Knight Shuts out Islanders for Thrilling Win
February 12, 2022 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Charlotte Checkers News Release
CHARLOTTE, NC - The Checkers and Islanders engaged in another tightly contested battle on Saturday, but a stellar performance from Spencer Knight and a clutch tally from Scott Wilson lifted Charlotte to a thrilling 2-0 victory.
The first 57 minutes of play saw both sides applying waves of pressure but not seeing anything break through on the scoreboard. A late power play set the stage for Wilson to play hero, however, as he swooped in and fired a quick shot that snuck through the Bridgeport netminder to claim a lead for Charlotte.
That would prove to be all the home side needed, as Knight stepped up between the pipes and frustrated the Islanders from start to finish with 25 saves. The visitors would mount one last push in the final moments but couldn't solve Knight, and a Kole Lind empty netter sealed the rookie netminder's shutout victory.
Quotes
Coach Geordie Kinnear on the game "Tonight was a gritty win. We weren't in love with our game yesterday. That's on me to get them organized and I didn't think we were organized yesterday. Today we were more organized and the compete level was there where it needs to be. A gritty effort in a playoff-type game that you want to be able to win. The power play didn't have its way for the two games but then it comes up with the big goal. To me it's a matter of when you score power-play goals, and that was a big one."
Kinnear on Spencer Knight "He comes down with a great attitude and he was big and gave the guys a ton of confidence. That's why he's an elite goaltender, but the group in front of him did a great job too with paying a price to keep the puck out of the net. All around, a good team win."
Kinnear on the message to the team "Enjoy this one, because it's a hard-fought game. Watch the Super Bowl tomorrow and come to work on Monday, because nothing changes for us. We come in every day to continue to get better. We have some things to continue to get better at as a team and as individuals, so we have to be ready to come to work on Monday."
Notes This was Knight's first professional shutout ... It was the Checkers' second of the season (Chris Gibson - Nov. 12 at WBS) ... Wilson's goal gave him 10 points (6g, 4a) in his last 10 games ... Dennis Cholowski has a point in each of his first two games as a Checker (1g, 1a) ... Lind has 12 points (7g, 5a) in his last 12 games ... The Checkers improved to 4-3-0 against Bridgeport with one game remaining in the season series (at Bridgeport Feb. 27) ... Grigori Denisenko, Max Gildon, John Ludvig, Gustaf Olofsson and Christopher Gibson missed the game due to injury ... Jacob Friend, Nolan Kneen, Ryan Lohin and Justin Nachbaur were healthy extras.
Up Next
The home stand rolls on for Charlotte as they host the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins on Tuesday
• Discuss this story on the American Hockey League message board...
American Hockey League Stories from February 12, 2022
- Sherwood's Hat Trick Highlights Colorado's 8-1 Win over Roadrunners - Colorado Eagles
- IceHogs Sweep Home-And-Home in Shootout, Win Season Series against Wolves - Rockford IceHogs
- Bears Bite B-Sens in Back-And-Forth Affair - Belleville Senators
- Wolves Extend Home Point Streak to 14 Games - Chicago Wolves
- Amerks Gain Point in Overtime Loss to Hartford - Rochester Americans
- Early-Period Goals Lift Penguins over Phantoms, 3-2 - Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins
- Strong Second Period Pushes Admirals Past Stars - Texas Stars
- Phantoms Run out of Time against Penguins - Lehigh Valley Phantoms
- Monsters Shine in 2-1 Victory over Comets - Cleveland Monsters
- Ice-O-Topes Rout Bruins in Front of Sellout Crowd - Springfield Thunderbirds
- Jonny Brodzinski Scores Overtime Winner as Wolf Pack Edge Americans 2-1 in Overtime - Hartford Wolf Pack
- Bears Prevail in Special Teams Slugfest with Belleville - Hershey Bears
- Providence Bruins Fall to Springfield Thunderbirds, 5-1 - Providence Bruins
- Comets Suffer Home Loss to Monsters, Lose 2-1 - Utica Comets
- Checkers Keep Islanders off the Board, 2-0 - Bridgeport Islanders
- Knight Shuts out Islanders for Thrilling Win - Charlotte Checkers
- Dallas Stars Recall Defenseman Thomas Harley from Texas - Texas Stars
- Tampa Bay Lightning Reassign Defenseman Darren Raddysh to Syracuse Crunch - Syracuse Crunch
- Crunch Defeated by Rocket, 5-1 - Syracuse Crunch
- Seattle Assigns Antoine Bibeau to Charlotte - Charlotte Checkers
- 5 Things: Heat vs. Ontario - Stockton Heat
- Phantoms Add Three, Cates Recalled - Lehigh Valley Phantoms
- Heat Aim for Weekend Split Saturday against Ontario - Stockton Heat
- Minnesota Wild Acquires Forward Brandon Baddock from the Montreal Canadiens in Exchange for Andrew Hammond - Iowa Wild
- Wolf Pack Host Americans on Olympics Night at XL Center - Hartford Wolf Pack
- Detroit Recalls Dan Renouf - Grand Rapids Griffins
- Game Preview: Senators at Bears, 7 p.m. - Hershey Bears
- IceHogs and Wolves Meet in Chicago for Second Matchup of Home-And-Home Series - Rockford IceHogs
- Game #40: Tucson at Colorado - Tucson Roadrunners
- Silver Knights Fall, 3-2, to Condors - Henderson Silver Knights
- Abby Hangs 8 on the Moose, Cruise to 8-2 Win - Abbotsford Canucks
- Barracuda Put 45 Shots on Net But Fall 4-2 to the Gulls - San Jose Barracuda
- Gulls Continue to Haunt San Jose - San Diego Gulls
- Reign Cruises past Heat - Ontario Reign
- Moose Walloped at Abbotsford - Manitoba Moose
- Belleville Sens Knock off Pens to Win Third Straight - Belleville Senators
- Heat Drop Front End of Weekend Back-To-Back against Ontario - Stockton Heat
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.
