Checkers Rally Late But Fall in Shootout
December 19, 2014 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Charlotte Checkers News Release
Carrick nets first pro goal, LaRose gives team late lead, but Rampage prevail 3-2
Despite mounting a two-goal rally to take a late lead in the third period, the Checkers surrendered a last-minute goal and ultimately fell to San Antonio 3-2 in the eighth round of the shootout.
After the teams traded chances through a scoreless first period, the Rampage found the back of the net midway through the second frame, as a puck thrown on net found its way through traffic and careened off a skate. The Checkers still couldn't solve San Antonio goalie Dan Ellis and the Rampage carried the one-goal lead into the final period.
Midway through the third, Charlotte answered. Brock McGinn came in hard on the forecheck, lighting up a San Antonio player to keep the puck in the zone and then sliding a pass to fellow rookie Trevor Carrick, who buried a wrister from the slot and knotted the game at one apiece for his first professional goal.
Both teams continued to press and create chances, but it was the Checkers' ailing power play unit that finally came through, as Chad LaRose fired a shot that snuck its way through Ellis and over the goal line to give LaRose his second goal in as many games and Charlotte the lead with under three minutes to play.
The Rampage were relentless on their attack however, and Ryan Martindale beat Drew MacIntyre with just 18 seconds left in regulation to force the game into overtime.
After a fruitless overtime that saw both teams come close and the Checkers successfully kill a rare overtime penalty, the game headed to a shootout, the second one Charlotte has this season. Both goalies were up to the task, stonewalling all shooters up until the eighth round, when defenseman Alex Petrovic lit the lamp and clinched the two points for San Antonio.
Skating in their third game in four nights, the Checkers again turned in a strong performance, with a less desirable result.
"I thought it was a great game," said head coach Jeff Daniels. "It's a tough way to lose in the shootout but I really liked the way we played and I thought it was an excellent game to coach and watch. We need two points but we'll take the point."
The game turned for the Checkers after a big hit from Carrick sparked the two teams to come together and two fights to break out. The play seemed to ignite the team, who would quickly come out and grab the tying goal.
"Dennis Robertson gets in there and gets the meat tenderizer out on that guy's face and I loved it," said Kyle Hagel, no stranger to fights himself as he picked up his league-leading 11th of the season just a few feet away. "The boys were just stirring the pot a little bit and that's our style to get us back into it and I think that that's what got us the tie and take the lead."
Surrendering the late goal that knotted things up was certainly a tough pill for the Checkers to swallow, but they had their chances in the extra period, even with having to kill an ill-timed penalty.
"To give one up with 17 seconds left was tough on the bench but I thought we came out in overtime with a big kill," said Daniels.
Once the game hit the shootout, it essentially turns into a crap shoot.
"It's just luck," said Daniels. "The deeper you go you're just kind of picking a guy at that point and hopefully you pick the right one."
The team will get a well-deserved day off tomorrow before returning to the ice for a rematch with the Rampage. The Checkers will undoubtedly be looking for the same caliber performance to knock off this powerful San Antonio team that now sits two points away from the West Division lead and go into the holidays on a high note.
"I think we're getting used to playing a lot of these low-scoring, one-goal games," said Daniels. "The guys played real hard considering it was back-to-back and they (San Antonio) didn't play last night. They were fresh and I thought we did a lot of good things."
"We had a pretty slow start but we stuck with the program over the 60 minutes tonight and we fought hard and we've just got to bring the same work ethic and intensity (Sunday) and I think we'll be OK," said Carrick.
"We've got to take that momentum that we had in the third period and bring that right from the start," said Hagel. "We've just got to try to shake it off and be better on Sunday."
• Discuss this story on the American Hockey League message board...
American Hockey League Stories from December 19, 2014
- Dallas Reassigns McKenzie to Texas - Texas Stars
- Stolen by Stolie - Lehigh Valley Phantoms
- Miele Leads Griffins to 7-1 Win over Toronto - Grand Rapids Griffins
- B-Sens Squander Lead, Lose to Falcons 6-5 - Binghamton Senators
- Checkers Rally Late But Fall in Shootout - Charlotte Checkers
- Comets Shoot Down the Stars in Overtime - Utica Comets
- Amerks Get Past Flames with 3-2 Shootout Win - Rochester Americans
- Norfolk Surrenders First of Back-To-Back with Bridgeport, 5-2 - Norfolk Admirals
- Flames Drop 3-2 Shootout Decision in Rochester - Adirondack Flames
- Gudlevskis Shutout Extends Crunch Win - Syracuse Crunch
- Wolf Pack Blanked by Crunch 2-0 - Hartford Wolf Pack
- IceCaps Best Bulldogs 4-2 - Hamilton Bulldogs
- Penguins Handed 4-2 Loss by Devils - Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins
- Pirates Fall to Bruins in OT Nail-Biter - Portland Pirates
- Falcons Nudge Senators, 6-5 - Springfield Falcons
- Sharks Can't Solve Monarchs - Worcester Sharks
- Jaffray Records Four Points as IceCaps Down Bulldogs - St. John's IceCaps
- Andreoff, LoVerde Score Twice in 4-1 Win over Sharks - Manchester Monarchs
- Devils Power Play Freezes Penguins - Albany Devils
- Rampage Pick up 3-2 Shootout Win over Charlotte - San Antonio Rampage
- Providence Bruins Defeat Portland Pirates, 3-2 in Overtime - Providence Bruins
- Stars Pick up a Point in Overtime Loss - Texas Stars
- Marlies Come up Short against Griffins - Toronto Marlies
- Stolarz, Phantoms Blank Bears - Hershey Bears
- Zepp Recalled from Loan by Flyers - Lehigh Valley Phantoms
- Canadiens Recall Sven Andrighetto, Joey Macdonald from Bulldogs - Hamilton Bulldogs
- Blue Jackets Recall Center Alexander Wennberg and Defenseman Cody Goloubef - Springfield Falcons
- Kings Recall Jeff Schultz from Manchester - Manchester Monarchs
- Amerks to Hold Annual Hometown Heroes Night on Friday, January 2 - Rochester Americans
- Stalberg Assigned to Milwaukee - Milwaukee Admirals
- Springfield Falcons Reassign Defeneseman Mike Dipaolo to Ontario - Springfield Falcons
- Amerks to Celebrate "12 Days of Hockey" on Saturday - Rochester Americans
- Kostopoulos to Serve as Team Captain at 2015 AHL All-Star Classic - Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins
- Fortunus Named Captain for Western Conference All-Stars Stars - Texas Stars
- Tom Kostopoulos, Maxime Fortunus Named Playing Captains for 2015 AHL All-Star Classic - AHL
- Canadiens Assign Tokarski to Bulldogs for Conditioning, Also Assign Tangradi - Hamilton Bulldogs
- Admirals Reassign Goaltender Ryan Faragher - Norfolk Admirals
- Capitals Re-Assign Andre Burakovsky to Hershey - Hershey Bears
The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.
Other Recent Charlotte Checkers Stories
- First Round Preview: Checkers vs. Wolf Pack
- Checkers Fall to Phantoms in Regular Season Finale
- Checkers Hand Hershey 4-1 Defeat
- Bojangles Game Preview: April 20 at Hershey
- Spencer Knight Wins Fred T. Hunt Award for Sportsmanship, Determination and Dedication to Hockey