ECHL Charlotte Checkers

Checkers eliminate Augusta from playoffs with 3-2 OT win

Published on April 10, 2007 under ECHL (ECHL)
Charlotte Checkers News Release


(Augusta, Georgia - Tuesday, April 10) Daymen Rycroft must love to be a hero, and for a second consecutive game he was. Tuesday night Rycroft scored the winning goal four minutes into the first sudden-death overtime session to give Charlotte a 3-2 victory over the Augusta Lynx. The Checkers win eliminated the Lynx, and allowed Charlotte to take the best-of-three series, two games to none. They will now face the Florida Everblades in the ECHL's best-of-five, South Division Semi-Finals. Game # 1 of that series begins Friday in Fort Myers, Florida at 7:30 p.m.

Charlotte held a 2-1 lead until the final minute of regulation. After Augusta pulled goalie Dave McKee for a sixth attacker, Shane Hynes scored with just 26 seconds left in regulation to send the game to overtime. But for a second straight night, Charlotte would capture the game in overtime.

The Checkers defense sparkled in both games, but especially in game two Tuesday night on Augusta's home ice. Charlotte limited the Lynx to only three goals in the two games, and held them to only 23 shots Tuesday night through three periods and four minutes of overtime. Checkers goalie Chris Holt was victorious again with 21 saves, and is now 5-0 since being assigned to Charlotte by the New York Rangers from the American Hockey League's Hartford Wolf Pack on March 31. His five wins include three against Augusta. "I've been seeing the puck well and the communication with my teammates has been real good," said Holt.

Charlotte went only 1-4 in the regular season at James Brown Arena. But Tuesday night the Checkers got the lead and never surrendered it. Rycroft's line of Bruce Graham and Nathan Gillies had two of the three goals Tuesday night, and four of the five goals the Checkers scored in the series.

"Bruce gave me the puck and when I shot it, it went in," remarked Rycroft. "I told myself that a shot on net is always a good thing, especially in overtime. After they scored the goal late to tie we were certainly disappointed. But just like Monday night when we got a power-play opportunity, we went for it."

The Checkers played a solid first period while the Lynx struggled, as Charlotte took a 2-0 advantage. Rycroft had the puck in the high slot and launched a backhander towards the Lynx goal. McKee made the save, but Nathan Gillies was there to knock in the rebound and put Charlotte in the lead 1-0 at 4 minutes, 35 seconds.

The Checkers made it 2-0 two minutes later when McKee got trapped behind his own net after a bad bounce. Mark Lee pounced on the puck when it squirted right in front of the net, and deposited his first goal of the playoffs. Augusta had four power plays in the first period, including a, two-man advantage for 49 seconds. Charlotte's penalty-killing unit prevailed and the 2-0 lead held to the end of the period.

In the second period each team had five power-play opportunities. The Lynx finally got on the board at 4:26 when he broke into the Checkers zone on a two-on-one break. Holt thought Lang was going to pass the puck, but instead the Augusta captain took the shot which ended up in the back of the net. The Lynx power-play goal was their first in 14 tries in the series, and sliced the Charlotte lead to 2-1.

The Checkers held the lead until the final minute of the third period. With McKee pulled for a sixth attacker, the Lynx got the puck in front of the Charlotte goal and Hynes batted it in to tie the game at 2-2 with just 26 seconds left in regulation. Seconds before Augusta tied the game, Blake Bellefeuille broke into the Lynx zone on a two-on-one break. But his shot dinged off the crossbar, denying Charlotte the opportunity to ice the game.

ECHL South Division Semi-Finals: (Best-of-Five)

Friday, April 13 - Checkers @ Florida - 7:30 p.m.

Saturday, April 14 - Checkers @ Florida - 7:30 p.m.

Tuesday, April 17 - Everblades @ Charlotte - 7:00 p.m.

Thursday, April 19 - Everblades @ Charlotte - 7:00 p.m. (If necessary)

Sunday, April 22 - Checkers @ Florida - 6:00 p.m. (If necessary)

OPENING ROUND PLAYOFF SERIES SCHEDULE: (Best of Three)

Monday, April 9 - Augusta 1 @ Charlotte 2 OT

Tuesday, April 10 - Charlotte 3 @ Augusta 2 OT

Checkers win series 2-0

CHECKERS TUESDAY NIGHT SCRATCHES: Rick Kozak, Dusty Jamieson and Niko Tuomi..

ON RECALL TO (AHL) HARTFORD: Hannu Pikkarainen and Alex Westlund

FOR BOX SCORE CLICK: http://echl.leaguestat.com/stats/game-summary.php?game_id=1805

NEXT GAME: The Checkers travel to Fort Myers, Florida to begin the ECHL South Division Semi-Finals. Game # 1 of the best-of-five series is this Friday, April 13 at 7:30 p.m., with Game # 2 on Saturday, April 11 at 7:30 p.m. (Games to be broadcast on TEAMLINE. Click here for connection info: http://www.teamline.cc/sportpage?teamcode=2820&eventcode=0036

Watch all Checkers playoff games on B2 https://www.b2livetv.com/hockey/echl/charlotte/billnow.asp

Check out the Charlotte Checkers Statistics

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ECHL Stories from April 10, 2007


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