Checkers Bounce Back, Win 5-1
November 6, 2002 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Charlotte Checkers News Release
ROANOKE, VA â November 5, 2002: After Saturday night's 8-2 loss to Greensboro at home, the Checkers wanted to prove they weren't that kind of a team. Mission accomplished Tuesday as the Checkers bounced back with a vengeance with a 5-1 victory over the Roanoke Express in Virginia. Brendan Yarema scored his first two goals as a Checker and Takahito Suzuki, Patrick Aufiero and Brandon Cullen added single tallies in the win. Goalie Niklas Sundberg turned aside 20 shots to notch his fourth win of the season, and bounced back from a dismal performance on Saturday. The win snapped the Checkers two-game losing streak and also stopped Roanoke's three-game winning streak. The loss by the Express was their first at home in five contests at the Roanoke County Civic Center this season.
"I'm really happy to see the way we bounced back tonight," stated Checkers Head Coach Don MacAdam. "Our whole team played great but our veterans really took charge and that was nice to see. Getting Vince Malts back provided some energy for us, and Jeff State and Craig Weller coming back from Hartford (AHL) gave us three solid defensive pairings which we haven't had for a while."
The Checkers scored early in the game at the 2:12 mark of the first period as Aufiero fired home a rebound of a Konrad McKay shot on the power play to give the Checkers a 1-0 lead after one period. Once again Charlotte scored early in the period, this time in the second stanza at 2:28, as Cullen's pass to Yarema bounced off a Roanoke player and into the net for a 2-0 Charlotte lead. A minute and five seconds later Cullen's feed to Yarema connected and the veteran center tipped it by Express keeper Evan Lindsay for a 3-0 Checkers lead. Roanoke Head Coach Perry Florio then pulled Lindsay in favor of Sebastien LaPlante. At 14:07 of the period the Checkers finally solved LaPlante as Suzuki backhanded a rebound in the back of the net on a power play for a 4-0 Checkers lead. Charlotte held the 4-0 advantage to the end of the period.
In the third period Yarema notched his second of the night at 6:17 for a 5-0 Charlotte lead. A controversial goal with 1:20 left ruined the shutout for Sundberg, as referee Ryan Fraser had to confer with the goal judge and the linesman before declaring the Express score that was credited to Dan Sullivan.
The win improved Charlotte's record to 3-4-1 for seven points, while Roanoke's record dipped to 6-3-1 for 13 points. The Checkers continue their stretch of six games in nine days and four of five this week when they'll host the South Carolina Stingrays Wednesday night at Cricket Arena at 7:05 pm.
NOTES: Konrad McKay extended his point scoring streak to five games with an assist Tuesday night, going 1-5-6 in that span,,,,,Kevin Caulfield and Dusty Jamieson saw their three-game goal scoring streaks halted Tuesday,,,,Caulfield and Kurt Seher are tied for the club lead for the best plus / minus, each with a +6.
TICKET INFO: Individual game tickets for all Checkers' regular season home games may be purchased through Ticketmaster via phone at (704) 522-6500, via website, www.ticketmaster.com, or in person at the Cricket Arena Box Office located at 2700 E. Independence Boulevard in Charlotte (704) 335-3100. Group Tickets, Mini-Plans and Season Tickets also remain on sale. Specific ticket information can be obtained by calling the Checkers' office (704) 342-4423.
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