ECHL Charlotte Checkers

Checkers' Miles supplies heroics in OT against Wolves

Published on January 23, 2009 under ECHL (ECHL)
Charlotte Checkers News Release


Biloxi, Miss.- Despite a controversial goal by the Sea Wolves and a two goal deficit for the Checkers in the third period they fought their way back to win the game in overtime as Jeff Miles tallied the winning goal for a 6-5 victory.

The Sea Wolves started the scoring in the first period after Checkers goaltender Jeff Jakaitis stopped a point shot from Mississippi defenseman Kyle Peto but couldn't stop the rebound shot from Matt Deschamps at 6:40. The Checkers tied the contest on the power play when Chris Capraro skated to the slot and wristed a shot past traffic and behind Sea Wolves netminder Ryan Munce at 14:25. Charlotte got their first lead of the game when defenseman Chris Murray shot was stopped by Munce but the goalie couldn't control the rebound. Murray found the loose puck behind the net and struck for a wrap-around goal at 15:40. The home team tied the contest when forward Mathieu Melanson skated to the slot and sent the puck to an open Ryan Cruthers who rolled the puck just past the goal line on a sprawling Jakaitis at 18:07 locking the game at 2-2 after twenty minutes.

The scoring continued through the second period when the Checkers retrieved another one goal lead. Capraro blasted a shot on the power play over the glove of Munce just 53 seconds into the stanza putting Charlotte up 3-2. The Sea Wolves would get even again and this time it was a fluke goal scored by Kyle Peto when his centering pass went off the skates of Checkers defenseman Ken Scuderi and between the legs of Jakaitis at 1:51. Mississippi claimed another one-goal advantage when a point shot by Deschamps was deflected by Cruthers and over the shoulder of Jakaitis at 14:49. This gave the Sea Wolves a 4-3 lead after 40 minutes.

In the third period, things started to look bleak for Checkers as the Sea Wolves took their first two goal lead of the contest when Jason Tejchma scored on a sharp angle shot past Jakaitis at 6:04. Despite falling behind by a couple the Checkers tied the contest on another goal from Murray as he pinched in from the blueline and flipped a shot past Munce at 10:25. Mike Bayrack tied the contest at 5-5 when he took a nice feed from David Rutherford and blasted a one-timer into the net at 12:17.

Despite a late power play for the Sea Wolves that carried over into overtime, they couldn't convert. In the extra session, Charlotte was awarded with a man-advantage and Jeff Miles roofed a shot past Munce at 3:23 for a 6-5 victory.

The Checkers are playing their 16th season of play as a member of the ECHL. The next home game takes place on Sunday, Jan. 24th against the South Carolina Stingrays at 7 P.M. start. In the team's 15-year history, the Checkers have made the playoffs 11 times including four consecutive playoff appearances to date. The Checkers are in their fourth season of play at Time Warner Cable Arena. Season tickets are on sale now with full-season packages starting at just $396. For season ticket information, please call 704-342-4-ICE or visit www.gocheckers.com.

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ECHL Stories from January 23, 2009


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