Charlotte Checkers Norfolk Admirals
In their final home game against the Norfolk Admirals, the Checkers fended off a late charge and earned a 4-2 victory.

This was the seventh meeting this season between the geographic rivals, and that rivalry boiled over in the first period, with three fights and several skirmishes breaking out. The Admirals seemed rattled by the overall chippiness of the game and the Checkers pounced. Justin Shugg opened the scoring with a power-play snipe from the top of the circle, followed by Mike Cornell launching a seeing-eye blast from the point that found its way into the back of the net. With those strikes, the Checkers entered the first intermission with a 2-0 lead.

Rookie Dennis Robertson extended the lead even further six minutes into the period with his second pro goal, a laser that ricocheted off the crossbar and in. But even with a commanding lead and the momentum, the Checkers let their opponent back into the game, as they have several times this season. Chris Wagner, who joined the team from the NHL earlier in the day, put his team on the board with a tap-in rebound goal. Then, Michael Sgarbossa struck on a power play to cut the Charlotte lead to one heading into the final frame.

Charlotte Checkers Norfolk AdmiralsScore SheetPhoto GalleryPostgame QuotesHighlight Reel
Norfolk poured on the pressure in the third, outshooting the Checkers 17-4 in the frame, but Drew MacIntyre and the Checkers’ defense held strong, keeping the Admirals at bay. With just inside five to go in regulation, Alex Aleardi delivered the finishing blow, putting home a beautiful cross-ice feed from Phil Di Giuseppe to seal the Checkers’ 4-2 win.

After the frustration of a lopsided loss to San Antonio three days ago, the Checkers responded in a positive way today.

“I thought it was good,” said head coach Jeff Daniels on his team’s play. “I thought we came out in the first period and played fast and created some offense.”

“To be able to bounce back after a loss like that is something that we’ve been working on all season,” said alternate captain Ben Holmstrom. “That’s one of the messages you’re trying to get across. I think it was good.”

The two teams came together several times in the first period, with emotions coming to a head during a sequence where Holmstrom and Sgarbossa got tangled up and exchanged blows. This sort of play has become commonplace for Holmstrom, often getting his opponents riled up, and the Admirals were no exception.

“I don’t think you’d be doing your job if the other team liked you,” said Holmstrom. “I think everyone wants to be one of those players that you like to play with and don’t like to play against. That’s part of my game and stuff like that happens.”

The Checkers have had a season-long struggle with putting teams away, as they have seen several early leads disappear late. After the Admirals cut the three-goal lead to one in the middle frame, it was beginning to look like history was repeating itself.

“We gave up a goal and that happens, and the second goal was a bad break,” said Daniels.” For some reason we stopped skating, and when you stop skating you’re standing still, you’re easy to get around, you can’t check anyone and there’s a good chance you’ll take a penalty because you’ll hook or hold or something. We’ve just got to move our legs.”

“Going into the second we talked about how a lot of times we’ve let off the gas in the second and let teams get back into the game,” said Holmstrom. “Unfortunately tonight they got close, but then we kind of pulled it together and played a little better in the third and figured out how to win one of those close games.”

The Checkers were ultimately able to ward off an Admirals’ comeback and clinched the game with Aleardi’s late strike. That final insurance goal has been something that has eluded the Checkers this season, but they found the final nail in the coffin today.

“It was huge,” said Daniels of Aleardi’s goal. “All of the sudden you’ve got a two-goal lead, you’re not as tight and the bench got excited. As a result we played a little looser but at the same time you know they’re going to come at us hard. It was just a matter of managing the puck and doing smart things with it.”

With this big win under their belt, the Checkers’ next task will be a two-game series with the red hot Grand Rapids Griffins, who have earned points in each of their last 15 contests and now sit atop the Western Conference.

“We’re going to have to be ready to go,” said Holmstrom. “We’re still trying to do the right things with this group. They’re one of the top teams in the league and we get a chance to go prove ourselves late in the season.”

“It’s going to be a great test for us,” said Daniels. “They’re the top team in the league right now and winning a lot of games. We know they’re skilled and we know they’ve got four lines that can play and their D are going to be active. We can’t fall into the trap where we think we’re a finesse team and see what happens. We’ve got to play our game.”

NOTES

The Checkers are now 3-2-2 against Norfolk this season with one game remaining … The game was Norfolk’s last-ever visit to Charlotte, with the team planning a move to the ECHL next season … Charlotte has won five of its last six at home … With one assist apiece, Zach Boychuk (3g, 2a) and Trevor Carrick (2g, 3a) each extended their point streaks to four games … The Checkers have scored a power-play goal in six of their last seven games (6-for-28: 21.4 percent). They were 1-for-2 in each of their last three … With seven penalty minutes today, Kyle Hagel is eight shy of 1,000 for his professional career … In addition to his goal and assist, Mike Cornell posted a game-high, plus-3 rating … Phil Di Giuseppe and Brody Sutter each had two assists … Patrick Brown’s fight was his first as a professional … Checkers forwards Gabriel Desjardins, Chad LaRose and Greg Nemisz and defenseman Keegan Lowe missed the game due to injury … Forward Carter Sandlak was a healthy extra.

Three Stars

1. Dennis
Robertson

2. Phil
Di Giuseppe

3. Mike
Cornell

 

CBCC Hardest Worker of the Game

Dennis
Robertson