The Checkers set the tone early and sealed the win with two third period goals, holding off a late push from the Thunderbirds on Friday night.
Kyle Criscuolo opened the matchup’s scoring early in the first period when his shot beat the netminder to get Charlotte on the board first.
Oliver Okuliar took the rebound off of Matt Kiersted to net the Checkers’ second goal of the night as the matchup reached its midway point. The Thunderbirds would answer it as they made it on the scoreboard to round out the second period.
The home team would briefly tie the tilt just minutes into the final frame, but Sandis Vilmanis would find the back of the net with the help of Ben Steeves to take back the Checkers’ lead.
The Checkers’ defense would stand strong behind the Thunderbirds’ final push - including killing nearly two full minutes of a two-man advantage late and would earn an empty-net goal to finish off the Thunderbirds and take the win.
Notes
The Checkers are now 4-2-1-0 against the Thunderbirds this season … With Hershey’s win over Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, the Checkers are officially locked into the second seed in the Atlantic Division … Okuliar recorded his third consecutive multi-point game and now has assists in four straight games and goals in three straight … Ben Steeves recorded his second straight multi-assist game and is on a three-game assist streak … Tonight was Matt Kiersted’s sixth multi-assist game of the season and third in his last six games … Asplund scored his 10th empty-net goal of the season - giving him twice as many as the second-place skater … Riley Bezeau, Nicholas Zabaneh, MacKenzie Entwistle, Zac Dalpe, Ryan McAllister, Kai Schwindt, Aidan McDonough, Riley Hughes, Riese Gaber, Liam McLinskey, Mitch Vande Sompel, Colton Huard, Dennis Cesana, Marek Alscher and Cooper Black were the scratches for Charlotte
