After storming back with three goals in the third period of Sunday’s comeback win over San Antonio, the Checkers kept the ball rolling by starting tonight with a trio of tallies.
Brock McGinn accounted for two of them, ripping a wrist shot from the slot to open the scoring and later deflecting a point blast to put the Checkers up three. After spending a sizeable chunk of the start of the season in Carolina, the second-year pro has provided a much-needed spark in Charlotte’s lineup.
“It’s a lot of fun coming back here,” said McGinn. “You know it’s a good group of guys and a fun team to play with, and we feel we have a really good team, a winning team, so we just want to go out there every night and play strong and come out with wins.”
“I think Ginner is starting to play the way we know he can,” said head coach Mark Morris. “When he first returned, his confidence wasn’t at the level we had seen when he departed, so I think with additional ice it’s just going to boost his confidence.”
While Boychuk has been an impactful player even without the goals, tonight was certainly a weight lifted off his shoulders.
“Usually they come in bunches, so I think once the floodgates open it’ll feel good,” said Boychuk. “It’s nice to get a couple of assists here and there but nice to put one in as well.”
As an established goal scorer at this level, getting that production from Boychuk will be a welcome addition to this team’s arsenal.
“He’s worked hard, especially in the last little while,” said Morris. “I think he’s starting to throw his weight around and create space for himself. I’ve encouraged him to shoot more pucks, and nobody’s ever going to condemn a guy for shooting the puck.
“I think the more he gets involved and gets his juices flowing the better off he’s going to be and you’ll start to see him play with more jump in his step.”
On the other side of the ice, rookie Rasmus Tirronen made his second consecutive start in goal for the Checkers. After earning the win in San Antonio despite only having to make 15 saves, Tirronen faced a bigger workload tonight, turning aside 28 shots before having his would-be shutout broken up by a power-play goal in the waning seconds.
Tirronen, who worked with Hurricanes goalie coach David Marcoux at practice last week, rose to the occasion, stifling several solid San Jose chances.
“He came up huge, especially when we were shorthanded, and was probably deserving of a shutout,” said Morris.
“Today was a good game and I got in a rhythm early and pucks kind of just hit me,” said Tirronen. “It was nice to have one of these for once.”
Tirronen was quick to tout the players in front of him, who were in integral in thwarting several scoring opportunities before they even got to the young netminder.
“When we have a third guy coming back it allows our D to step up and be a little bit more aggressive early on,” said Tirronen. “It makes a huge difference and eliminates the odd-man rushes pretty much.”
Despite being shaky at times early on here in his rookie year, Tirronen picked up his fourth win on the season and seems to be gaining traction.
“It’s great for his confidence,” said Morris. “He’s still learning the position and the more you play the better you get. Certainly his confidence has to be high after that outing.”
The Checkers will face this same San Jose team tomorrow night in search of a three-game winning streak, and will need to keep this momentum.
“I think it’s important that we set the tone early and play with more conviction along the walls,” said Morris. “I’m looking forward to a better start from us and hopefully we can ride the momentum that we build in this game.”
“Sometimes it’s tough playing the same team back-to-back nights and sometimes you don’t come back as hard, so we’ve got to focus on playing the first game and coming out hard and treating each period like you’ve got to win that period,” said Boychuk. “Hopefully we can keep the streak going.”