Phantoms Steal Victory from Checkers with Late Goal
March 9, 2025 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Charlotte Checkers News Release
CHARLOTTE, NC - The Checkers and Phantoms traded blows throughout Sunday's rematch, but a late penalty on Charlotte proved to be the difference in a 3-2 loss for the home side.
A late tally in the first by Lehigh Valley broke up what had been a stalemate early, but Trevor Carrick opened the next frame by hammering a shot past the Phantoms netminder to even the score. The back-and-forth affair rolled on as the visitors jumped ahead once again before the second intermission, but the Checkers picked up the equalizer quickly in the third as a rebound careened off of Jesse Puljujarvi and into the back of the net.
The Checkers continued to push down the stretch - doubling up Lehigh Valley in shots - but the game remained deadlocked as the clock ticked down toward the end of regulation. Charlotte was handed an unfortunate delay of game penalty in the final moments, though, and with 31 seconds remaining the Phantoms converted on the man advantage to steal the victory from the Checkers.
Quotes
Coach Geordie Kinnear on the game
I thought it was definitely a grind. If you look at our schedule, it's been a grind. We did a good job in the third period of embracing what kind of a grind it was going to be. We scored the goal, but too many penalties ended up biting us in the end. You can only take so many penalties before it's going to cost you, and it cost us tonight.
Kinnear on the physical nature of the game
Obviously they (Lehigh Valley) didn't like their game yesterday and they wanted to respond. We know that. It's happened a hundred times in here on back-to-back nights. I thought the guys actually did a good job of embracing the type of game. Actually a noon-hour game with the daylight savings. I thought they did a good job embracing. It wasn't always going to be pretty, but I thought they did a good job until obviously we end up in the penalty box. We have to learn not to take those types of penalties. It's not just that one, it's the same ones over and over again. We're going to learn that if you want to play winning hockey in the end. That's not winning hockey.
Kinnear on a quick turnaround before starting a six-game road trip
We've got to get healthy too. You look at the lineup, you lose Patty Giles, and we had a lot of kills and using too many guys there. We have to get healthy, but also we look at it as an opportunity for some guys. You look at Riley Bezeau, he hasn't played a lot, he played the last three games and obviously had a big fight there. A one-on-one battle, which was great. We're going to need more guys to step up and use our depth.
Notes
The game-worn Ghost Peppers jerseys raised $41,468. A portion of the proceeds will go to the Gaston County Museum ... Carrick hit the 40-point mark for the third consecutive season and for the sixth time in his career. He is tied for fifth among AHL defensemen in scoring ... Asplund has four points (1g, 3a) over the course of a three-game point streak ... Kyle Criscuolo played his 500 th professional game ... The Checkers were out-shot (26-23) for the first time since Jan. 22, ending a run of 16 consecutive games in which they took more shots than their opponent ... The Checkers did not receive a power play for the second time this season ... The Checkers finished their season series with Lehigh Valley at 2-2-0 ... Checkers scratches included forwards Zac Dalpe, Mackenzie Entwistle, Riley Hughes, Riese Gaber, Ryan McAllister, Aidan McDonough and Justin Sourdif; defensemen Mikulas Hovorka and Mitch Vande Sompel; and goaltender Kaapo Kahkonen.
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