Sports stats

AHL Charlotte Checkers

Cornell Scores Twice as Checkers Fall to Admirals

November 13, 2015 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Charlotte Checkers News Release


CHARLOTTE, NC - The Checkers kept battling but couldn't quite put away the visiting Milwaukee Admirals, who escaped with a 4-3 victory Friday night.

After falling behind 2-1 midway through the second, the Checkers traded tallies with the Admirals, with Justin Shugg tying the game early in the third with a one-time blast off an offensive zone faceoff. But it was Max Reinhart who would have the last laugh, potting a breakaway goal two minutes later to put the Admirals back on top. The Checkers continued to mount pressure throughout the rest of regulation, including a furious stretch in the final minute, but couldn't find the late-game magic typical of some other games this season, falling by one goal.

Mike Cornell, who rejoined the Checkers on a professional tryout contract Thursday to help flesh out an ailing blue line, provided most of the offense for Charlotte, threading two shots from the point through traffic and in for the first multi-goal game of his pro career.

He was thrown into a tough situation as the Checkers, who can't seem to catch a break when it comes to defensemen. For the third straight game, they played the majority with just five blueliners due to an ailment affecting Rasmus Rissanen. Given the circumstances, Cornell and the rest of the defensive corps held their own.

"We had some guys really step up," said head coach Mark Morris. "Cornell did a fabulous job of stepping in and generating some offense from the point, and again, our workhorses were [Trevor] Carrick and [Jaccob] Slavin."

While the Checkers were able to produce some offense and battle back multiple times, their downfall was quickly allowing the Admirals to jump back into the games, with Milwaukee's third and fourth goal coming within three minutes of a Checkers' tally.

"We let them back in as soon as we struck back and climbed back into the game," said Morris. "It was pretty disheartening to work that hard to get a goal and then give one up right after. I can't fault our guys for all the energy we expended. We worked our tails off but we've got to do a better job of shutting them down."

"I think any time after a goal for or against it's important to have a strong shift the next shift," said Cornell. "Whether that's just getting the puck deep right away and trying to kill that momentum, I think that's important. Obviously tonight they responded really quickly and that kind of did us in."

While the Checkers certainly had their foot on the gas in the last half of the third trying to get that tying goal, credit has to be given to Milwaukee's rookie netminder Juuse Saros, who made 29 stops and frustrated the home team all night.

"Their goalie stood on his head," said Morris. "He was sensational in the latter part of the game. We did everything we could to score a goal and he stopped them all."

The Checkers will have a quick 24 hours to regroup before facing this same Milwaukee team in a rematch tomorrow night. While there were plenty of positives in Charlotte's game tonight, the team will definitely take a look at their mistakes in hopes of erasing them.

"The game is so fast and things happen quickly and you just have to react a lot of times," said Cornell. "But I'm sure we'll watch a lot of video and break it down and have a plan of attack for tomorrow."

Morris has a simple message for his team going into the rematch.

"Get a good focus and get right back to work."

NOTES

Cornell had seven goals in his previous 79 AHL games ... Center David Wohlberg had his first multi-point game of the season ... Zach Boychuk's career-long goal drought extended to 13 games ... The Checkers have not won consecutive games since starting the season with three consecutive victories from Oct. 10-16 ... Milwaukee has now won five in a fow and has points in seven of its last eight games (6-1-1) ... Brock McGinn was back in the Checkers' lineup for first time since Oct. 11 ... Forward T.J. Hensick and defensemen Danny Biega, Tyler Ganly and Keegan Lowe missed the game due to injury.

Check out the Charlotte Checkers Statistics



American Hockey League Stories from November 13, 2015


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



Sports Statistics from the Stats Crew
OurSports Central