After Kyle Criscuolo opened the scoring early, the Admirals quickly responded to tie the game and then snared the lead just past the midway point of the second. The Checkers stole back the momentum before the buzzer, though, as Will Lockwood knocked in a rebound late in the frame to deadlock things once again.
The Checkers rode that surge into the third period, and it was Criscuolo who came through again - collecting a slick feed from behind the net courtesy of Justin Sourdif and chipping it past the Milwaukee netminder.
Charlotte refused to surrender the lead from that point on, stymying the Admirals’ rally attempts and putting a bow on the big win thanks to a full-length empty netter from Rasmus Asplund in the final moments of regulation.
What a setup! pic.twitter.com/YShf0wsn4X
— Charlotte Checkers (@CheckersHockey) January 16, 2025
QUOTES
Coach Geordie Kinnear on the gameI thought it was a 60-minute effort. We talked yesterday about how they knew the second period wasn’t good enough which then set up the third, but tonight was a better second period and that set up the third. Give a lot of credit to the group. I thought they really stepped up and played a full 60 minutes, which we hadn’t done for a bit.
Kinnear on Criscuolo getting two goals
You’ve got to score to win. He’s been a great leader and a great player for us, but you need players to step up when things aren’t going exactly how you want them. He stepped up, and I’m proud of him.
Kinnear on Justin Sourdif
I’m a big Justin Sourdif fan. He’s staying healthy and being consistent is pretty important for Sourdie. The reasonable expectation is that as a third-year pro he’s got to really take it to another level, and he’s starting to do that and he’s starting to get healthy. We want him to keep going.
Kinnear on bringing a physical forecheck
That’s part of our identity. I think you look also, we lost another defenseman early on and had 5 D. I thought the forwards really stepped up, I thought the 5 D really stepped up and the goaltender stepped up when we needed him. That’s what the game’s about. When something doesn’t go your way, you need to make sure you step up and we did that today.
Kyle Criscuolo on getting the win
We’ve been playing pretty well and just having a couple of lapses and then the game is turning the wrong way on us. We have a good group in there and we’ve just got to stick with it, so being rewarded for playing the right way tonight is definitely important for us to keep going and build our confidence.
Criscuolo on responding from recent losses
I think early in the year we would be able to get back on the rails if anything would fall apart there in the second, so I think we kind of maybe got a little bit complacent and felt we had things under control, but with so many guys in and out of the lineup all the time, we definitely needed to harp on things a little more and hold each other accountable. That’s the main theme right now to make sure we’re holding each other accountable, we’re not taking penalties when we don’t need to and staying out of the box. That will allow us to roll our four lines, and we feel like if we do that we have a good chance against anybody.
Criscuolo on getting his goals
It's great. Both goals tonight were great plays by my linemates and just a lot of hard work. When things aren’t going your way you’ve got to put your head down and keep going. It can get frustrating but it’s a long season. I’ve been through it a couple of times in my career when it’s not going in, and you’ve just got to try to help the team in other ways. Tonight I’m lucky and happy to get back on the board, but regardless I think it’s important to just do whatever the team needs to find wins.
