Checkers win fourth straight with 4-1 win over Stingrays
Published on February 15, 2004 under ECHL (ECHL)
Charlotte Checkers News Release
(Charlotte, NC - Sunday, February 15) The Checkers continued their surge toward a playoff spot in the ECHL's Southern Division with a 4-2 victory Saturday night over the South Carolina Stingrays at Cricket Arena. Konrad McKay had two goals and an assist for Charlotte as the Checkers won their fourth straight. Rory Rawlyk and Mike Wirll also tallied for Charlotte while goalie David St. Germain made 33 saves in gaining his 13th win of the season. The Checkers also improved to 7-1-1 under interim coach Derek Wilkinson, who took over the coaching reins on January 29.
"The guys really dug down deep tonight," remarked Wilkinson. "We were short coming in tonight and then lost two guys during the second period. Once again our goaltending was great and our special teams were terrific too. I don't think there's a better penalty killing unit in the league right now."
At 6:22 of the first period the Stingrays took a 1-0 lead. Marty Clapton's fluttering shot from just inside the blue line somehow eluded St. Germain who appeared to also slip on the play. The Checkers special teams continued to sparkle as Charlotte equalized on a short-handed goal by McKay. The play started when defenseman Jeff State slowly moved the puck into the Stingrays zone and then passed it to McKay who tipped it by Stingrays' goalie Kirk Daubenspeck to tie the game at 1-1 at 13:33. Charlotte took its first lead of the game on a power-play goal at 19:26 by Rawlyk to take a 2-1 lead to the locker room after the first period of play. The two teams combined took 34 first-period shots with the Checkers outshooting the Stingrays 19-15.
Charlotte increased its lead to 3-1 at 7:05 of the second period as Wirll's flick toward the net somehow ended up behind Daubenspeck. For Wirll the goal was his eighth in his last 11 games. South Carolina rallied back on an odd-man rush goal by Matt Desrosiers off an assist from Jim Lorentz at 15:41 to cut the Charlotte advantage to 3-2. The Checkers lost both Doug Christiansen and Allan Egeland to injuries in the second period, and neither returned.
In the third period Charlotte kept the pressure on the Stingrays, outshooting South Carolina 14-6. With their goalie pulled for an extra attacker, the Checkers put the game away with McKay's empty-net goal with 25 second left in the contest for the 4-2 final. Charlotte moved to 26-19-6 for 58 points while South Carolina fell to 28-17-3 for 59 points.
The Checkers trail the Stingrays by one point for the fourth and final playoff spot in the Southern Division. Charlotte will close out its' three-game week Sunday afternoon when they'll host the Roanoke Express at 3:00 p.m. at Cricket Arena.
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