Checkers News

Returning home after a convincing win in Texas, the Checkers started their four-game home stand off on the wrong foot, stumbling to a 4-1 loss against the Oklahoma City Barons.

The Checkers pressured the Barons early, dominating in the shots on goal department 13-5 through the first frame and creating all kinds of scoring opportunities. But despite the disparity in shots, Charlotte entered the first intermission trailing by two, thanks to a pair of tallies by the Barons, both stemming from loose pucks in front of the net.

Keeping the offensive pressure up, the Checkers finally broke through, with Brendan Woods receiving a nice dish courtesy of Ryan Murphy on an odd-man rush and ripping it into the vacated net. The one-goal deficit was short-lived, however, as Kellen Jones lit the lamp a mere 11 seconds later, firing a puck on net that squeaked through Drew MacIntyre’s pads and trickled in to put Oklahoma City in front 3-1. Jason Williams added an empty netter in the waning seconds to ice the 4-1 victory for the Barons.

The Checkers’ first period offensive effort saw them create as many scoring chances as they have seen all season and dominate the majority of the play, but they still found themselves in a hole.

“Guys were positive, we were playing the right way, we were shooting the puck and getting chances,” said alternate captain Ben Holmstrom. “We were just trying to stay with it and I think we were going alright in the second period. It’s just hard when you’re chasing from behind, that’s all.”

Without both of their top two scorers out of the lineup, the goal-starved Checkers could not find a way to replace that production.

“We need every line to step up and contribute,” said head coach Jeff Daniels. “It’s not about one guy that’s going to be a difference maker or lead the way. It’s got to be everyone.”

“Collectively we’ve got to try to pull together,” said Holmstrom. “For portions of the game we were doing that and shooting the puck and getting chances. We just couldn’t get anything to go our way.”

As it continues to find themselves toward the bottom of the standings, the team realizes that every game matters in helping to pull itself up the division.

“These are big points and we talked before this week about how we wanted to come and get one game closer to .500,” said Woods. “It stinks not to get those two points.”

“The response wasn’t good enough tonight for a big game,” said Daniels.

The Checkers have seen their fair share of games similar to tonight, with all kinds of chances but nothing to show for it. That frustration could begin to boil over with a team composed of so many young players, but veterans such as Holmstrom have taken it upon themselves to keep the team persevering.

“As hard as it is you’ve just got to keep showing up every day, you’ve got to keep going through the work and doing the right things,” said Holmstrom. “It’s a long season and as hard as it is right now we’ve still got 50 games left or something like that. With a young group we’ve just got to keep sending that message and keep showing up.”

Tuesday’s game marked the start of a four-game home stand before a quick holiday break. The Checkers will face this same West Division-leading Barons team and look for a better result on Thursday.

“Those are the things we’ve got to learn from and I think we’re kind of teetering on it right now,” said Holmstrom. “It feels like we’re close, and maybe if we get a few bounces it starts to roll our way.”

“We’ve just got to move on,” said Daniels. “We didn’t get the result tonight but we’ll practice tomorrow, come out Thursday and do the same mindset of putting pucks to the net and having that hunger.”

NOTES

Chad LaRose played his 700th professional game … Woods’ sixth goal of the season marked a new career high … Murphy extended his team assist lead with his 12th of the season. He and Woods are now tied for second on the team in scoring behind the injured Greg Nemisz … Woods recorded his 100th pro penalty minute with his second-period fight … The Checkers have now lost two straight at home since earning points in six straight (5-0-1) from Nov. 10-Dec. 6 … Trevor Carrick’s first-period fight tied him for third among league rookies with five major penalties … Forward Gabriel Desjardins and defenseman Mike Little, who the Checkers signed to professional tryout contracts earlier in the day, were both in the lineup … Forwards Nemisz and Brody Sutter and defensemen Keegan Lowe and Beau Schmitz missed the game due to injury.