Checkers News

In need of goals, the Checkers got them from sources they may not have expected coming into the season. In need of saves, their stalwart in goal was happy to oblige.

Brendan Woods and Jared Staal found the back of the net and Drew MacIntyre made 41 saves, not including a perfect 3-for-3 performance in the shootout, as the Checkers earned a 3-2 victory in Rockford on Tuesday. Alex Aleardi scored the only goal of the shootout as the Checkers return home with points in three of four games on their road trip (2-0-1).

With the win, MacIntyre, who has picked up 12 of the Checkers’ 14 victories this season, gained sole possession of 10th place on the AHL’s all-time list with 204 career victories.

A hard-fought game saw Rockford’s Ryan Hartman tie it up with just over 10 minutes left in regulation, setting the stage for the extra session. Both teams, including the Checkers, who entered the game with losses in each of their last four overtime games dating back to Dec. 2, traded chances in overtime before heading to the shootout.

The Checkers’ first shootout opportunity went to Aleardi, who scored three points in two games for the Checkers (2g, 1a) after a recall from the ECHL’s Florida Everblades on Jan. 4 but had missed each of the last two games as a healthy extra with Zach Boychuk and Andrej Nestrasil pushing him out of the lineup at the time of their arrivals from the parent Carolina Hurricanes. After picking up an assist on Staal’s second-period goal that put the Checkers up 2-1, he beat former Hurricane Michael Leighton to start things off.

From there, MacIntyre, who had stopped Mark McNeill on the first shootout attempt by either team, denied Peter Regin and Matt Carey to earn the win. The 31-year-old veteran has stopped 13 of 14 attempts over three shootouts this season.

The Checkers’ earlier scoring came courtesy of Woods, who also started the first-period play by winning a faceoff back to Keegan Lowe and going to the net to deposit a rebound and get the Checkers on the board. The visitors then made it 2-0 midway through the second when Woods’ shot missed the net but caromed off the end boards to the opposite side of the cage to a waiting Staal, who applied the finish.

With 18 points in 36 games, Woods has now more than doubled the eight points he mustered as a rookie in 42 games last season. Meanwhile, Staal, who was playing his 200th career AHL game, has seven goals in 31 games this season after entering the campaign with 10 in 169 over parts of six previous seasons.

Overtime became necessary when Phillip Danault went against the run of play to score the IceHogs’ first goal near the end of a second period that had the Checkers enjoying a 13-6 shots advantage at the time.

The Checkers’ 46 shots on the night were a season high and the most they have recorded in a game since firing that same amount in a home game against San Antonio on March 21 of last season. The teams’ 89 total shots was also a season high.

Charlotte now returns home to host a pair of games against the Toronto Marlies, MacIntyre’s former team, this Thursday and Friday.

NOTES

Checkers forward Chad LaRose left the game after the first period and did not return … The Checkers are now 3-5 in overtime games this season, including a 2-1 record in the shootout … Aleardi’s shootout attempt was his first with the Checkers but improved him to 2-for-6 over the last two seasons with Springfield and Charlotte … Brock McGinn (7) and Woods (6) led the Checkers in shots on goal … Kyle Hagel took sole possession of the AHL lead in major penalties (13) with a first-period fight against Brandon Mashinter … The Checkers now have an all-time record of 8-2-1 in Rockford. This game started the four-game season series between the two clubs that will not continue until they play each other three consecutive times in April … After going 0-for-4 tonight, the Checkers are now 1-for-38 on the power play over their last 10 games (2.6 percent) … Forwards Gabriel Desjardins, Greg Nemisz and Brody Sutter and defenseman Beau Schmitz missed the game due to injury … Forwards Andrew Rowe and Carter Sandlak and defenseman Austin Levi were healthy extras.