In the second of Charlotte's three-game road trip, Oklahoma City got a goal to tie the game with 1:36 in regulation and another 1:27 into overtime to secure a 2-1 win over the visiting Checkers on Sunday. Phil di Giuseppe scored the lone goal for Charlotte, while John Muse made 38 saves to narrowly miss securing the Checkers’ first shutout of the season.
The loss dropped the Checkers to 0-1-1 on their current trip that began with a 4-2 loss in Texas less than 24 hours earlier. The Barons, who lead the West Division, have taken four of the five meetings between the clubs this season.
Despite struggling to find the back of the net against goaltender Laurent Brossoit, one of two goaltenders to shut out the Checkers this season, Charlotte came agonizingly close to a regulation victory until Jordan Oesterle’s shot from the point hit Muse in front but trickled over the line, keeping the Checkers as one of three AHL teams that have yet to earn a shutout over the course of the current campaign.
Muse’s save total was his second-highest of the season, trailing a 47-save effort against Norfolk on Dec. 2. He had another remarkably similar close brush with a shutout in that game, with the Checkers losing a 2-0 lead with 2:08 remaining and going on to lose in overtime.
Sunday’s result dropped the Checkers to 2-4 in overtime games this season, including losses in each of their last three. The Barons, who have been to a league-leading 13 overtime games, are 9-4, with all nine wins coming during the pre-shootout portion.
Charlotte’s goal came when di Giuseppe, who hit a post earlier in the contest, scored on the exact second that a long power play that included 53 second of a two-man advantage expired in the second period. The play began with the puck on the stick of the Barons penalty kill, but Andrew Rowe changed that with a steal and a pass deep to LaRose, who fed over for Di Giuseppe’s third goal in as many games.
Di Giuseppe, a rookie forward, has now doubled his goal total from his first 28 games in his last three. Meanwhile, LaRose extended his point streak to five games (3g, 3a) and now holds a share of the team’s scoring lead with defenseman Ryan Murphy.
Other offensive chances the Checkers will remember from this night include a third-period breakaway by Justin Shugg that Brossoit nullified with the score still 1-0 and six missed power plays, including a total of 1:12 on the man advantage over two separate instances in a second period that saw the Barons flagged for delay of game (puck over glass) three times. Charlotte’s power play, which entered the game ranked last in the league at 9.6 percent, is now 4-for-65 (6.2 percent) over its last 16 games dating back to Nov. 22.
The Checkers and Barons meet once again for a New Year’s Eve matchup to conclude Charlotte’s post-holiday road trip.