The first round of the AHL playoffs is in the books for the Charlotte Checkers, as they finished off the Providence Bruins with a 4-1 victory last night in Charlotte. That capped the best of five series in which the Checkers won in four games. We don’t know yet who their opponent will be in the second round, but we do know that the Checkers will have the home ice advantage hosting games one and two next Friday and Saturday, May 3rd and 4th.

The Checkers started things off right last Saturday with a game one victory over the Bruins. They had to go on the road for the first two games of the series, which enabled them to host game five, if it had been necessary. Last Saturday’s game one was a wild one, which saw plenty of action from both teams and an abundance of momentum swings. The Checkers outlasted the Bruins for a 5-4 victory. In game two the next day, the Checkers dug themselves an early hole, which proved to be too much for them to come back from. They lost 4-2, which evened the series coming back to Charlotte.

I had a good feeling that things would pick up back home in Bojangles Coliseum...and I was right. The series continued on Wednesday, where goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic would shut out the Bruins, giving way to a 3-0 win and a 2-1 series lead, putting Charlotte in the driver’s seat. That was Nedeljkovic’s second career playoff shutout. Then last night with the chance to end the series, the Checkers did just that. Nedeljkovic turned in another excellent performance, stopping 25 of 26 shots, and the offense took care of the rest. Mr. Reliable Andrew Poturalski had two goals, while Morgan Geekie and Jacob Pritchard each had one for the Checkers. The win gave the Checkers their first playoff series win on home ice in franchise history.

Andrew Poturalski was terrific in this series with nine total points over the four game stretch, which broke the previous record of “points in a series” of eight (which was over six games). Morgan Geekie also set a team record with four goals in a series. Alex Nedeljkovic started all four games and really settled in nicely once he was back on home ice, allowing just a single goal in the last two games.

Now the Checkers play the waiting game to find out who their next opponent will be. They know it will be either the Bridgeport Sound Tigers or the Hershey Bears, depending on who wins their game five today. It will be another divisional matchup from the Atlantic Division. One thing is certain though, which is that Checkers fans are ready. This has been the most exciting season in franchise history and we would all love to see it end with the Calder Cup.

Credit: gocheckers.com

Garett

Checkers Moving On to Round 2