Checkers Ride Fast Start to Beat Barons
January 10, 2014 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Charlotte Checkers News Release
Charlotte took a 4-0 lead in the first period and hung on for a 5-2 victory in Oklahoma City on Friday - the first of back-to-back meetings against the West Division rivals. Matthew Pistilli led the way with two goals and Mike Murphy had 41 saves, tying the most by a Checkers goalie this season, as Charlotte won its second straight game and improved to 3-0-0 against the Barons this season.
Victor Rask, Chris Terry and Aaron Palushaj also scored for the Checkers, who out-shot the Barons 21-8 in the first period but saw the home team take a 35-16 advantage the rest of the way, closing the lead to two goals before Palushaj sealed it with an empty-netter. Charlotte, which plays the Barons nine more times this season, is now 9-2-0 in 11 all-time regular-season visits to Oklahoma City.
The Checkers, off since a win against the Texas Stars exactly one week earlier, got things rolling quickly when Rask scored on the first shot of the game, a wrist shot from the top of the circle that beat goalie Chet Pickard off the rush through a partial screen by a Barons defenseman just 33 seconds into the game. The goal snapped a 24-game goal drought for the rookie center, who last found the back of the net on Nov. 2.
Pistilli, who rejoined the Checkers on a professional tryout contract two weeks ago, added a second on the power play when Palushaj drew multiple defenders and dished a pass that found Pistilli alone in the slot for a one-on-one finish.
The Checkers would then get two goals in just 25 seconds when Terry caught a burst of speed down the left wing and beat Pickard five-hole while being hauled down. Pistilli, who had a pair of goals against Texas on Friday, then made it four in his last four periods by capitalizing on a giveaway in the neutral zone and chasing Pickard from the game with a forehand to backhand deke on the breakaway.
The early offensive outburst marked just the second four-goal first period in team history and first since Jan. 23, 2011. It was the most prolific period of this season, topping a pair of three-goal third periods, and the team's first with four goals since February of last season. The team's 21 shots on goal tied a season high.
After an evenly-played second period, the Barons did their best to replicate the Checkers' strong start with a strong finish in the third. With Richard Bachman, the team's normal starting goaltender, stopping all 21 shots he faced after relieving Pickard, it was the offense's turn to finally break through to Murphy, who managed to stay sharp despite a quiet opening frame.
Former ECHL Checker Matthew Ford struck first at the 3:53 mark of the third, taking a pass from a pileup behind the net and quickly taking a shot from the slot that beat the Checkers goalie to the blocker side. Ford also had a hand in his team's second goal with just over five minutes remaining, as the rebound of his shot from the right circle went right to Ryan Martindale in front.
With that goal resulting from what was already a prolonged period of Oklahoma City pressure that Murphy stood tall against, the Checkers weren't able to breathe easily when the Barons pulled Bachman for the extra attacker with just under two minutes to go. Palushaj's 10th goal of the season, an unassisted tally from the length of the ice with 1:11 remaining, erased those concerns, effectively sending the Checkers away winners.
With that goal, Palushaj, the Checkers' scoring leader who returned from a one-game NHL stint on Wednesday, now has 16 points (4g, 12a) in his last 12 AHL games. Terry also had a two-point night, extending his point streak to four games (3g, 2a).
• Discuss this story on the American Hockey League message board...
American Hockey League Stories from January 10, 2014
- Hogs Lead Third Period Push for 4-3 Win - Rockford IceHogs
- Stars Beat Heat 5-0 - Abbotsford Heat
- Nilstorp Shuts out Heat, Stars Take over First Place in Division - Texas Stars
- Welcome Back Mr. Jones - Manchester Monarchs
- Win Streak Frozen by Penguins - Adirondack Phantoms
- Griffins Fall to Wild, 3-2 - Grand Rapids Griffins
- Kostopoulos, Power Play Lift Penguins Past Phantoms - Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins
- Monsters Fall in Rockford 4-3 - Cleveland Monsters
- Admirals Rally to Sink Pirates 5-4 in Shootout - Norfolk Admirals
- Amerks Drop 2-1 Decision to Bulldogs on Hall of Fame Night - Rochester Americans
- Checkers Ride Fast Start to Beat Barons - Charlotte Checkers
- B-Sens Survive Hershey 4-2 - Binghamton Senators
- Sharks defeat Hartford - Hartford Wolf Pack
- Senators Battle Past Bears - Hershey Bears
- Complete Team Effort Swims Sharks Past Wolf Pack 3-1 - Worcester Sharks
- Manchester Pulls away from Sound Tigers Late - Bridgeport Islanders
- P-Bruins Blank Crunch 1-0 - Providence Bruins
- Pirates Sunk in Shootout by Admirals - Portland Pirates
- Ryan Craig Returned on Loan to Springfield - Springfield Falcons
- Falcons Win Streak Snapped with Loss to Devils - Springfield Falcons
- Bulldogs Win Sixth Straight, Drop Americans 2-1 - Hamilton Bulldogs
- Syracuse Edged by Providence in Shootout - Syracuse Crunch
- Wild Holds off Defending Champs, Beats Griffins 3-2 - Iowa Wild
- Wedgewood Earns First Career Shutout - Albany Devils
- Marlies Down IceCaps 3-2 - Toronto Marlies
- Marlies Edge IceCaps 3-2 - St. John's IceCaps
- Comets Fans and AUD Experience Praised - Utica Comets
- Comet Tales: Meet Dustin Flynn - Utica Comets
- Jets Recall Zach Redmond from IceCaps - St. John's IceCaps
- Wings Recall Sheahan, Reassign Parkes - Grand Rapids Griffins
- Anaheim Reassigns Goaltender Andersen to Norfolk; Recalls Gibson - Norfolk Admirals
- Tye McGinn Recalled by Flyers - Adirondack Phantoms
- Forsberg Reassigned to Milwaukee - Milwaukee Admirals
- AHL, IceCaps, Province to Hold All-Star Classic Contest - St. John's IceCaps
- Admirals Recall Defenseman Teigan Zahn from Utah - Norfolk Admirals
- Monsters Invade Barn this Weekend - Rockford IceHogs
- Amerks Loan Lepkowski to OHL's Oshawa Generals - Rochester Americans
- Penguins Announce Inaugural Hall of Fame Class - Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins
- Wolf Pack to Hold Open Public Address Announcer Tryout - Hartford Wolf Pack
- Lucy Hale to Perform Concert After Falcons Game January 20 - Springfield Falcons
- Pirates Open 2014 Home Schedule with Visit from Norfolk - Portland Pirates
- IceCaps to Honour NL Power, Nalcor and City Workers - St. John's IceCaps
- Late Goals Doom Comets - Utica Comets
- Barons Rally to Beat Comets in Overtime, 3-2 - Oklahoma City Barons
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.
