The Checkers brought out the fireworks on New Year’s Eve, hammering the Phantoms 6-3 in a rough and tumble road win.
After a scoreless first, the Phantoms were awarded an early power play in the middle frame, but it was the Checkers who would take that opportunity to strike. John Leonard forced a turnover, jumped out on a breakaway and slid a nifty move past the Lehigh Valley netminder for a shorthanded tally, then repeated the entire sequence less than a minute later to pick up his second shorty of the same penalty kill.
The Phantoms would attempt to punch back from there, but Charlotte always had an answer. The home side found the scoreboard later in the second period, but Kyle Criscuolo responded by creating some offense of his own - setting up Rasmus Asplund for a rocket of a shot just before the intermission, then pulling off a stunning individual effort to extend the lead early in the third.
Lehigh Valley’s biggest push came in the middle portion of the final frame, courtesy of two quick strikes over the span of 25 seconds to narrow the gap to just one goal, but the Checkers never relented. Riley Hughes cleaned up a loose puck in front to calm the Phantoms’ rally attempt, and Oliver Okuliar cashed in minutes later to give the visitors plenty of cushion. Tempers flared down the stretch, but the Phantoms had no answer for Charlotte’s momentum, and the Checkers rode out an impressive 6-3 victory.
NOTES
The Checkers are 1-1-0-0 against Lehigh Valley this season … Tonight’s win means the Checkers hold the Atlantic’s best points percentage, earning Geordie Kinnear the division’s head coaching spot at the 2025 AHL All-Star Classic … Leonard became the third player in franchise history to score two shorthanded goals in a single game and the first to score them both in one period … Tonight snapped a streak of three straight games in which the Checkers scored a single goal … This was the fifth time this season that the Checkers have scored at least six goals … Leonard’s four points (2g, 2a) matched the most in a game by a Checker this season … Hughes’ goal was his first in the AHL … Leonard, Hughes and Justin Sourdif both have points in two straight games … Mike Benning recorded two assists in his first game since Nov. 23 … Chris Driedger has not allowed more than three goals in any of his last three starts … Charlotte’s 32 penalty minutes, Lehigh Valley’s 54 and the combined 86 are all season highs for the Checkers … Will Lockwood, Riley Bezeau, Nicholas Zabaneh, MacKenzie Entwistle, Zac Dalpe, Ryan McAllister, Aidan McDonough, Riese Gaber, Mitch Vande Sompel and Keith Kinkaid were the extras for Charlotte
