AHL Charlotte Checkers

Checkers Earn Point against Milwaukee

Published on April 7, 2013 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Charlotte Checkers News Release


They may have fallen short of their goal coming into the weekend, but the Checkers will take what they can get.

Milwaukee defenseman Ryan Ellis scored an overtime goal in a 3-2 win over the Checkers on Sunday, giving his team a two-game sweep in Charlotte. Defenseman Eric Baier scored his first AHL goal in the first period and center Brody Sutter scored in the third to tie the game and force the extra session.

Playing his first game since March 21, John Muse made 31 saves as the fourth-seeded Checkers allowed Milwaukee, one of the teams hoping to overtake them in the Western Conference playoff race, cut what had been an eight-point lead down to five with six games remaining in the regular season.

Having been upset with their intensity level in Saturday's 3-0 loss to the Admirals, the Checkers found more positives on Sunday despite getting a less-than-ideal result.

"I thought we played great in the first period and then hit a lull when they scored those two goals to take the lead, but we battled back for a big point," said coach Jeff Daniels.

"This late in the season you take whatever positives you can," said Baier, who joined the team on a professional tryout contract on March 21. "We've had a couple of slow games lately where we didn't come out hard, but I don't think we can be disappointed with our effort."

The Admirals, who entered the game as the conference's No. 9 seed, were one of just two teams on the outside of the playoff picture at that time that was capable of overtaking the Checkers. They now lead their season series with Charlotte with a record of 4-3-0.

The Checkers will now play their final two homes of the regular season against Texas on Thursday and Friday before embarking on a four-game road trip that will conclude their regular season. One of those games is against Milwaukee on April 19 - a game that could have the same kind of implications as last season's finale when the two teams went head-to-head for a win-and-you're-in contest that the Admirals won by a 6-1 score.

"We kind of let them back in the standings and we didn't want to do that, but right now we just have to focus on Texas and a chance to get back to our winning ways," said Sutter.

The Checkers could have been singing a different tune if not for Sutter's goal with 7:30 remaining in regulation that tied the score at 2-2. After defenseman Beau Schmitz's shot rebounded into the crease in front of goalie Magnus Hellberg, Sutter and Matt Marquardt, two of the biggest forwards on the team at 6-foot-5 and 6-foot-4, respectively, collapsed on goal with Sutter poking it home through the goaltender's legs.

For a team that had scored just once in its previous 140 minutes of game action, including two previous games that produced just 18 shots on goal apiece, the goal was remarkably simple.

"You look at (Saturday) night when we were trying to make pretty plays and overpass the puck, we wanted to simplify things and that goal was a perfect example of that," said Daniels.

The goal gave Sutter three points in his last four games (2g, 1a), doubling the 21-year-old's career total from 17 previous AHL outings.

Prior to that, the Checkers seemed to be in danger of wasting a strong start that saw them out-shoot Milwaukee 15-6 in the first period (an almost perfect reversal of Milwaukee's 16-5 advantage in the initial frame of Saturday's match-up) and finally go ahead on Baier's goal, a wide-open shot from the right circle that beat Hellberg cleanly, midway through the second.

"That was by far the best start we've had in our last three or four games," said Sutter, whose team had lost two of its last three.

However, before the second period had ended, the visitors had struck twice with goals by Scott Valentine, a perfectly-placed slap shot from the left wing that found the smallest bit of daylight over Muse's left shoulder, and by Daniel Bang, who carried the puck in from the same spot on a two-on-one break and finished the chance himself with a low shot between the goalie's legs.

Muse, part of the Checkers' wide-open, three-headed goaltending tandem with Rob Madore and Mike Murphy, finished with 30 or more saves for the fifth time this season. His best came late in the third period after Sutter had tied the game, as he was able to reach back and clear a loose puck off the goal line, with Schmitz there to provide a key block in the ensuing chaos.

Having gone to the extra session, the Checkers' streak of six consecutive overtime wins came to an end when Ellis, who had returned from an NHL stint with Nashville just prior to Saturday's game, walked through traffic and scored on a low shot to end the game with 1:40 remaining.

While Charlotte will be more focused on simply earning a playoff spot, their upcoming battles with the conference's top team will also be close to must-wins if the team has any chance of winning the South Division. The Checkers trailed by five points at the conclusion of their game, though Texas's own game against San Antonio on Sunday had yet to conclude.

"We got a huge point tonight, and we're going to have to build on that," said Daniels.

NOTES: Charlotte center Luke Pither, playing his second game after missing nearly a month due to injury, left the game after a hard collision with a teammate near the end of the second period and did not return. Daniels did not have an update on his condition after the game ... Justin Shugg, who also returned from injury on Saturday, assisted on Sutter's goal ... After recording just eight points in 50 ECHL games this season, Schmitz, a rookie, how has nine points (4g, 5a) in 15 total AHL games ... Charlotte's penalty kill was a perfect 5-for-5 after allowing two goals on Saturday ... Chris Terry and Jeremy Welsh each had a game-high five shots on goal ... Fans voted Brett Sutter the Roll up Your Sleeves Hardest Worker of the Game.

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