Geography makes life tough at times for Checkers – including Sunday

The Charlotte Checkers took a 7-3 beating Sunday afternoon from the Bridgeport Sound Tigers in Connecticut, but maybe we should cut them some slack.

It was the third road game in less than 48 hours for Charlotte – a challenge that the Checkers must endure because of geography.

Most other AHL teams have three-game weekends on their schedule, but in nearly every situation, at least one of the contests is on home ice.

Bridgeport Sound, for example, has seven three-game weekends this season, but in each case, two of the contests are at home. Several AHL teams are located within a few hours’ driving time of the Tigers, so moving from home to the road isn’t a huge problem.

It’s different for the Checkers. The nearest AHL team is probably the Cleveland Monsters – more than 500 miles away. So when Charlotte has a three-game weekend, the contests are all on foreign ice.

The Manitoba Moose are in a similar situation, located far away from any AHL opponents. But their schedule shows only one three-game road weekend this season.

The good news is the Checkers won on Friday and Saturday nights and retain a 10-point lead over second-place Bridgeport Sound in the American Hockey League’s Atlantic Division.

And the other good news is the grueling weekend grinds are finished. Charlotte has 14 of its final 21 regular-season games at Bojangles Coliseum, and there are no more three-game weekends on the schedule.

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

Friday: The Checkers snapped a two-game losing streak by edging the host Providence Bruins 3-2. Goals by Zach Nastasiuk and Julien Gauthier got Charlotte off to a 2-0 start. Goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic made 26 saves, winning for the third straight time.

Saturday: Charlotte thumped the Springfield Thunderbirds 4-1. Nick Schilkey scored for the Checkers in the first period, and Nastasiuk and Gauthier added second-period goals in a 41-second span. The game featured a no-holds-barred third-period brawl between Charlotte’s Dan Renouf (the team leader in major penalties) and Springfield’s Bobby Farnham. Nedeljkovic notched his AHL-leading 25th victory of the season.

Renouf, by the way, has seven fighting penalties this season and has his own page on the hockeyfights.com website.

Sunday: The Checkers appeared to run out of gas playing for the third straight day. They led 3-1 in the second period, on goals by Schilkey, Renouf and Aleksi Saarela. But Bridgeport Sound scored six in a row for a 7-3 victory.

Week ahead: Charlotte returns home for games at 7 p.m. Friday and 6 p.m. Saturday against the Lehigh Valley Phantoms. That opens a four-game home stand.