Checkers king Inferno in overtime

April 21, 2005 - ECHL (ECHL)
Augusta Lynx News Release


Kelly Cup Playoffs Update 4/21/05

Wednesday's Action

American Conference

Columbia vs. Charlotte – Charlotte wins 3-2

Lee Falardeau's overtime game-winning goal capped a natural hat trick and a come-from-behind win in Game Five for the Charlotte Checkers as they eliminated the Columbia Inferno 4-3 on Wednesday night.

Bogdan Rudenko got Charlotte on the board just 49 seconds into the contest before Columbia's Robin Carruthers scored at 2:59, forging a 1-1 tie after one period of play.

Columbia jumped out to a 3-1 lead on goals by Greg Amadio and a power play marker from Brad Ralph by the mid point of the second stanza. From there, Falardeau stole the show.

Starting with a power play goal at 13:39 of the second period, Falardeau would also score the only goal of the third period to send the game to OT. It was in the extra session that he found a loose puck in front of the Inferno net and beat a prone Mike Minard at 5:49 to propel the Checkers into the American Conference Semi Finals.

Alex Westlund stopped 32 shots to earn the win for the Checkers, while Minard made 36 stops in the loss for his club.

Charlotte will now advance to play the Gwinnett Gladiators in the hopes of earning a berth in the American Conference Finals. The other semi final series will feature the Florida Everblades against the Greenville Grrrowl.

National Conference

In the Northern Division, Reading will face off against Trenton for the division title, while the Western Division comes down to Alaska against Long Beach. The winner of each division will advance to the National Conference Final and a chance to compete for the Kelly Cup.



ECHL Stories from April 21, 2005


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