AHL Charlotte Checkers

Checkers Win Again, 4-3

Published on October 26, 2002 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Charlotte Checkers News Release


CHARLOTTE, NC – October 25, 2002: The Charlotte Checkers stayed unbeaten at home with a 4-3 come from behind victory over the Roanoke Express Friday night at Cricket Arena. The Checkers won both ends of their two-game homestand to improve to 2-2-1 for five points. Just as they did in Wednesday's 4-2 win over Richmond, the Checkers used four different scorers to get the job done and rode the solid goaltending of Niklas Sundberg to victory. Allen Egeland, Kevin Caulfield, Eddie Pershin and Dusty Jamieson lit the lamp for the Checkers and Sundberg did the rest. For the third time in their first five games, Charlotte trailed by two goals but rallied back.

"The key word is character and the guys showed it once again tonight after being down 2-0," stated Checkers Head Coach Don MacAdam. "We didn't think this group would score as much as they have been and we've been pleasantly surprised by their offense. We thought we'd be a little better defensively, but we've been so short on "D" with our injuries. Once we get healthy we feel we'll be fine."

Roanoke scored first at 8:35 of the first period as Jason Jaffray poked home a loose puck in a goal mouth scramble on assists from Dylan Gyori and Rick Kowalsky for a 1-0 Express lead. Roanoke increased its' lead to 2-0 as Kowalsky fired a 30 foot shot over the left shoulder of Sundberg at 11:06. The Checkers came back to slice Roanoke's lead in half as Allan Egeland tipped in a shot from close range by Roanoke keeper Evan Lindsay as the teams went to the locker room with the Express holding a 2-1 lead.

In the second period Charlotte tied up the game at 3:12 as Caulfield notched his first of the season firing a rebound by Lindsay knotting the score at 2-2. The Express came right back at 5:16 on another poke in from in close, as Dan Sullivan got credit for the goal and Roanoke took the lead again at 3-2. Once again the Checkers fought back as Pershin's 25 footer on a Charlotte power play at 7:35 eluded Lindsay, and the game was tied again at 3-3 which held to the end of two periods

Charlotte took their first lead of the game at 7:19 of the final stanza as rookie Dusty Jamieson scored on a rebound off a Caulfield shot for his first professional goal and a 4-3 Checkers lead. The Express pounded away but couldn't knot the match. The Checkers improved their record to 2-2-1 for five points while Roanoke suffered its' first loss of the season and fell to 3-1-1 for seven points.

The Checkers will be off until Friday when they'll travel to Greenville to take on the Grrrowl, before returning home the following night, Saturday, November 2 to host the Greensboro Generals.

NOTES: Suzuki and Egeland both extended their point scoring streaks to five games in Friday's win over Roanoke,,,,,,,Defenseman Jeff State was recalled by the Hartford Wolf Pack after Friday night's game,,,,,,,,The Checkers also announced that defenseman Chad McIver has been added to the roster and will begin practicing with the team this week.

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American Hockey League Stories from October 26, 2002


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