The first period was a tight stalemate until Trevor Carrick threaded a shot in on the power-play to open the scoring, but the second period belonged to the visitors, as Providence tallied back-to-back goals to claim the lead heading into the third.
Charlotte was undeterred, though, and quickly snatched back control in the final frame. John Leonard earned his historic 30th goal of the season on a man advantage just 61 seconds in, then Jesse Puljujarvi joined in the power-play goal parade minutes later to push the home side back ahead.
Providence’s late desperation backfired as the Checkers were able to cash in for a pair of empty-net goals, and some strong play between the pipes from Kaapo Kahkonen sealed the deal as the Checkers skated away with a victory and officially claimed a playoff spot.
The power play comes through again! pic.twitter.com/QM72Whnznz
— Charlotte Checkers (@CheckersHockey) March 27, 2025
QUOTES
Coach Geordie Kinnear on the gameI just thought it was overall a gutsy effort. I think both teams were slugging it out, to be honest. A lot of penalties, battles in front, no goals, goals. A playoff-type game and there were momentum swings all over the place. I really liked the third period by our group.
Kinnear on answering when Providence struck back
You talk about learning things along the way, and I think the group is starting to really take it over internally. The leadership group has done an amazing job, so I know I can walk out of the locker room and they’re ready to go. Credit to the group, the leaders, the young guys that have stepped up, the guys that haven’t been here all year that came in. We just want to keep moving forward and getting better. Our attitude hasn’t changed. We want to make sure we win tomorrow with a day off because the group deserves a day off after 12 days on the road, travel (Sunday) and then play Tuesday and Wednesday against an elite hockey team. They need to get their rest tomorrow, and then back to work on Friday and then obviously we have another really good hockey team coming in on the weekend.
Kinnear on the power play
They had their bad reps early on in the first period and got those out of the way, and then credit to those guys again. They weren’t in love with the power plays at the start, but gathered it together, got in sync and made some plays.
Kinnear on John Leonard
First of all, I think 30 goals is nice but it’s what he does for the whole group. He came in here, we didn’t really know each other and he didn’t know anybody on the team, but he’s really fit in nicely. He puts the work in every day. He’s a consistent person and player, a great teammate and so he was rewarded with 30 goals. We don’t want him to stop there.
Kinnear on clinching a playoff spot
To be honest, I knew that was probably a scenario, but I was focused on playing winning hockey. This group deserves an opportunity to keep playing, so they get that opportunity. We want to make sure we keep playing.
John Leonard on the win
They’re obviously a good team, a playoff team, and it was a tough two games. They play hard, they finish checks, they get to the paint and they win battles. It was a playoff-type series. Obviously we were lucky enough to come out with both and clinch a playoff spot, which was awesome.
Leonard on answering Providence’s momentum
I think it just speaks to the character in there, starting with leadership guys. They do a great job of getting everyone ready. It’s an awesome team to play on, and it it’s a lot of fun.
Leonard on the power play
Obviously it’s a long year and you’re going to have ups and down throughout the year. It’s just a matter of getting out of that and there’s always little things you can tweak and better execute. It could be passing, it could be entries, or all those little things. Each day and each game, we’re looking to improve on that down the stretch.
Leonard on clinching a playoff spot
I don’t think anyone really knew about it, to be completely honest. We knew we were in a good spot and Providence was a game ahead of us and it could be a huge swing, so it was awesome to get both points.
