Playoff Notebook: Moving On
May 14, 2025 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Charlotte Checkers News Release
The Checkers took the ice for practice Tuesday morning, living to fight another day after taking their second-round series over the weekend.
With their backs against the wall in a decisive Game 5, Charlotte took care of business from start to finish - suffocating the Bruins and earning a 5-2 victory.
"We knew it was obviously a do-or-die game," said Checkers defenseman Trevor Carrick. "We weren't happy with the outcomes of the last two games and we knew it was going to take a very solid defensive game. I thought we played it to a tee and it worked out for us."
Calling their defensive game solid may be an understatement, as the Checkers were historically good at stifling the Providence attack in Game 5. They held the Bruins to just eight shots, which stands as the fewest shots allowed in any AHL game since 2015 and any Calder Cup Playoff game since 2010.
"It's the way we play," said head coach Geordie Kinnear. "When we have five guys in sync as a group defensively, there's not a lot of room out there. I'm happy that there's a lot of trust among the group. You have to trust your teammate that he's doing his job. You saw during the game there was a lot of trust."
A couple of empty-net tallies late helped push the final score decidedly in Charlotte's favor, but the contest overall had a markedly intense, physical edge to it as the teams battled to extend their seasons.
"It's playoffs, it's super competitive and they're a super competitive team," said Carrick. "It's two teams that are looking to close it out, and those close-out games are always the hardest. We expected them to throw everything at us and we knew that we were going to come out and empty the tanks. We managed to do that. Happy that we came out on top of that one."
After earning road wins in Games 1 and 2, the Checkers had a stranglehold on the series lead coming home for the remainder - needing one win in three opportunities. Providence punched back with a pair of wins to set up the final game, but Charlotte was ready.
"I just think as a coach and as players you always have to prepare yourself for that," said Kinnear of the series going the distance. "As much as you want to be done right away, that's not realistic because they're all good teams. I knew Providence was a really good hockey team and you look at their personnel, they have a lot of guys down from the NHL. You have to prepare for what you're dealt, but you have to prepare for a full series."
"Obviously when you go up two games to one, you don't want to end up going to Game 5," said Carrick. "But we just came in with the same mindset, wanted to play the same way and we did that. We had a feeling if we could come out and give it our best effort, we'd have a good chance. We did a good job of doing that."
ADJUSTING ON THE FLY
Kinnear had mentioned heading into the playoffs the importance of coaches making adjustments in the postseason - and he made plenty in round two.
After trotting out the same lineup in the first three games, Kinnear inserted Riley Bezeau into the forward group in place of Brett Chorske for Game 4, then made more changes for Game 5 by returning Chorske for Bezeau and swapping Sandis Vilmanis in Jack Devine's spot.
"I made a decision to play different personnel in Game 4," said Kinnear. "It wasn't a game to give away but I felt like we needed a little bit of toughness so Bezeau went in. But I knew that I had Villy who had played really well down the stretch. He was very fresh and very capable and you saw that line [Vilmanis, Ben Steeves and Oliver Okuliar] had a lot of chemistry down the stretch."
The move paid off for Charlotte, as Vilmanis set up the eventual game-winner with Okuliar.
"Sometimes it works out as a coach, sometimes it doesn't, but you have to be confident in your decision making," said Kinnear. "As a staff we did a lot of talking about it and I was glad it worked out. Happy for Villy because that's not easy playing most of the regular season games besides injury and then sitting out and watching. He made the most of his opportunity and that's what playoffs is."
The move also allowed for the coaching staff to shuffle around the forward group and recapture some previous magic.
"The biggest thing I think was we had four lines going," said Kinnear. "That was the first time in the whole series that I felt like we had four lines that were playing up to the standard. Having lines that have chemistry, that allowed me to move Sourdy [Justin Sourdif] up with Crisco [Kyle Criscuolo] and Smitty [C.J. Smith] and I thought we had four lines. You want that, but usually it doesn't happen. So I was real happy."
Adjustments were also made on the back end, but out of necessity. Matt Kiersted had to be helped off the ice in Game 3 after taking a hit in the corner and was sidelined for the remainder of the series. The Checkers turned to Eamon Powell - making his professional playoff debut - for Game 4 and Dennis Cesana in the pivotal Game 5.
"It's been the story of our season," said Carrick. "Big guys, important players going down and guys stepping up - that's just been the story all season long. Guys have just stepped up and done what they've needed to do. This series was no different."
"Our group has been confident all year no matter who we put in," said Kinnear. "We lost Kiersted, a couple D go in at different times and we didn't miss a beat."
The good news is that there is a positive prognosis for Kiersted - who has provided a major impact throughout the season by logging high-end minutes, serving as an alternate captain and leading the AHL in plus-minus.
"He's day-to-day now, which is great," said Kinnear. "I know the guys really wanted to see him play again, so I think that was a tipping point in the game - I think they were playing for Kiersted. They wanted to see him play again."
FACING THE BEARS
Charlotte's outlook now shifts to its next opponent - the two-time defending champion Hershey Bears.
But as it has been all season, the main focus is inward.
"You try not to worry about the other team," said Carrick. "You just worry about your own game and stick to what we're good at and I think we'll be in good shape. They're obviously a good team who has won the last couple of years, they've got some experienced guys but we've got a young, hungry group ourselves."
"Real good hockey team," said Kinnear of Hershey. "We have to play our game. Obviously they have their strengths but we have to worry about our strengths."
The Checkers went 4-2-1-1 in their regular-season series with the Bears - who finished two points ahead of Charlotte and captured the second-best record in the league.
"We're just trying to stick to our game and our game plan," said Carrick. "We've had some success against them during the regular season, hopefully we can continue to build and get better and put up a good fight against them."
The Bears advanced to the third round on Sunday as well, beating a Phantoms team that pushed them to the brink but couldn't finish off a 2-1 series lead and eventually fell in Game 5.
"Obviously it helps that they're playing more games and getting beat down just like we are," said Carrick. "We try not to look into that. Like I said, we're not super worried about our opponent, we're worried about our game and just trying to build off that."
One specific area that Charlotte is committed to building is its power play. The Checkers had 18 man advantages during the series with Providence but were only able to convert once.
"Special teams is important," said Kinnear. "We gave up a couple power-play goals against and our power play only got one goal the whole series. You just have to reset. New group, new systems we're playing. Special teams are going to be pretty important in this series."
BACK AT THE BISCUIT
Like the last series, the Atlantic Division Finals are best-of-five. With Charlotte being the lower seed in this matchup, the first two games will be held in the Queen City before the series shifts to Hershey for the remaining contests.
"It's super big," said Carrick of getting to start the series at home. "You can take advantage of your home crowd and that energy that they bring. You want to perform at home and get those wins at home. Get off to a good start and take that into Hershey on Wednesday."
"We want to continue to make our fan base proud," said Kinnear. "You look at this group, they've done it all year. It's important that we continue. There's no better time of year - playoff hockey with the fans behind you, for me there's nothing better."
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