ECHL Charlotte Checkers

Checkers drop playoff opener to South Carolina 6-3

Published on April 11, 2006 under ECHL (ECHL)
Charlotte Checkers News Release


(Charleston, South Carolina - Monday, April 10, 2006) The South Carolina Stingrays took game one of their best-of-three, ECHL Southern Division quarter-final series with the Charlotte Checkers 6-3 Monday night in Charleston, South Carolina. The Stingrays scored three power-play goals and got 34 saves from goalie Davis Parley in the opening-game triumph. South Carolina erased a 2-1 Charlotte first-period advantage by scoring five of the game's last six goals to snatch the victory.

Anders Strome scored twice for the Stingrays, with Evan Schwab, Cam McCaffrey, Cail MacLean and Scott Cameron scoring single South Carolina goals. Nathan Gillies scored a pair of goals for Charlotte, with Jake Ortmeyer notching the other Checkers goal. Charlotte goalie Jeff Glass, making his first professional playoff start, made 19 saves on 25 Stingrays' shots.

The Checkers will face a must-win situation Tuesday when the series shifts to Charlotte Bobcats Arena for game two. Charlotte was 5-0 at home against the Stingrays during the regular season, and won nine of eleven overall.

"They held serve and we have to do the same thing at home Tuesday night," remarked Charlotte Coach Derek Wilkinson. "Game one was pretty much what we expected. It was intense, hard hitting and featured great goaltending. I thought both goalies played well, but Parley was exceptional for them."

Charlotte took a 1-0 lead eleven minutes into the contest on the power play. Ortmeyer crept in from the right point and tipped in a pass from Gillies at the side of the Stingrays goal.

The Stingrays tied the game at 1-1 at fourteen minutes, fourteen seconds when Strome took a pass in the high slot from Darren Lynch and rifled a shot by Glass. Twenty seconds later Charlotte took the lead right back, as Gillies blasted in a rebound of a Dusty Jamieson shot for a 2-1 advantage. Each team had eleven shots after one period.

In the second period the Checkers could not stay out of the penalty box. Charlotte was whistled for five minors with the Stingrays capitalizing twice. At 14:20 Schwab ripped a shot just inside the right post to tie the game at 2-2. South Carolina scored another power play goal as Strome buried his second goal of the game, again from the high slot, with just one minute remaining in the period for a 3-2 Stingrays' advantage.

McCaffrey's goal 2:25 into the final period gave South Carolina a 4-2 lead, and put the Checkers into comeback mode. Charlotte sliced the Stingrays' lead to one when Gillies wrapped a shot in by Parley from deep in the left wing circle with 12 minutes to play. But late in the game MacLean was left open in front of the Charlotte net, and scored to give South Carolina the two-goal lead back at 5-3.

With a little over a minute to go, Wilkinson pulled Glass for a sixth attacker in an attempt to tie the game. But Cameron outraced Bruce Graham for a loose puck and slid the disc into the empty net to seal the 6-3 victory. Charlotte outshot the Stingrays 37 to 25 for the game.

"We just have to stay composed and do the little things right and we'll be right back in the series," quoted Gillies. Game two of the best of three series will be in Charlotte Tuesday at Charlotte Bobcats Arena with face-off set for 7:00 p.m. A deciding third game if necessary will be played Wednesday back in Charleston.

ECHL KELLY CUP PLAYOFFS

Southern Division Quarterfinals

Game # 1 "" Monday, April 10 - Charlotte 3 @ South Carolina 6

Game # 2 "" Tuesday, April 11 "" South Carolina @ Charlotte (7:00 p.m.)

Game # 3 "" Wednesday, April 12 "" Charlotte @ South Carolina (If Necessary) (7:00 p.m.)

PLAYOFF TICKETS: Individual-game playoff tickets and total-game playoff packages are now on sale. Individual-game playoff tickets range in price from $12.00 to $27.00, a two-dollar per-ticket increase over regular-season prices. Fans purchasing total-game playoff packages will pay regular-season prices.

Playoff tickets can be purchased at the Charlotte Bobcats Arena box office and online at www.charlottebobcatsarena.com. Fans may also purchase playoff tickets by phone, using their credit card and calling the Charlotte Bobcats Arena box office at 1-800-495-2295. Special playoff ticket requests, group playoff ticket information and 2006-07 season ticket information can be obtained by calling Checkers office at 704-342-4423. Additional ticket information can be obtained by visiting the Checkers web site at www.gocheckers.com.

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ECHL Stories from April 11, 2006


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