The Checkers are set to finish off the regular season on home ice, starting with two contests against the Bears that carry big playoff seeding implications with them.
THE MATCHUP
- Record/Standings
- CLT - 42-21-5-0 (3rd Atlantic)
- HER - 29-29-6-3 (5th Atlantic)
- Power Play / Penalty Kill
- CLT - 14.1% / 84.6%
- HER - 17.9% / 80.1%
- Offense / Defense
- CLT - 3.34 GF/Game / 2.66 GA/Game
- HER - 2.93 GF/Game / 3.22 GA/Game
- Head-To-Head
- 3-1-2-0
THE STORYLINES
THE PLAYOFF RACE
With four games left in the regular season, the Checkers are still aiming to overtake Wilkes-Barre/Scranton for second place in the Atlantic and steal the first-round bye, but they’ll need some help.There are three scenarios for how Saturday plays out that keep Charlotte’s second-seed aspirations alive. The first two are a regulation win by the Checkers and a loss of any kind by the Penguins. The other is any win by the Checkers paired with an overtime or shootout win by the Penguins.
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton is hosting Cleveland for a 6 p.m. puck drop on Saturday.
HE'S BACK
Gracyn Sawchyn was off to a very strong start to his rookie career - 19 points in 29 games - before an injury sidelined him for three months. Suiting up for his first games since Jan. 5, the forward appeared in both wins against the Marlies last weekend and picked up a pair of helpers - including a nifty feed to Trevor Carrick in the first matchup to set up the late game winner.ON A HEATER
The Checkers enter the weekend as the Eastern Conference’s hottest team, boasting a 12-3-1-0 record since the start of May. They have won five straight contests, marking the third time this season that have recorded a streak that long. They’ll look to keep that going against a Hershey team that is coming off a big 8-1 win over Hartford that snapped a three-game losing streak, but is still 3-9-0-1 over the last 13 contests.THE PLAYERS TO WATCH
- Charlotte
- Trevor Carrick - 4 points in last 3 games
- Ben Steeves - 3 points in last 3 games
- Jack Studnicka - 4 points in last 3 games
- Hershey
- Andrew Cristall - 5 points in last game
- Bogdan Trineyev - 16 points in last 11 games
- Ilya Protas - 6 points in last game
THE INFO
Saturday is Pooch Party presented by Nutrisource! Fans can purchase tickets here and bring their dogs to the game.Sunday is Gaston County Day presented by Responsive Technology Partners! We will be holding a pregame tailgate in front of the Coliseum from 11:30-1 featuring a live performance from country musician and Gaston County native Garrett Huffman.
If you can't make it the Coliseum this weekend, both games are available to stream via AHLTV on FloHockey! Click here to watch.
Fans can also listen to the radio broadcast on the Checkers App or online.
