READING, PA—The Charlotte Checkers threw everything they could at Reading Royals goaltender Matt Dalton but could not capitalize as they were downed 3-1 on Saturday evening. It was the first loss in seven games for the Checkers against an East Division team.
The good news for Charlotte, who played shorthanded after Julien Brouillette and Miika Wiikman were called up to Hartford earlier in the day, is that division rivals Gwinnett and Florida also lost. Kenny Roche and Kevin Schaeffer were also loaned to Hartford earlier this week.
Dalton stopped 44 of 45 for the East Division-leading Royals, while Ryan Munce stopped 23 shots in a losing effort for the Checkers.
Reading opened the scoring, two minutes and 40 seconds into the game, when Royals forward Marc Cavosie sprung out of the penalty box and started a three-on-one rush toward the Charlotte goal. Cavosie slid a pass over to Charlie Kronschnabel who slipped the puck between the pads of Munce for the 1-0 lead.
The goal was the lone tally of the period despite the Checkers putting 13 shots on the Reading net and going to work on two power plays.
The Royals extended their lead midway through the second on a goal by defenseman Ryan Crane. Crane snuck in from the blueline and one-timed a pass from Jimmy Fraser over the glove of Munce at the 8:51 mark of the period.
The Checkers held a 24-20 shot advantage through two periods of play.
Charlotte was finally able to solve Dalton, just under 12 minutes into the third period, when Aaron Slattengren lifted the puck into the top corner from a near-impossible angle on the power play.
The comeback did not last long, however, as Reading regained the two-goal lead just 35 seconds later. Cavosie fired a shot at Munce and Chase Watson was on the doorstep to bang home the rebound.
Dalton, a Boston Bruins product, stopped 20 shots in the third period for his 14th win of the season. The 43 saves were a season high for the rookie from Clinton, Ontario.
Charlotte (23-15-5) will travel to Johnstown tomorrow and are 3-0-0 against the Chiefs this season. The team will return home on Thursday, Feb. 4 to host the Florida Everblades Ticket information can be obtained by calling 704-342-4-ICE or visiting www.gocheckers.com.
Notes: Charlotte is 13-3-1 in its last 17 home games…The Checkers are 6-1-0 against East Division opponents this season…Andrew Carroll has nine goals and six assists in his last 12 games and his five game-winning goals are the second highest total in the entire ECHL…Tyler Doig ranks fourth in ECHL scoring with 51 points (12g, 39a) and is the only player in the top 100 scorers with over 100 penalty minutes…Julien Brouillette has eight points (4g, 4a) in his last nine games and ranks sixth among all ECHL defensemen with 26 points (10g, 16a)…T.J. Reynolds leads the ECHL with 195 penalty minutes and is sixth in overall plus-minus with a +16 rating…Julien Brouillette, Derek Couture, Kenny Roche and Kevin Schaeffer are with 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 1 At Reading Royals 3 - Status: Final
Jan 30, 2010 - Sovereign Center
Charlotte 0 0 1 - 1
Reading 1 1 1 - 3
1st Period-1, Reading, Kronschnabel 8 (Marquardt, Cavosie), 2:40. Penalties-Cavosie Rea (hooking), 0:30; Reynolds Chr (slashing ), 4:54; Laughlin Rea (hooking), 11:37; Tkaczuk Chr (hooking), 14:19; Carroll Chr (roughing), 17:29; Sarauer Rea (roughing), 17:29.
2nd Period-2, Reading, Crane 1 (Fraser, Laughlin), 8:51. Penalties-Tkaczuk Chr (hooking), 0:23; Sarauer Rea (slashing ), 11:14; Marshall Chr (instigating, fighting - major, misconduct), 13:18; Stamoulis Rea (fighting - major), 13:18; Doig Chr (fighting - major, game misconduct - secondary altercation), 13:51; Reynolds Chr (instigating, slashing , fighting - major, game misconduct - aggressor), 13:51; Cavosie Rea (fighting - major), 13:51; Marquardt Rea (game misconduct - third man in), 13:51; Sarauer Rea (fighting - major, game misconduct - secondary altercation), 13:51; Leveille Chr (slashing ), 14:08; Fletcher Rea (roughing), 20:00.
3rd Period-3, Charlotte, Slattengren 11 (Tkaczuk, Graham), 11:54 (pp). 4, Reading, Watson 2 (Cavosie, Fletcher), 12:29. Penalties-Stamoulis Rea (delay of game), 11:25; Taylor Chr (roughing, roughing, misconduct), 19:44; Fletcher Rea (roughing, roughing, misconduct), 19:44.
Shots on Goal-Charlotte 13-10-21-44. Reading 7-13-6-26.
Power Play Opportunities-Charlotte 1 of 4; Reading 0 of 7.
Goalies-Charlotte, Munce 8-9-1-0 (26 shots-23 saves). Reading, Dalton 14-12-0-2 (44 shots-43 saves).
A-6,792
Referees-TJ Luxmore (23).
Linesmen-Ryan Knapp (96), Luke Murray (79).
