Griffins Hold off Late Checkers Charge to Win 5-2
Published on February 7, 2026 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Charlotte Checkers News Release
The Checkers made a late charge and came ever so close to tying the game in the third period, but the Grand Rapids Griffins ultimately held on to prevail 5-2 on Saturday.
At one point down 3-1 in the second period, the Checkers got an all-hustle goal by sparkplug forward Riese Gaber to cut the lead to one heading into the third. It appeared that Robert Mastrosimone may have tied the game with his second goal of the night by putting away the rebound of a MacKenzie Entwistle shot that lay motionless on the goal line behind Griffins goaltender Sebastian Cossa, but referees had lost sight of the puck and blew the play dead prior to the conversion.
Charlotte, which out-shot the Griffins 34-13 over the last two periods and 40-21 for the game, could not find the back of the net for the necessary third time and gave up a pair of empty-net goals to make the final score somewhat flattering to the visitors.
This was Charlotte's first regulation loss against the league-leading Griffins, who improved to 35-7-3 on the season. The Checkers went 2-1-1 in the season series.
After failing to find the back of the net in Charlotte's 3-0 win one night prior, the Griffins struck first just prior to the five-minute mark in this contest on a nice passing play finished by Alex Doucet. Mastrosimone would cancel that when he scored on a two-on-one with Wilmer Skoog despite his stick breaking on the one-time shot.
The Griffins pulled away for good with the next two goals, the first of which was a back-door finish by Ondrej Becher with 40 seconds left in the first period, and the second of which was a shot from the point by defenseman Antti Tuomisto that may have hit off a Charlotte defender before finding its way past Checkers goalie Kirill Gerasimyuk.
QUOTES
Coach Geordie Kinnear on his team's response to this game
They're a smart group, they know when they play well and when they don't. They played well tonight. A good hockey game back and forth, tight-checking and they scored one more than we did. Move on.
Kinnear on a third-period injury to captain Trevor Carrick
I'm not sure exactly the extent of it, but it's not good.
Kinnear on Nolan Foote's return from injury
I thought he was a determined hockey player. I thought he played really well. Physicality, big body. We had four lines going, and I thought he had a good game.
Kinnear on playing four straight games against two of the leauge's best teams (Providence and Grand Rapids)
Those are two really good hockey teams. We're taking small steps along the way. I'm not going to put a stamp on that right now, but we've built over the course of the year. Regardless of the results in this four-game set, I thought we moved the needle which is very, very important. Winning is very hard, especially in the end. You've got to make sure you've got a steady build each and every game, regardless of the outcome. I was pretty proud of the group for the last couple of games.
Kinnear on the All-Star break
Just decompress and rest up. It's a tough stretch of games all the way to the end because it only gets harder from here. These guys make a lot of sacrifices along the way, so anytime you can see friends and family and get away from the game, I think it's pretty important. I'm excited that they get a rest.
NOTES
Mastrosimone has 12 points (7g, 5a) in his last 10 games ... Mikulas Hovorka played for the third consecutive night (one NHL game with Florida, two with Charlotte) ... The Checkers went 0-for-8 on the power play in the two-game set against the league's best penalty kill ... Griffins forward Austin Watson racked up 36 penalty minutes for the weekend. Only one Checkers player (Ben Steeves) has more than 36 penalty minutes this season (60) ... Checkers forward Nolan Foote returned to the lineup after missing two games due to injury.
American Hockey League Stories from February 7, 2026
- Stars Surge Past Moose for Seventh Straight Win - Texas Stars
- Bears Pick up Point in 4-3 Overtime Loss to Penguins - Hershey Bears
- Amerks Head into All-Star Break with 5-1 Win over Comets - Rochester Americans
- Hayes Hat Trick Lifts Penguins over Bears in OT, 4-3 - Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins
- Cavallin, P-Bruins Top Wolf Pack in Shootout for 10th Straight Victory - Providence Bruins
- Griffins Take 5-2 Win over Checkers in Last Game Before All-Star Break - Grand Rapids Griffins
- Wolf Pack Fall, 2-1, in Shootout to Bruins - Hartford Wolf Pack
- Senators Trade Blows Early, Fall, 5-2, to Crunch - Belleville Senators
- Crunch Take Down Senators, 5-2 - Syracuse Crunch
- Ads Downed by IceHogs - Milwaukee Admirals
- Canucks Split Back to Back against the Barracuda with a 2-1 Win - Abbotsford Canucks
- Phantoms Tripped at Bridgeport - Lehigh Valley Phantoms
- Foudy's Hat-Trick Leads Isles to 5-1 Victory over Phantoms - Bridgeport Islanders
- Griffins Hold off Late Checkers Charge to Win 5-2 - Charlotte Checkers
- Comets Clipped 5-1 by Rochester on Star Wars Night - Utica Comets
- T-Birds Fall in Volatile Affair against Marlies - Springfield Thunderbirds
- Monsters Fall 4-1 in Final Meeting with Rocket - Cleveland Monsters
- Hartford Wolf Pack Ink Defenseman Travis Dermott to PTO - Hartford Wolf Pack
- Reign Preview - Ontario vs. Bakersfield - Ontario Reign
- Preview: Phantoms at Bridgeport, Game 45 - Lehigh Valley Phantoms
- Preview: Condors at Reign, 6 p.m. - Bakersfield Condors
- Game Preview: Bears vs. Penguins, 7 p.m. - Hershey Bears
- New York Rangers Reassign G Callum Tung to ECHL's Bloomington Bison - Hartford Wolf Pack
- Bears Release Phil Waugh from Tryout Agrement - Hershey Bears
- Syracuse Crunch Loan Forward Spencer Kersten to Orlando Solar Bears - Syracuse Crunch
- Barracuda Crush Canucks with Five-Goal Third - San Jose Barracuda
- Reign Win Over Condors, 4-3 - Ontario Reign
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.
