Providence Wins 3-0 to Sweep Weekend Series
Published on February 1, 2026 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Charlotte Checkers News Release
The high-flying Providence Bruins once against proved to be too much for the otherwise red-hot Checkers, with the visitors winning 3-0 on Sunday to sweep the four-game season series.
Bruins goalies Simon Zajicek, who left the game due to injury after the first period, and Michael DiPietro combined to stop all 31 shot attempts by Charlotte, which entered this weekend averaging six goals per contest over a 7-0-1, eight-game point streak, but managed just one over the two-game set with Providence.
Providence chipped away at the Checkers throughout this contest with one goal in each period, starting with Victor Soderstrom's opener late in the first and then continuing with goals by Matej Blumel over the final two.
The teams played in front of an official attendance of zero, as the game was closed to the public due to unsafe driving conditions from the previous day's winter storm.
Charlotte's six-game home stand continues against another of the AHL's best teams, the Grand Rapids Griffins, who visit Bojangles Coliseum for games on Friday and Saturday.
QUOTES
Coach Geordie Kinnear on playing in front of no fans Two really good hockey teams, and the other part I look at for our group is that, since Chistmas we've had some real tough travel and we really haven't been home, so you kind of get excited to come home and get some energy from your fans, but there weren't a lot of fans for obvious reasons and safety reasons. A tough environment, but two really good hockey teams and a bit of a chess match at times. You've got to give them credit because they're a really good hockey team. To get out of our division there are some tough teams we've got to beat, but it's good information for us moving forward as a group to take another step.
Kinnear on playing against Providence They're tough-checking and they play a certain style that they've done for a lot of years. You look at the group that we played last year in the playoffs, they've added two top scorers in the American Hockey League. They're building for a certain reason, and we have a bit of a new group so there are lessons along the way. We got spoiled for a little bit because we were scoring a lot of goals, but now I think that was super good for us that this is more like what playoffs should look like or higher-stake games should look like. Tough checking and find ways to score goals. To be honest, their goalie played well and we had some chances we didn't execute on, and in the last two weeks we probably executed on some of those. A good building block, and win or lose we've got to continue moving the needle forward.
Kinnear on the return of Jack Devine He's got some chemistry with Chorske and Steeves, and we kind of mixed and matched today with the seven D dressed. He's an elite playmaker and I know it killed him to be sitting out there for a little bit, but he was banged up. It was good he got his rest and got back in there.
Kinnear on what he likes about his team currently It takes some time to build how we want to play. It's not an easy way to play. We're all creatures of habit, so when you get guys from other organizations, it takes a little bit of time to understand how we want to play. They have fun with it, but it's a lot of hard work. I like that we're starting to see our identity more consistently more than we did early on in the year.
NOTES
On the heels of their season-long, eight-game point streak, the Checkers have lost consecutive games in regulation for the first time since Jan. 5-9 ... Charlotte went 0-4 in their season series against division-leading Providence, which has won seven straight ... This marked the Checkers' second shutout of the season and first since Oct. 24 ... The game featured just one power play, an unconverted second-period opportunity by Providence ... All-Star forward Jack Devine returned to the lineup after missing the previous two games due to injury. Forwards Nolan Foote and Robert Mastrosimone missed this game after suffering injuries during Saturday's contest.
American Hockey League Stories from February 1, 2026
- Providence Wins 3-0 to Sweep Weekend Series - Charlotte Checkers
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