Things were a bit tighter to start in the grudge match. Ben Steeves kept his red-hot start rolling by lighting the lamp less than three minutes in, but the Wild got a response off the stick of Liam Ohgren shortly after to tie the score.
That deadlock would hold through the rest of the first frame and nearly to the midpoint of regulation, but the Checkers would tilt the ice back their way. Nolan Foote finished a slick play from Jack Devine on the rush to regain Charlotte’s lead, then Tyler Motte hammered a shot past the Iowa netminder on the man advantage to push the home side further ahead.
The Checkers stifled the Wild after the visitors’ opening tally, holding them to just 12 shots across the contest - 11 of which Cooper Black turned aside. Marek Alscher nailed a full-ice empty netter in the waning moments of regulation to seal the deal, and the Checkers skated away with another convincing win over the Wild.
His 🔥🔥🔥🔥 start to the season continues! pic.twitter.com/eCBFkCs0QB
— Charlotte Checkers (@CheckersHockey) October 18, 2025
QUOTES
Coach Geordie Kinnear on the gameAs a group, it’s going to take us some time to understand how we play. I thought the guys did a great job of adjusting to what they were trying to do. It was a total team effort, but you have to embrace what type of game you’re playing. Last night was a different game. Obviously they had six power plays, which you get more shots that way. I thought we did a great job of playing the way we normally play.
Kinnear on Ben Steeves
Just the growth. We talk a lot at the start of the year about reasonable expectations. A second-year player, you want him to take a step and you can tell he’s taken a step. His fitness level has taken a step. He’s just building off of last year, and he’s going to be a big part of what we do.
Kinnear on the game plan against Iowa
To be honest, we didn’t talk about Iowa at all. We talked about ourselves and how we want to play. We know we have a lot of work to do, so we want to get to how we want to play. We’ll start worrying about the other team at the appropriate time, and right now is not that time.
Kinnear on Hunter St. Martin
It's his first game, and you only get one of those. He worked his way back through injury to be able to play tonight. We love what he’s about. First of all he’s a great human being and loves the game of hockey and he has pace. That was on full display tonight, and we’re excited about him.
Kinnear on Tyler Motte and Nolan Foote
Just the hunger to win and the hunger to be part of the group. Just developing a relationship with some of those key guys. Motter joined us late, but full respect for me of what he’s done over the time. Excited to get to work with him and build a relationship. Footer, you know what, for the four games he’s worked his tail off. I’ve put him in a lot of tough situations, and what I liked about his goal tonight was not the shot, it was more the one-on-one puck battle at the end of his shift where he had to really dig in and move his feet to get up in the play and was rewarded with a goal. The byproduct of all the stuff he’s done all the way along, he was rewarded. We’re excited about both players.
Kinnear on playing at the coliseum
It's a special place. I just have the vision of last year of the atmosphere and the fans fully behind us all the time and how loud it was and how energetic it was. My whole goal coming here originally was to make the city proud and the fans proud. I’m glad the guys made them proud tonight.
Ben Steeves on the Checkers’ scoring threat
I think we’re pretty dangerous, but more importantly anyone can score. Look at how many different goal scorers we have, and anybody can step in the lineup and score. It’s a pretty big threat, and we’re looking to keep it going.
Steeves on players rotating in and out of the lineup but still contributing
Geordie always preaches that everybody matters no matter what, so the guys that aren’t in the lineup get some good rest and the guys who are play like it’s your last game ever. That’s kind of our mentality.
