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Charlotte Checkers

Offensive Drought Continues as Checkers Fall 2-1

March 5, 2016 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Charlotte Checkers News Release


CHARLOTTE, NC - The offensive drought for the Checkers continued Saturday night, as they couldn't muster up a rally and fell 2-1 to Grand Rapids.

After a tightly contested back-and-forth start to the first, the Griffins blew the game open with back-to-back shorthanded goals. Both instances saw the Checkers create solid chances before seeing the visitors swing back up the ice and counter, propelling themselves to a two-goal lead after 20 minutes.

The Checkers were finally able to break their way onto the scoreboard midway through the second when newcomer Anthony Camara dangled the puck to the front of the net, where trailer Keegan Lowe swooped in to hammer it home. Charlotte kept the pressure up, finishing the first two periods with a total of 29 shots, but there was no more scoring in the second and they headed into the third within one.

Things slowed down in the third, with the two teams combining for just 14 shots on goal, but the Checkers continued to battle for the equalizer. They saw two consecutive man advantages down the stretch but couldn't convert, followed by a flurry of action in the final two minutes. But the Griffins stood strong and squashed the rally attempt, surviving with a 2-1 win.

Tonight's contest saw one of the strongest efforts in recent memory from the Checkers, gaining some offensive flow that has been eluding them. But they weren't able to spark enough to erase those two early mistakes.

"I thought we worked exceptionally hard," said head coach Mark Morris. "It was kind of firewagon hockey from the get-go and a lot of chances both ways.

"Unfortunately we had to dig out from the rut we created for ourselves when we gave up two shorthanded goals. That's inexcusable. When we scored that gave us a little life, but if you give up two shorthanded goals and stop playing when you're a man up, that's pretty tough to swallow."

The two shorthanded goals so close together deflated what was shaping up to be a strong first frame from the home team.

"A lack of focus and a lack of compete," said Morris of what caused those miscues. "When you're a man up, you've got to make sure that you do your utmost to bear down and take advantage. We were way too casual. Credit them with a determined effort on the penalty kill. We got sloppy and they buried their chances."

Lowe's goal to pull the Checkers within one seemed to inject life into the team, who showed some of the energy that they exuded earlier in the season.

"Lately we've really been struggling to score some goals, and to get one and finally get rewarded feels good," said Zach Boychuk. "You could tell we started to play a lot better. In both games this weekend we out-shot them and took it to them for quite a bit of the play so I guess you have to take the positives."

Unfortunately for them, they couldn't find a way to convert on those opportunities, and their frustrating offensive shortcomings continued to weigh on them.

"I think it's all about confidence," said Boychuk. "When things are going well they're always going to go in for you and when things aren't, you might be gripping your stick a little harder. Tonight we had a couple of posts, same as last night, and they just don't seem to be finding their way into the net. Take the pride in practice where you can focus and when you're out here in the games you've got to really bear down and focus on putting it in."

Morris again mentioned that the goal drought doesn't stem from a lack of effort, but remains frustrated along with the team.

"I think the chances will continue to come because the guys continue to work hard," he said. "We just need a little polish to our game right now. It's extremely exasperating watching the chances that we're getting and not being able to capitalize. Breakaways, yawning nets, near misses. Hopefully at some point here we're going to get goals in bunches and start to be able to see some rewards for our work."

For Morris, there's only so much he can do from a coaching perspective to get things going offensively.

"The guys in the room have got to figure it out," said Morris. "We're still correcting positional things and trying to motivate, but in the end when that door opens, hopefully the work that you did throughout the week is going to pay dividends. We haven't seen much consistency over the last month or so."

The Checkers now move on to a weekday series with the Chicago Wolves starting Tuesday. As the games continue to dwindle, each division contest increases in importance. That fact isn't lost on the players, who remain dead-set on breaking this slump and fighting back into contention.

"It's huge," said Boychuk of this home stand. "It's right up in our locker room where we walk in the room so everybody knows that we're fighting for our lives and fighting for a playoff push. Every game means a lot, and we're basically already in playoff mode trying to get in."

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