With their fate resting once again on the final day of the season, the Checkers needed at least one point against the Wolves to clinch the final Central Division playoff spot. Patrick Dwyer and Jake Chelios gave them a boost out of the gate, with the former finishing a nifty individual effort off just 90 seconds in followed shortly by a power-play blast from the latter. That score wouldn’t escape the first, however, as the AHL’s top goal scorer Wade Megan broke the ice for the home team late in the frame to cut the Charlotte lead in half.
After a scoreless second that saw the Checkers dominate long stretches of play, Phil Di Giuseppe converted off of a Chicago turnover to give the Checkers their two-goal cushion back early on in the third. That score would hold until with final six minutes of regulation, when the Wolves roared back with consecutive goals two minutes apart to even the score and put the Checkers’ postseason hopes on the brink.
The Wolves continued their push down to the final buzzer, but the Checkers held strong, banking the necessary point to clinch a playoff berth as the game headed to overtime, which the Wolves would take thanks to an Andrew Agozzino power-play tally.