Much like last night’s tilt, today’s rematch was a tightly contested affair with neither side conceding anything. The Roadrunners were able to get on the board first this time late in the first, but the Checkers used an 18-shot second period to wear the visitors down until Valentin Zykov redirected the tying goal past rookie netminder Adin Hill in the final minute of the frame.
Tucson returned the pressure in the third, outshooting Charlotte 12-4, but wasn’t able to capitalize and the game proceeded to overtime. Despite being handed a penalty early on in the extra frame, the Checkers survived the Roadrunners’ attack and with five second remaining Lucas Wallmark fired a one-time rocket from the right circle to send Tucson packing.
“It was a hard-fought game,” said head coach Ulf Samuelsson. “I thought Tucson defended very hard. We had a lot of shots but they kept it to the outside.”
The Checkers eclipsed the 36-shot mark for the third consecutive game, following through on their game plan to pepper Hill with as much rubber as possible. That strategy paid off, as Charlotte’s lone goal in regulation came via a deflection.
“That’s the way it is nowadays,” said Samuelsson. “If you look at a breakdown of all the goals, they’re from inside or screens and tips. Goalies are so good nowadays, and if they see anything that’s not too close, they’ll make a save.”
While the offense came through in overtime, it was the strong play of Daniel Altshuller that got the Checkers there in the first place. The netminder, making his first appearance since Jan. 7, didn’t face a ton of action but came through when called upon with 26 saves. “Early they saw that he was ready to play and that gave him some confidence,” said Samuelsson. “It’s a combination of him making saves and the D playing their normal game. I thought he came in and played well.”
“I had a chance to watch [Tucson] yesterday, and the guys seemed for the most part to keep them to the outside and did the same again today,” said Altshuller. “I went over tape of them, saw video on the power play. I think the coaching staff did a great job getting us prepared for this one, and it’s a good thing that we were able to execute.”
The chippy nature of last night’s contest came to a head in the rematch, with the teams coming together for more than a few post-whistle scrums, but the Checkers didn’t let the Roadrunners take them off their game.
“Control what we can control,” said captain Patrick Brown. “There were a lot of penalties and a lot of extracurricular stuff going both ways, but I thought we outworked them and we were able to play in their zone the whole night and let the game dictate itself.”
Charlotte’s forward corps battled through much of the game shorthanded, as Connor Brickley picked up a game misconduct for spearing in the second period and Sergey Tolchinsky was forced to the locker room with an injury.
Down two bodies up front, the Checkers made the best of their situation.
“They were excited because they got more ice time,” said Samuelsson. “We basically rolled three lines there and sprinkled Brown in a little bit here and there. They enjoyed it.”
“Everyone kept their legs moving and didn’t let the extra ice time tire them,” said Brown. “They actually stepped up and maybe played even harder.”
The Checkers have now picked up at least a point in five of their last six games on home ice.
“We love playing at home and the fans have been great,” said Brown. “It’s been a huge advantage for us this year. If you look at our record it’s been way better at home, and this whole building and this whole atmosphere here has a lot to do with it.”
“It looks like our team is very comfortable playing in this building in front of our fans,” said Samuelsson. “It gives us a little momentum going forward.”
With two big victories over one of the Western Conference’s top teams, the Checkers are hoping to use this hot stretch to catapult themselves up the standings.
“Right now our goal, in my mind, is trying to get back to .500,” said Altshuller. “Once you get back to .500, you never know what could happen. Teams that we’re chasing might lose a couple and we might go on a streak. It’s always nice down the stretch to be able to play for playoffs and go through that process. Hopefully we can rattle a few wins together and keep this thing going.”