Complacency costs Charlotte Checkers in first home games of season

The Charlotte Checkers team that dominated the first two weeks of the American Hockey League season was nowhere to be seen at Bojangles Coliseum over the weekend.

Instead, the Checkers team that fans saw for the first homestand of the 2018-19 campaign was a bit too complacement, coach Mike Vellucci says.

Charlotte piled up four straight impressive victories in the opening two weeks, but the Checkers had to scramble for a shootout win Friday night against the Hershey Bears.

Then a flat Charlotte team was shut out by Hershey on Saturday night.

Vellucci said he didn’t like the way team played Friday night in the 4-3 victory, saying the squad turned over the puck too often.

But it was worse Saturday night. In a game loaded with penalties, each team had plenty of power play opportunities. The Checkers gave up a goal on their first short-handed situation but then had seven straight successful penalty kills.

When Charlotte had the extra skater? 0-for-8. And that was from a team with the most successful power play in the AHL over the first two weeks of the season.

“We were feeling way too good about ourselves after winning five in a row,” Vellucci said. “I just think we got what we deserved.”

Vellucci, who focuses on special teams play, was very disappointed with the lack of a power play Saturday. “When we get our power plays, we’ve got to score,” he said.

But despite the flat weekend, the Checkers salvaged a split. And they open the fourth week of the season tied with Springfield for first place in the AHL Atlantic Division.

A look at last week and the week ahead:

Friday: The Checkers got regulation-time goals from Nicolas Roy, Janne Kuokkanen and Julien Gauthier. Then they blanked Hershey 2-0 in the shootout after a scoreless five-minute overtime period. It was a pair of rookies – Morgan Geekie and Martin Necas – who scored in the shootout. Goalkeeper Alex Nedeljkovic stopped both Hersey shots, running his season record to 5-0.

Saturday: The 2-0 loss to Hershey marked the Checkers’ first shutout loss since Feb. 25. The setback ended two five-game streaks – for Nedeljkovic (victories) and Andrew Poturalski (scoring at least one point). Checkers’ defenseman Trevor Carrick led the team with five shots against the Bears. Hershey goalkeeper Vitek Vanacek got the shutout.

Week ahead: The Checkers are back on the road. They play Wednesday at Utica (7 p.m.), Friday at Binghamton (7:05 p.m.), and Saturday at Syracuse (7 p.m.). Charlotte returns home for games Nov. 2 and 3 against Providence. Those are the only home games between now and Thanksgiving week for the Checkers, who play 13 of their opening 17 games on the road.