Checkers drop Greenville 4-1
Published on April 2, 2005 under ECHL (ECHL)
Charlotte Checkers News Release
Greenville, South Carolina - The Charlotte Checkers continued their dominance over Greenville Friday night with a 4-1 win over the Grrrowl at the Bi-Lo Center. Juris Stals and Bogdan Rudenko each scored a pair of goals for the Checkers, and Charlotte netminder Alex Westlund made 25 saves in the convincing victory.
The win snapped a Checkers two-game losing streak while raising its ten-game season-series mark against the Grrrowl to 7-2-0. In a physical contest, the two teams combined for 121 minutes, and will play one final time in Charlotte next Friday night.
"We played very well tonight and I was real pleased with our effort", remarked Checkers Coach Derek Wilkinson. "We went to the net a lot tonight and created plenty of good scoring chances. It was a real physical game too with lots on the line- a real playoff-game atmosphere."
The Checkers took the lead just one minute, 28 seconds into the first period on a power play, as Stals knocked home a rebound of a Rudenko chance in front of the Grrrowl net for a 1-0 advantage.
Charlotte made it 2-0 late in the first period at 16:46 as Rudenko, camped out on front of the Greenville crease, rammed in his fifth goal of the season in just 15 games played. It was a dominant period for the Checkers, as they out-scored the Grrrowl 2-0 and outshot Greenville 18-9.
The Grrrowl got on the board early in the second period, as Martin St. Pierre took a perfect pass from Maris Ziedins deep in the left wing circle and fired a goal past Westlund at 1:16. Each team mustered ten shots on net for the period as the Checkers held a 2-1 lead after two periods.
In the final period the Checkers had numerous chances to go back up by two goals. Dwight Helminen couldn't convert a two-on-one break, and Rudenko hit the post on a breakaway chance. Finally Stals connected on a breakaway of his own at 12:35 of the period for his second goal of the night and a 3-1 Charlotte advantage.
The Checkers closed out the scoring with Rudenko's second goal of the night at 18:24 with Charlotte working a two-man advantage for the 4-1 final.
The Checkers improved to 38-24-6 for 82 points while the Grrrowl dropped to 35-27-5 for 75 points. Following Charlotte, Columbia, Mississippi and Florida wins, and South Carolina, Gwinnett and Greenville losses Friday, the Checkers moved up to the fifth seed in the American Conference playoff seeding picture.
Charlotte will continue its five-game road trip Saturday night in Duluth, Georgia when it meets the Gwinnett Gladiators at 7:30 p.m. Following the five-game road trip, Charlotte will return home for two, final, regular-season games at Cricket Arena. On Friday, April 8, the Checkers will host the Greenville Grrrowl, with South Carolina coming to the Queen City on Saturday, April 9. Both games will start at 7:00 p.m.
ECHL Stories from April 2, 2005
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