Charlotte Checkers Report (Jan. 24)
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Good Friday afternoon Checkers fans! We’re gearing up for another weekend home series with games tonight and tomorrow night, and you don’t want to miss the action. Both games will be against the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, coached by last season’s Checkers’ coach Mike Vellucci. The Checkers have been surging as of late, winning 11 of their last 12 games. It’s a tremendous surge that has launched them just four points behind division leaders Hartford and Hershey, who both have 55 on the season.
Charlotte has had this week off to rest and prepare for this weekend’s series, having last played on Sunday against the Marlies. Let’s catch up on that series. It began with a very exciting contest last Saturday night against the Toronto Marlies in front of a sellout home crowd at Bojangles Coliseum, and a game that I wish I would’ve been at. Anton Forsberg got the nod to start in the net for Charlotte and gave up the game’s opening goal early on to Mason Marchment of the Marlies. But the Checkers rebounded in the 2nd with a pair of goals and took the lead going into the 3rd period. But within the first six minutes Marchment added two more goals, capping off the hat trick and giving the Marlies the one-point advantage.
In the final moments of the game, Charlotte pulled their goalie to have an extra attacker to make one final push. With just 27 seconds left, Jake Bean sent one through the defenders and forced the game into overtime at 3 goals apiece. When overtime proved not enough to declare a winner, it was time for the shootout. Both goalies were rock solid here, stopping the first four shots they faced. When Forsberg turned away the Marlies’ fifth shot, it gave Steven Lorentz the chance to be the hero. And he took full advantage. With a beautiful move and one-handed shot, he beat the goalie to give the Checkers the 4-3 win and the home crowd a lot to cheer about. It was a magnificent way to begin the weekend series.
When both teams met up on the ice again at 1 p.m. the next day, it didn’t bring quite the excitement the previous night’s game did. But like that game, it resulted in two more points for Charlotte. The Checkers scored four times before the Marlies were able to get on the board, when they finally beat Charlotte goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic halfway through the 2nd period. A total of seven goals were scored between the two teams in the 2nd period alone, and all three of Toronto’s goals in the game came in that period. The Checkers added two more goals in the 3rd to cap off a convincing 7-3 win. Steven Lorentz and Morgan Geekie led the way for the Checkers with two goals apiece.
The action continues tonight at 7 p.m. against the Penguins. The first 1,500 fans will get a free Checkers beanie. Tomorrow night’s game will begin at 6 p.m., where it will be NASCAR night. Any fans interested in getting autographs from several NASCAR drivers, such as Ryan Newman and Aric Almirola, should get there at 4:30 when the gates open. Both games should be a packed house, so if tickets aren’t already sold out, get yours quick and be apart of some great hockey action. Go Checkers!
Garett