ECHL Charlotte Checkers

Checkers dismantled by Gladiators, lose 5-1

March 6, 2009 - ECHL (ECHL)
Charlotte Checkers News Release


Gwinnett, GA. - The Checkers never really got things going against an opponent they have lost to the previous four times going into tonight's contest. The Gwinnett Gladiators held the Checkers at bay all night while potting five goals for a 5-1 victory.

Gwinnett got the scoring started in the first period when a point shot taken by Gladiators defenseman Jeff Mason found its way through traffic and beat Checkers goalie Jeff Jakaitis low on the glove side at 7:37. This put Gwinnett up 1-0 and it would take almost exactly ten minutes of action to go up by two goals. During a four-on-four situation, the Gladiators came away on a two-on-one break. Jim Jackson threaded a pass for Tomas Pospisil who blasted a one-timer past Jakaitis at 17:36.

The only goal of the second period was tallied by the Gladiators when Jean-Claude Sawyer cheated in from the blue-line and wristed a shot over the catcher of Jakaitis at 12:03. This extended the Gwinnett lead to 3-0 after 40 minutes of action.

The Gladiators solidified their lead in the final period of the game when they received goals from Chad Denny at 2:33 and a power-play tally from Tom Zanoski at 6:02. This gave Gwinnett a 5-0 lead. The only Checkers goal of the contest came late in the third period when Michel Leveille redirected a Brian Deeth shot between the legs of Gwinnett netminder Josh Johnson at 14:22.

Notes: The Checkers have dropped the last five contests in a row to Gwinnett...Jakaitis made 45 saves on 50 shots while Johnson stopped 36 out of 37 shots...The Checkers were scoreless on eight power play chances while the Gladiators scored once on four attempts...forward Marty Guerin tallied an assist on the lone Checkers goal in his first game as a Checker.

The Checkers are playing in their 16th season of play as a member of the ECHL. The next home game will take place March 8 against the Trenton Devils at 4:00pm. In the team's 15-year history, the Checkers have made the playoffs 11 times including four consecutive playoff appearances to date. The Checkers are in their fourth season of play at Time Warner Cable Arena. Season tickets are on sale now with full-season packages starting at just $396. For season ticket information, please call 704-342-4-ICE or visit www.gocheckers.com.

Check out the Charlotte Checkers Statistics



ECHL Stories from March 6, 2009


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central