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Checkers fall to Everblades on New Years Eve 4-3

January 1, 2005 - ECHL (ECHL) News Release


Fort Myers, Florida - The undermanned Charlotte Checkers fought another hard fight Friday night, this time in Fort Myers, Florida where they were opening up a two-game weekend series against the Everblades. The end result was the same as Thursday night as the Checkers dropped another one-goal game, 4-3 to Florida in front of over 6,000 fans at Germain Arena. The Everblades Brent McDonald and National Hockey League defenseman Shane Hnidy scored one minute and twenty three seconds apart in the third period to erase a Checkers one-goal lead. Charlotte came back from an early, two-goal deficit to take the lead early in the third period before Florida rallied. Juris Stals had a goal and an assist for the Checkers while Eddie Pershin and Mike Wirll had the other Charlotte scores. Brad Church and Kris Vernarsky also tallied for the Everblades. Charlotte goalie Kelly Guard dropped his fourth game against eight wins, taking the loss with 33 saves while Everblades goalie Craig Kowalski made 35 saves in notching his 11th win. "It's tough to see the guys play their hearts out for a second straight night and not have anything to show for it," commented Charlotte coach Derek Wilkinson. "Their goalie was hot and Kelly Guard played well at times too. We have to find a way to close out games like this and come away with some points. I'm really proud of the guys' effort, as this is an incredible, energetic group." A first period goal by Florida's Church at 8:45 gave the Everblades a 1-0 lead. Church blasted the puck by Guard from just inside the blue line. At 4:06 of the second period Florida increased its lead to 2-0 with a power-play goal by Vernarsky. Charlotte finally got on the board with 4:51 left in the second period as Stals chipped the puck over Florida goalie Craig Kowalski on a breakaway to slice the Everblades lead to 2-1. Just 33 seconds into the third period the Checkers tied the game at 2-2, as Pershin one-timed Dusty Jamieson's pass 20 feet out in the slot just inside the right post. Wirll gave Charlotte its first lead at 5:45 as he banked a shot off the back of Kowalski's pads and into the net for a 3-2 Charlotte advantage. The Everblades came roaring back as McDonald tied the game from in close at 9:57. Hnidy scored what proved to the game-winning goal at 11:23 as his wrist shot from the top of the right circle found its way in the back of the net. Charlotte had one final chance as Florida's Brandon Coalter was given a four-minute high-sticking penalty with just over four minutes left in the final period. Despite some close calls in the final minutes, Kowalski and the Blades held on for the 4-3 victory. The Checkers dropped their second straight and third in their last four games and now have a record of 17-12-2 for 36 points. Florida pulled to within a point of Charlotte as the victory improved their record to 17-12-1 for 35 points. The Checkers will close out their two-game weekend series with the Everblades Saturday night in Fort Myers with face-off set for 7:30 p.m. The Checkers next home game will be Friday, January 7 at Cricket Arena when Charlotte will host the Columbia Inferno at 7:00 p.m. Tickets are available at the Cricket Arena Box office, the Charlotte Coliseum box office, and at all Ticketmaster locations. Tickets may also be purchased on line at www.ticketmaster.com or by phone at (704) 522-6500. Group, season and mini-plan tickets can be purchased through the Charlotte Checkers office by calling (704) 342-4ICE.

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