The visitors set the tone less than two minutes into regulation when Ben Steeves jarred a puck loose behind the net and fed Sandis Vilmanis out front. Minutes later Justin Sourdif fired a seeing-eye snipe past Laval netminder Cayden Primeau to give Charlotte a 2-0 lead before the midway mark of the first, and the Checkers were off to the races.
Vilmanis kicked off the second by threading a cross-ice pass to Oliver Okuliar for the back-door tap in, and while the Rocket were able to break the ice in the middle frame and start to tilt things in their direction, the Checkers were able to squash any hopes of a rally from the home side - especially behind the strong play of Kaapo Kahkonen, who finished the night with 30 saves and helped Charlotte successfully kill six power plays.
John Leonard converted yet another shorthanded tally just 31 seconds into the third that pushed Charlotte further ahead and Jesse Puljujarvi added an empty netter that served as the final dagger. Tempers flared in the waning moments of the lopsided contest - with 120 total penalty minutes handed out in the final 2:04 of regulation - but the blowout victory was already sealed for Charlotte.
what if we told you that John Leonard is now the franchise’s all-time postseason shorthanded goal leader? 🤯 pic.twitter.com/7nlJARcxdH
— Charlotte Checkers (@CheckersHockey) May 29, 2025
QUOTES
Coach Geordie Kinnear on the gameIn the first period I thought we had a good start. Kaapo in the second period held us in there. I thought they were the better team in the second period. In the third period, we came out and scored that shorthanded goal which kind of settled us down a little bit. It was just back and forth in the third. Not a lot of action either way to be honest.
Kinnear on the quick goals to start the game
It was big. The first period was a good start and obviously an awesome atmosphere for the guys. So excited for that. Great venue, great fans, loud. You obviously want to have a good start in this building, and we had a good start. The second period didn’t go our way, but again Kaapo was the best player at that point. In the third period the shorty allowed us to settle down.
Kinnear on what has made the penalty kill successful
The personnel on it, they trust each other. All the guys have done it all year. Obviously an important goal, but as a group we’ve got to continue to grow. I thought they had some looks on their power play, so move on and make sure we correct that.
Kinnear on Game 2 tomorrow
It's going to be a tough game. It’s supposed to be. Just like we talked all year, we’ve got to continue to grow and get better individually and collectively, and that’s what we’re looking to do. I’m excited for it.
