Checkers News

After an overnight bus trip back from Norfolk, the Checkers came out flat and fell 3-1 to the division leading Oklahoma City Barons.

The Checkers jumped out to an early lead courtesy of Chad LaRose, who extended his team scoring lead late in the first period to give the home team a 1-0 heading into the intermission. Streaking into the zone up the left side, LaRose threw a wrister short side that bounced off the post, off OKC goalie Richard Bachman’s back, and in for his 11th goal of the season.

The lead was short lived, as Andrew Miller tied the game less than five minutes into the second, putting home a loose puck in front that John Muse could not locate to freeze. The Barons took the lead midway through the frame when Brad Hunt took control of the puck in the corner after a bad turnover by the Checkers, carried it towards the net and sniped a wrister top shelf, knocking Muse’s water bottle to the ice.

Oklahoma City was not done, adding an insurance marker three minutes later. Travis Ewanyk launched a blistering shot from the slot that found its way past Muse and put the Barons ahead by two goals. The Checkers showed signs of life in the third, outshooting OKC 12-7, but could not put together a rally and suffered a 3-1 loss.

The turning point in tonight’s contest was a disastrous second period for Charlotte. For the second-straight night, they allowed three unanswered goals that would prove to be the difference.

“We lost the game in the second period,” said head coach Jeff Daniels. “We just stopped working and skating in the second period. We didn’t do that in the second period, and as a result we gave up three goals.”

While the team overall looked flat for the majority of the game, select players showed up in flashes, such as LaRose, who extended his point streak to four games, and Keegan Lowe, who stepped in and scrapped with Steve Pinizzotto as he was facewashing LaRose. But regardless of those individual performances, the Checkers needed a complete effort, which they did not get.

“We had four or five guys playing with some emotion out there, and we’re not a team built that can go with four or five going on a certain night,” said Daniels. “We need everyone going, and we didn’t have that in the second period.”

Tonight’s loss looked familiar to the Checkers, who have struggled to overcome adversity during games this season. “When a team scores it feels like the game’s over sometimes on the bench,” said Jared Staal. “We’ve got to realize that teams are going to score against you. It’s just how you respond, and that’s what makes a good team good.”

Between the pipes, Muse turned in a fairly solid effort but once again fell victim to not receiving any goal support from his offense.

“I thought on the first goal, he’s got to freeze the puck there, but other than that he didn’t get much help on the other two,” said Daniels. “I don’t have the answer on why we’re not scoring when he’s in the net.”

The Checkers will wrap up this grueling three-in-three tomorrow night with a rematch against the Barons to send them into the All-Star break. They have made a habit of playing well in the second half of back-to-backs, but will need a much improved performance in order to topple the best team in the AHL.

“I thought we generated a lot more [in the third], we played a lot faster and we were a lot more physical,” said Staal. “That’s the game we’re going to want to play for three periods tomorrow.”

“It’s just playing smart,” said Daniels. “We want to play hard and we want to play smart. We stopped thinking in the second period. Things we talk about, we stopped doing. We knew this was a tough part of the schedule and we’ve just got to rebound tomorrow.”