Checkers News

The Checkers continued their hot streak by pulling out a 2-1 victory against the Iowa Wild, marking their sixth straight home game with a point and fourth overall.

After a scoreless first period, Stephane Veilleux put Iowa ahead just 21 seconds into the frame, ripping a one-timer into the top right corner of the net. The Iowa lead was short-lived, however, as two and a half minutes later Brendan Woods streaked up the left side and sniped a puck top shelf to knot the game at one and trigger Teddy Bear Toss Night for the second consecutive season. Woods quickly added the eventual game-winner when he tipped a Trevor Carrick blast past Wild goalie Josh Harding. Both teams traded chances for the rest of regulation, but couldn’t put anything on the board, and Charlotte emerged with a 2-1 win. Drew MacIntyre got the start for the Checkers and put on a stellar performance, denying 27 of the 28 shots that he faced, despite several Wild scoring chances in which his defensemen stepped up to clear the crease.

“I thought it was a really, really sharp game,” said MacIntyre. “I just thought we were mentally focused and in it and just really sharp. Just those little things, it’s night and day, and makes all the difference. Our D did awesome, guys were sacrificing themselves, it was fun to see.”

The team came into this contest just four days removed from losing a 2-0 lead with two minutes remaining in regulation against Norfolk, with head coach Jeff Daniels stressing the need of the team to play a full 60 minutes. Tonight’s effort and the holding of a one-goal lead showed great improvement in that department.

“I thought it was great,” said Daniels. “We talked before the game about the disappointment of last game. Obviously the loss, but I thought we got out-worked and tonight was about going out and competing. I thought in the last two games we kind of watched Muser and Mac do all the work and it was time for the rest of the guys in the locker room to compete and I thought they did that tonight.”

Tonight’s game saw the Checkers take a physical approach, a style that Daniels feels fits his team well.

“We’re not a finesse team, and if our workers and grit guys try to play a finesse game we get ourselves in trouble,” said Daniels. “I think it was more about working, keeping it simple, banging bodies, trying to get a cycle game going and grinding it out in front of the net. That’s the way we’re built.”

“We were making sure that we were smart and everything was deep, everything was out and nothing was pretty,” said Woods. “We made sure to stick to that and whatever it took. Guys were blocking shots, doing everything and sticking up in front of the net. That stuff is what we needed.”

Woods potted two goals in a game for the first time in his career and has now matched his goal total from all of last season. Of his 10 career AHL goals, two have triggered the Checkers’ Teddy Bear Toss.

“When it happened I was kind of just laughing,” said Woods. “I couldn’t believe it. I kind of hope every game is a teddy bear game. I’d score every time I guess.”

Seeing more time at center thanks to the team’s slew of injuries, Woods was quick to praise his linemates for his performance tonight.

“We had a lot of O-time, especially on my line Sandy [Carter Sandlak] and Hags [Kyle Hagel] were great,” said Woods. “I’ve got to give them a lot of credit because they were on fire, flying and moving their feet and that’s just going to cause turnovers and that’s going to lead to goals.”

After a day off tomorrow, the Checkers will face the Wild again on Monday, and will certainly be looking to replicate the same fire that they brought tonight, albeit with a few adjustments.

“That’s how our game needs to be,” said Woods. “We’re not a pretty team and we’re not going to be flashy. We’re a hard-knit group here and finishing checks is going to make those D turn over the pucks. I thought we were hard on the forecheck and that kind of helped us out.”

“There are a couple of tweaks in our system that I think we’ll adjust based on some of the breakdowns we had that created some scoring chances for them, but we’ve always said that we’ve got to move on and be ready to work on Monday night,” said Daniels.

NOTES

The Checkers have points in six straight home games (5-0-1), putting them one shy of the franchise record set most recently from Dec. 11-Jan. 16 of the 2012-13 season … Woods’ effort was his first career multi-goal game. He also scored in his last game, giving his first career streak … Woods now ranks second on the team with 10 points. The Checkers were the last AHL team to have two players reach double digits in scoring (Greg Nemisz – 14) … Woods’ fifth goal in 21 games ties his total from 42 games last season … After missing seven games due to injury, Jared Staal returned to play his first game since Nov. 15 … Forwards Patrick Brown and Brody Sutter missed the game due to injury … Forward Andrew Rowe and defenseman Beau Schmitz were healthy extras.