Checkers News

With their division rival in town, the Checkers had thoughts of adding to the Barons slump. While they put up a fight, the Checkers couldn’t finish them off and Oklahoma City survived 3-2 in overtime.

Coming off of a tilt against Lake Erie in which they were throttled in the first period, the Checkers came out firing on all cylinders, pumping 18 shots on OKC’s rookie netminder Laurent Brossoit, two shy of the season-high for shots in a period, while restricting the Barons to just six. Despite the overwhelming chances in their favor, the Checkers entered the first intermission trailing 1-0 thanks to the strong play of Brossoit and a wicked wrister from Ryan Hamilton that found its way past Drew MacIntyre.

The Checkers didn’t waste much time evening things in the second, however, as rookie blue liner Trevor Carrick jumped onto a rush and sniped a laser top shelf over the shoulder of Brossoit less than four minutes in. That score held and the team’s proceeded to the final frame knotted at one.

There was another quick goal to kick start the third, but it came from the other squad this time. Mitch Moroz somehow pushed the puck over the goal line from under a pile of bodies to give the Barons a one-goal advantage just 2:53 into the third. The Checkers continued to mount their offensive attack, again dominating the shot total for the period 17-7, and finally broke through with the tying goal when Brody Sutter put home a rebound from the slot midway through the frame.

Both teams saw some chances after that, but nothing found the back of the net and the game moved on to overtime. After long stretches of back-and-forth action, Hamilton netted the game winner, his second goal on the night, by cashing in on a breakaway with just 62 seconds left on the clock.

Though the final result wasn’t what they were hoping for, the Checkers performance tonight was an admirable one, especially following two lackluster games against Lake Erie.

“I saw a great effort,” said Daniels. “I couldn’t have asked them to play any better than they did tonight. Almost 50 shots and we just couldn’t find a way to score on some of the chances, but without a doubt they played the way we wanted them to play.”

“I thought we had a really good game tonight,” said Keegan Lowe. “It’s tough to say that in a loss, but we battled hard and peppered them with pucks. I thought we had a few that probably should have went in that (Brossoit) didn’t see, but that’s just puck luck. I thought we stuck with it to the end in losing in pretty much the last minute of overtime.”

After wrapping up a tough road schedule last week, the Checkers were finally able to get some consistent practice in before tonight’s contest. That work certainly showed as they played one of their division’s best teams all the way down to the wire.

“I thought last weekend we got away from that and we got frustrated and our game went down the drain there, but our mentality tonight was to go out and play for 60 minutes and play our game,” said Daniels. “I thought we did that and we kept it simple, and when we’re playing that game we’re putting pucks at the net and going to the net.”

The Checkers have been plagued by rough starts, specifically later in the season, that have essentially taken them out of games right away. Tonight’s high-intensity right from the beginning, although things didn’t go their way, was a welcome response.

“In the past little bit here I think we’ve had some slow starts, got down and then played good games but it’s been too little, too late,” said Lowe. “The start is key in any game, and learning that is the key to getting some wins. I was really impressed with our start. We had near 20 shots in the first period, and if we can do that again tomorrow I think we’ll have a better fate.”

Continuing with the theme of responses, MacIntyre bounced back strong after a rough go in his last start, making 25 saves. But more importantly, the team in front of him pulled its weight and supported the veteran netminder.

“It was team defense,” said Daniels. “The forwards are responsible for a lot of stuff that happened last weekend, but as a team I thought we were strong defensively.”

Notably present on the ice for the defensive corps was recent college signee Brett Pesce, who made his pro debut tonight and was featured heavily in all situations, be it even strength, power play, penalty kill or even in the three-on-three overtime.

“He’s here to play,” said Daniels. “He’s a guy that Carolina is real high on. He has a chance right now to get his feet wet and we put him in those situations. I thought it was a real good first pro game.”

Lowe has seen his responsibility increase as well on the Checkers’ revamped blue line, and he sees the lineup shuffling as a chance for everyone to step up.

“It’s opportunity, right?” said Lowe. “We have guys hurt and guys up, and lots of guys are getting minutes they wouldn’t normally get. It’s nice taking that opportunity. Everybody likes to play lots and play the big, tough minutes in tough situations, and we’ve got to take advantage of it when we get it. I think we’ve done a pretty good job.”

The Checkers will again face this same Barons team that is desperate for points to crawl back up the standings as they move toward the postseason. While the Checkers don’t have anything tangible to play for, they are prepared to fight to the end and hopefully cause some havoc for those clubs.

“Guys aren’t giving up,” said Lowe. “It’s been a tough year, but it shows the character of guys and the character in our room of not giving up. It’d be pretty easy for guys to pack it in, but that’s not the attitude of a hockey player. You play until the end, whether it’s a bitter end or a happy end. We’re going to do our best to play spoiler here in the last few games.”

NOTES

The Checkers’ 49 shots on goal were a season high … Justin Shugg’s 10 shots on goal were a new career high and the most by a Checkers skater this season … Sutter has six goals in his last six games … Carrick has 14 points in his last 15 games … Patrick Brown ended an 18-game scoring drought with an assist on Carrick’s goal … The Checkers fell to 2-6 in games decided during the seven-minute overtime period this season … Both teams went 0-for-4 on the power play … After earning three straight victories on the road, the Checkers are now winless in the first three games of their home stand. It is their first three-game winless streak at home since the first three home games of the season … The Barons have now won eight of 11 meetings against Charlotte this season. They have just two wins in their last nine games, both of which are against the Checkers … MacIntyre tied Justin Pogge’s franchise for games played by a goalie in a single season (48) … Forwards Sean Dolan and Alex Aleardi, defensemen Mike Cornell and Josh Wesley and goaltenders Alex Nedeljkovic and Rasmus Tirronen sat as healthy extras … Greg Nemisz missed the game due to injury.