DULUTH, GA—The Charlotte Checkers took a 3-2 lead into the third period and were edged by the Gwinnett Gladiators, 4-3, in a shootout on Saturday evening.
The Checkers and Gladiators have now combined for 27 goals in the last three games, with Charlotte earning five of a possible six points.
The Checkers opened the scoring for the 20th time this season and are 13-2-5 when doing so. Michelle Leveille grabbed the loose puck and wristed a shot from the bottom of the near faceoff circle that beat Gwinnett goaltender David Brown high over the catching glove.
Charlotte then took a two-goal lead, on the power play, when David Marshall deflected a Codey Burki point shot for his seventh of the season.
The Gladiators got on the board just under a minute into the second period when Drew Paris notched his ninth of the season on the power play. Paris let go a wrist shot that deflected off a Checkers player and fooled goaltender Miika Wiikman.
Charlotte would go ahead by two when Codey Burki took advantage of a turnover at center ice, skated in on a two-on-one and made a nice move to his backhand flipping over the catching hand of Brown.
With eight seconds left to play in the second period the Gladiators made it a one-goal game when ex-Checker Jason Lawrence fed Pat Galivan who wristed the puck over the left shoulder of Wiikman.
Gwinnett held a 29-20 shot advantage through two periods of play.
Five minutes into the third period, the Gladiators took advantage on the power play and tied the game when Chris Higgins deflected a Sam Roberts point shot past Wiikman. The goal came at 5:52 of the third period.
The two teams then played a scoreless overtime and prepared for shootout. In the shootout, each team used seven shooters and Gwinnett forward Matt Francis ended the game as he deked Wiikman and tucked it home. Wiikman stopped 42 of 45 shots he faced and fell to 8-2-3 on the season.
The Checkers (19-13-5-0) will host the Kalamazoo Wings on Sunday. Game time is 2 p.m. and ticket information can be obtained by calling 704-342-4-ICE or visiting www.gocheckers.com.
Notes: Andrew Carroll has five goals and four assists in his last six games…Miika Wiikman has only two regulation losses in 14 games this season (8-2-3)…Aaron Slattengren has nine points (4g, 5a) in his last eight games…Tyler Doig ranks sixth in ECHL scoring with 42 points (10g, 32a)…T.J. Reynolds leads all ECHL defensemen with 151 penalty minutes, and is second in overall ECHL plus-minus with a +20 rating…The Checkers are 11-3-1 in their last 15 home games…Derek Couture remains on loan to Hartford (AHL) while Matt Ford and Randy Rowe are with Lake Erie (AHL)…Trevor Glass, Chris Snavely and Chris Chappell are on the 21-day injured reserve.
Charlotte Checkers 3 At Gwinnett Gladiators 4 (SO) - Status: Final SO
Jan 16, 2010 - The Arena at Gwinnett Center
Charlotte 2 1 0 0 - 3
Gwinnett 0 2 1 0 - 4
1st Period-1, Charlotte, Leveille 14 (Carroll), 1:46. 2, Charlotte, Marshall 7 (Burki, Tkaczuk), 12:06 (pp). Penalties-Brocklehurst Gwt (tripping), 8:52; Brocklehurst Gwt (hooking), 11:49; Schepke Chr (cross-checking), 14:41; Leveille Chr (hooking), 17:50; Brouillette Chr (delay of game), 20:00.
2nd Period-3, Gwinnett, Paris 9 (Siddall, Mifsud), 0:53 (pp). 4, Charlotte, Burki 2 (Taylor), 4:52. 5, Gwinnett, Galivan 18 (Lawrence), 19:52 (sh). Penalties-Filangieri Gwt (slashing ), 11:15; Marchesi Gwt (cross-checking), 14:24; Siddall Gwt (high-sticking), 18:55.
3rd Period-6, Gwinnett, Higgins 3 (Roberts, Brocklehurst), 5:52 (pp). Penalties-Carroll Chr (holding), 2:50; Slattengren Chr (high-sticking - double), 4:40; Caruana Gwt (hooking), 6:41; Slattengren Chr (roughing), 13:09; Roberts Gwt (slashing ), 13:09.
OT Period- No Scoring.Penalties-No Penalties
Shootout - Charlotte 2 (Slattengren NG, Tkaczuk G, Leveille NG, Burki G, Carroll NG, Marshall NG, Doig NG), Gwinnett 3 (Siddall NG, Galivan NG, Mifsud G, Higgins NG, Caruana G, Lawrence NG, Francis G).
Shots on Goal-Charlotte 11-9-7-2-0-29. Gwinnett 14-15-12-3-1-45.
Power Play Opportunities-Charlotte 1 of 6; Gwinnett 2 of 6.
Goalies-Charlotte, Wiikman 8-2-1-2 (44 shots-41 saves). Gwinnett, Brown 6-7-1-0 (29 shots-26 saves).
A-8,143
Referees-Paul Depuydt (26).
Linesmen-David Jones (57), Ben Shiley (92).
