Carolina Hurricanes, has sent reinforcements.

During the past week, the Hurricanes assigned forwardsValentin Zykov and Nicolas Roy and defensemen Haydn Fleury and Roland McKeown to Charlotte. The NHL regular season ended Sunday, a week before the AHL finishes its regular season.

Zykov shares the AHL lead in goals (32), despite being with the NHL team since March 18. Roy is second in assists for Charlotte (27), and he’s been with the Hurricanes since late March. Fleury was Carolina’s No. 1 draft pick in 2014.

Those four players – along with the return of forwards Andrew Miller and Lucas Wallmark and goalkeeper Alex Nedeljkovic from injuries – will give Carolina a big arsenal in the Calder Cup playoffs.

Charlotte has moved into third place in the AHL’s Atlantic Division, one point ahead of Providence and two behind second-place Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. But the Checkers have played one more game than those other two teams.

Charlotte hits the road for its final two regular-season games, including a big contest Friday night in Providence. The Checkers finish Sunday at Bridgeport Sound. Providence and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton each play Friday, Saturday and Sunday next weekend.

“If we keep winning, we might get second or third, and second place would be great, to get home ice (advantage),” Checkers’ coach Mike Vellucci said Sunday, referring to the first round of the playoffs.

Defenseman Josiah Didier, who scored a goal Sunday on his 25th birthday, added, “We’re happy we made the playoffs, but we want to try and get home ice.”

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

Tuesday: Down 1-0 after two periods, the Checkers rallied for a 3-1 home victory over first-place Lehigh Valley. Andrew Poturalski, Marcus Kruger and Mike Ferrantino scored for Charlotte in the third period.

Wednesday: Charlotte trounced Lehigh Valley 6-1, behind Poturalski (two goals) and Roy (a goal and two assists). Rookie goalkeeper Callum Booth stopped 30 of 31 Phantom shots.

Saturday: Charlotte walloped Hershey 7-3, before a crowd of 8,294. Janne Kuokkanen, a 19-year-old rookie, scored three goals and added a pair of assists.

Sunday: The Checkers finished their home regular-season schedule with a 3-1 romp over Hershey, before 7,408 fans. Charlotte outshot the Bears 20-5 in the second period, getting goals from Kuokkanen and defensemen Didier and Brenden Kichton.

This story was originally published April 8, 2018 at 8:00 PM with the headline "The Charlotte Checkers have won 5 straight games. Now for the really good news.."