CHARLOTTE, N.C. – For the second time in three contests, the Checkers forced overtime in the final minute of the game, however the Portland Pirates prevailed with a 4-3 shootout win.
Chris Terry tallied two power-play goals, including the equalizer with less than a second to play in regulation, and Zach Boychuk added two assists to extend his point-streak to five games in the loss. In his first game with the Checkers, Drayson Bowman recorded two assists, both on Terry’s goals. Mike Murphy made 33 saves in the loss.
The Pirates struck early on a broken play in the offensive zone. After corralling a bouncing puck, October’s AHL rookie of the month Luke Adam spun and fired a wrist shot from the slot that beat Murphy between the legs.
Terry would tie the game, five minutes later, on the power play. After some great movement in the offensive zone, Terry received the puck from Bowman at the point and sent a wrist shot through traffic that beat Leggio cleanly.
The Checkers then took the lead at the 5:58 mark of the second period when Nick Dodge ripped a shot from the slot that beat Leggio on the glove side. Oskar Osala was originally stopped on a breakaway, but Boychuk made a nifty back-handed pass to a wide-open Dodge in the slot.
Mark Parrish, a former 30-goal scorer in the NHL, would pull the Pirates even, five minutes later. After Murphy made the initial save, Parrish picked up the puck in the scramble in front and slid it home. Paul Byron and Tim Conboy drew the assists on the goal.
The Pirates would take their second lead of the game with a minute remaining in the second period.
During a Checkers line-change, Pirates defenseman Dennis Persson broke in on a 2-on-1 with Whitmore. Persson made a spinning back-hand pass to Whitmore, who proceeded to one-time the puck stick side on Murphy.
Chris Terry scored his second power play goal of the game with less than a second left on in the third period. Terry picked up the puck by the left hash-mark and beat Leggio to send the game into an extra frame.
Zac Dalpe had a breakaway opportunity in overtime, but was unable to beat Leggio on the blocker side. Murphy was equal to the task in overtime, making timely saves to help force a shootout. In the shootout, only Dalpe was able to score, while Adam and Tropp made their attempts count for the Pirates.
The Checkers will be hosting the Pirates in a rematch tomorrow at 7pm. Charlotte will then be playing three games in three days this weekend, with a home-and-home against Norfolk before hosting the Hershey Bears on Sunday.
NOTES: Boychuk extends point streak to five games (3g, 4a) and now leads the team in points with 11 (5g, 6a)…Jerome Samson continues to lead the AHL in shots on goal with 68.
Portland Pirates 4 (SO) at Charlotte Checkers 3 - Status: Final SO
Tuesday, November 2, 2010 - Time Warner Cable Arena
Portland 1 2 0 0 - 4
Charlotte 1 1 1 0 - 3
1st Period-1, Portland, Adam 7 (Schiestel, Stuart), 1:24. 2, Charlotte, Terry 4 (Bowman, Boychuk), 6:21 (PP). Penalties-Conboy Por (fighting), 2:26; Blanchard Cha (fighting), 2:26; Gragnani Por (interference), 4:42; McCauley Por (fighting), 7:17; FitzGerald Cha (fighting), 7:17; Osala Cha (slashing), 8:33; Micflikier Cha (slashing), 12:00; Conboy Por (charging), 15:13; Stuart Por (tripping), 16:17; Whitmore Por (goaltender interference), 17:49.
2nd Period-3, Charlotte, Dodge 3 (Boychuk, Osala), 5:58. 4, Portland, Parrish 3 (Byron, Conboy), 9:33. 5, Portland, Whitmore 6 (Persson), 19:00. Penalties-Nash Cha (tripping), 3:33.
3rd Period-6, Charlotte, Terry 5 (Samson, Bowman), 19:59 (PP). Penalties-Osala Cha (slashing), 2:03; Schiestel Por (interference), 13:23; Biega Por (holding), 18:08.
OT Period- No Scoring.Penalties-Adam Por (hooking), 3:47; Micflikier Cha (diving), 3:47; Mancari Por (misconduct - abuse of officials), 5:00.
Shootout - Portland 2 (Adam G, Parrish NG, Whitmore NG, Tropp G), Charlotte 1 (Bowman NG, Terry NG, Dalpe G, Boychuk NG, Rodney NG).
Shots on Goal-Portland 13-11-12-3-1-40. Charlotte 12-6-7-2-0-27.
Power Play Opportunities-Portland 0 / 4; Charlotte 2 / 6.
Goalies-Portland, Leggio 4-0-0 (27 shots-24 saves). Charlotte, Murphy 2-3-1 (39 shots-36 saves).
A-3,417
Referees-Mark Lemelin (84).
Linesmen-Paul Carnathan (93), Alex Stagnone.
