Patrick Williams, TheAHL.com Features Writer
That first game back on home ice after a long road swing can be a trap.
After a seemingly endless number of nights in hotels, crisscrossing the map on planes and buses, hitting the ice in front of your own fans has the potential to come up flat. Coaches warn against those letdowns.
So the Charlotte Checkers were ready when the schedule brought them back to Bojangles Coliseum after a 10-game, 18-day road swing that took them to Rochester, Syracuse, Bridgeport, Springfield, Hershey and Lehigh Valley. With the Bridgeport Islanders, a team fighting for an Atlantic Division playoff spot, coming to town for a pair of games last weekend, the Checkers handled their business and then some, shutting out their opponents on back-to-back nights.
On Friday, veteran Louis Domingue made his first start in six weeks and made 18 saves in a 3-0 victory. On Saturday, it was Kirill Gerasimyuk stopping 28 shots for a 2-0 win, his fourth shutout of the season. In that win the Checkers burned off a four-minute Bridgeport power play and scored shorthanded for their fifth consecutive victory.
“These aren’t easy games to play,” head coach Geordie Kinnear said after the first win back home. “You’ve been on the road for so long, you come back, give the guys a couple of days to get new groceries, and take the old food out of their fridges and stuff. I give the guys a lot of credit. The first game after a road trip is not easy to play, and they did a great job.”
For much of this season Kinnear and the Checkers have employed a three-goaltender system. Cooper Black has taken much of that work, playing 35 games, while Domingue and Gerasimyuk have complemented him.
For Domingue, who has played 144 career NHL games, coming to Charlotte to help mentor Black and Gerasimyuk made for a smooth fit for all sides.
“I’ve had a blast, honestly,” Domingue said after his shutout. “They’re good kids and they’re eager to learn. I see progression in both of them. They’re curious, they ask questions, and we joke around every day. The mood is always there, and it’s been easy to come to work.”
They have time to further acclimate themselves to home life again. After a pair of home games this week with the Hartford Wolf Pack, the Lehigh Valley Phantoms visit for two more games this weekend. A Calder Cup finalist last year, the Checkers are well on their way to clinching a fifth consecutive postseason berth since affiliating with the Florida Panthers.
The Checkers went through some significant personnel changes after last season, but they have adopted the same all-business approach to late-season hockey that got them to within two wins of a championship a year ago.
There is no time to ease into playoff hockey – especially in the best-of-three first round where just one loss leaves you facing elimination. So the Checkers are locking down good habits, learning how to play tight games like this past weekend. Having players – young and old alike – stepping in as needed.
The Calder Cup Playoffs are a little more than a month away, but the Checkers are making sure that they get ready now.