Leonard Strikes Twice as Checkers Stifle Phantoms 4-1
AHL Charlotte Checkers

Leonard Strikes Twice as Checkers Stifle Phantoms 4-1

Published on March 8, 2025 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Charlotte Checkers News Release


CHARLOTTE, NC - The Checkers defended their home ice Saturday night, taking down the Phantoms 4-1 behind a two-goal performance from John Leonard.

The first 40 minutes of play saw Charlotte continue its season-long trend of suffocating opponents by holding Lehigh Valley to just three shots in each period and keeping them off the scoreboard. Leonard provided the offense, posting a power-play tally late in the first and doubling the lead late in the second by finishing off a give-and-go with Rasmus Asplund.

The Phantoms ramped things up in the third - outshooting Charlotte 12-5 - and cut into the home team's lead midway through the frame when a quick shot deflected off a Checkers player and into the back of the net.

The Checkers were able to regain control of the contest, though, and Oliver Okuliar gave them some breathing room with a snipe in the final four minutes. An empty-net strike from Will Lockwood and strong play down the stretch from Cooper Black kept the visitors at bay, and the Checkers skated away with a solid 4-1 victory.

Quotes

Coach Geordie Kinnear on the game

I thought the first two periods were really good. We were making plays, we were skating and you saw our identity. In the third period we stopped skating and kind of made it interesting at the end, but I really liked the first two periods.

Kinnear on the power play scoring another goal

Confidence is a wonderful thing. When you do things right you're going to get rewarded at the right time. They made a play, but if you look at it, they were skating on the power-play breakout which is a big part of how we play and how we do our special teams. When you skate, good things happen.

Kinnear on John Leonard

Loves to score, does it the right way and has really improved over time. When his legs are moving, he's a real dynamic player. We're very fortunate to have him. He just loves the game and has such a passion for us. I'll repeat myself, he loves to score goals.

Kinnear on a third-period injury to Justin Sourdif

I don't have an update. I haven't really been in there to be honest, but a good job by the group to rally around and get the job done in the third when we had a short bench.

John Leonard on getting an early lead

I think we came out good. Obviously we want to score that first goal. (Sourdif) made a good play at the net and I was able to kind of pick up the garbage there. You want to have a lead after the first, and we were able to do that.

Leonard on limiting shots against

I think we did a good job in the first two periods of keeping everything to the outside, and Coop made some big saves when we needed it. In the third, obviously you know they're going to come out with a push down 2-0, and I thought they did a better job than us to start that period off, but at the end of the day we were able to close it out.

Leonard on his line with Rasmus Asplund and Will Lockwood

Playing with Aspy is awesome, same with Locker. Locker is one of the hardest-working guys I know, and he can make some really good plays as well. Aspy is so smart with the puck and good on draws. They both do all the little things really easily, and it's really easy and fun to play with those guys.

Leonard on the power play

I think we just needed to take a step back. Obviously it's a long year and you might not be perfect the whole season, but you've got to find ways to keep things simple, watch video, slow things down and just kind of realize the plays that are there.

Notes

This was Leonard's fourth multi-goal game of the season. He is one of just six AHL players with at least 25 goals. His previous career high was 17 ... Asplund has 15 points (5g, 10a) in his last 17 games ... After scoring just one power-play goal in February (1-for-26), the Checkers have three power-play goals in March (3-for-17) ... The Checkers allowed fewer than 23 shots in each of their last nine games. They lead the AHL with an average of 22.9 shots allowed per game ... The Checkers are 2-1-0 against Lehigh Valley in the season series that concludes tomorrow ... Sourdif has four points (2g, 2a) in his last three games ... Tobias Bjornfot has assists in consecutive games (2a) ... Checkers scratches included forwards Zac Dalpe, Mackenzie Entwistle, Riley Hughes, Riese Gaber, Ryan McAllister, Aidan McDonough and Sandis Vilmanis; defensemen Marek Alscher and Mitch Vande Sompel; and goaltender Kaapo Kahkonen.

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