Things were tight early between Charlotte and Bridgeport on Saturday night, but the Checkers were fired up in the games latter half, leaving the Islanders behind 5-2.
After a quiet first frame, John Leonard opened the scoring early in the second period on the penalty kill when he beat the netminder to earn the short-handed goal. The Islanders quickly responded to even the matchup, though.
Charlotte would take off with two more tallies right after that when Oliver Okuliar found the back of the net off a pass from Ben Steeves, followed by C.J. Smith’s goal to lengthen the Checkers’ lead.
Liam McLinskey scored his first pro goal off a rebound from Ben Steeves, making it a memorable night during his pro debut to round out the second period.
The Checkers sailed away from there as Steeves put a bomb past the Islanders’ goalie. Bridgeport had one last goal in the final minutes, but it wouldn’t be enough to catch up to the well-ahead Charlotte, which fended off the Islanders all night thanks to 31 saves from Ken Appleby.
NOTES
The Checkers finished their season series against Bridgeport with a 6-2-0-0 record … Liam McLinskey, Eamon Powell and Colton Huard all made their AHL debuts … McLinskey recorded his first pro goal and assist and Powell also earned his first pro point with an assist … Leonard’s goal set franchise single-season records for most shorthanded goals (5) and most shorthanded points (7) … This was Ken Appleby’s first start since March 16 … Appleby set a season high with 31 saves … Leonard moved into a tie for third with Valentin Zykov for the most goals in a single season in franchise history … Rasmus Asplund, Riley Bezeau, MacKenzie Entwistle, Jesse Puljujarvi, Zac Dalpe, Ryan McAllister, Justin Sourdif, Aidan McDonough, Riese Gaber, Kai Schwindt, Matt Kiersted, Mitch Vande Sompel, Mikulas Hovorka, Dennis Cesana and Kaapo Kahkonen were the extras for Charlotte
