Checkers News

For the first time this season, the Checkers were able to string together two consecutive wins, downing the Milwaukee Admirals 3-2 in a shootout to complete the two-game sweep.

Following the previous night’s thriller that saw the two squads combine for nine goals, Sunday afternoon’s rematch was a hard-fought, grind-it-out game. The Admirals found the board first, with Triston Grant launching a wrist shot on a two-on-one that beat goalie Drew MacIntyre. The Checkers evened things up early in the second, when, for the second straight game, rookie Brock McGinn lit the lamp, giving him four goals in his last five games.

Milwaukee pulled back ahead late in the second, capitalizing on a two-man advantage, but A.J. Jenks tied things up midway through the third period when he batted a rebound out of mid-air to bring the game to a 2-2 deadlock.

After seven minutes of overtime, in which the Checkers saw their first glimpse of the newly-implemented 3-on-3, there was still no winner decided. In the shootout, Justin Shugg found the back of the net with a nifty deke and MacIntyre stonewalled all three attempts he saw, lifting the Checkers to a 3-2 victory, their fourth straight on home ice and their second straight overall.

This afternoon’s win completed the weekend sweep of the Admirals, an impressive team that doubled up the Checkers 6-3 in their first meeting this season.

“For me Milwaukee is probably one of the top teams that we’ve faced so far this year,” said head coach Jeff Daniels. “But for us it’s just a matter of finally getting rewarded for some hard work we’ve done over the last few weeks.”

This game also marked the first time this season that the Checkers have won a game in which they were trailing after the first period, a credit to the team’s perseverance.

“Just the belief that we can come back, we can score and commit to 60 minutes,” said Daniels. “It’s just that belief that you commit for 60 minutes and don’t let up no matter if you’re up a goal or down a goal. Keep playing the same way.”

With the team currently mired in a six-game road winless streak, this newfound success at home has been huge.

“It’s very important,” said defenseman Beau Schmitz, who was in the lineup this weekend after sitting out the last 10 and registered an assist. “Our confidence goes up and (so does) our self-esteem. We feel better playing with each other and more comfortable. With four points on the weekend it definitely helps out.”

MacIntyre was one of, if not the most, integral piece of this win, standing strong against a very formidable Milwaukee attack. He finished the game with 39 saves, including 15 in a first period that saw the Checkers out-shot by a 16-5 margin.

“The compete level is always high,” said Daniels. “He’s a winner and he’s probably been our MVP for the first part of the season here, and it’s been like that because of performances like that.

“Standing on the bench I knew he was sharp and I knew on the bench that he was ready to play. Unfortunately the guys in front of him weren’t’ ready to play in the first period and that’s why I said he gave us a chance after the first only being down 1-0.”

The new overtime format, which switches to 3-on-3 after the four-minute mark, led to a high-flying style of hockey that produced chances on both ends.

“It’s crazy on the bench seeing if you want to go with two D or two forwards,” said Daniels. “It’s something that we’ll talk about now that it’s our first experience with it, but for me it’s exciting.”

The team will now regroup and try to continue its dominance at home on Tuesday when the Norfolk Admirals come to town. The Checkers will be looking to avenge a 4-1 loss in Norfolk a week ago and gain some much needed consistency moving forward.

“We’ve beat Chicago and we’ve beat Texas,” said MacIntyre. “We know that we can play with any team in the league, it’s just when we play a certain way – when we play 60 minutes. We just don’t play 60 minutes consistently enough and we have to. If we want success we have to.”

NOTES

The Checkers’ winning streak is their first since March 29-30 of last season … McGinn has back-to-back goals for the first time in his career … MacIntyre has faced 40 or more shots three times this season. In those games, he stopped a combined 122 of 127 (.961 save percentage) … LaRose earned his 400th professional penalty minute on the tripping call that led to Milwaukee’s five-on-three advantage in the second period … Shugg improved to 7-of-14 in career shootout attempts … After missing Saturday’s game due to illness, Murphy had an assist and a game-high, plus-2 rating … Only two Checkers skaters did not have a shot on goal – Rasmus Rissanen and Brendan Woods … Forwards Patrick Brown, Jared Staal and Brody Sutter missed the game due to injury … Forwards Gabriel Desjardins and Carter Sandlak were healthy extras.