The rematch featured fireworks early, as both teams had found the back of the net before three minutes had even elapsed. The scoring settled from there until MacKenzie Entwistle finished off a slick passing play to snatch the lead back for the home team heading into the second intermission.
After Ben Steeves extended that lead early in the final frame with a stellar individual effort, the Crunch pushed back hard - doubling up the home team in shots and breaking through inside of the final two minutes of play. The Checkers wouldn’t break, though, as newcomer Kevin Mandolese turned aside 28 shots in his debut, shut down the rally attempt and sealed another victory for Charlotte in front of a raucous crowd.
What a sequence 😮💨😮💨😮💨 pic.twitter.com/d6bbXFxqfA
— Charlotte Checkers (@CheckersHockey) November 9, 2025
QUOTES
Geordie Kinnear on Mackenzie EntwistleThe leadership. We count on those guys a lot to drive the dressing room and play the right way. You can talk all you want when you’re a leader, but it’s actually what your actions are. He showed great leadership tonight.
Kinnear on the penalty kill
Super proud of the group. There’s a lot of new faces there and a lot of young players. You look at Chorske given that responsibility as a first-year player. (Vilmanis), a second-year player that didn’t kill for us last year. They’re going through the learning process. What I liked about it in the third period was that they had chances to score but they got the job done.
Kinnear on Kevin Mandolese
He controlled the game, for me. There weren’t a lot of rebounds. They’re a team that shoots a lot pucks and tries to tip. He did a great job. He just got here, same thing with Livingstone. They’re just fitting in nicely. I was proud of the D corps because we lost a defenseman early and we lost a forward early, so there was some dig in throughout the game. Those are important moments for a group to build the right way.
Kinnear on playing in front of the home crowd
Looking back at least year and how passionate the fans were and the energy in the building, it’s something I crave. It was nice to see the fans behind us today and get into the game. It’s something we take a lot of pride in the community and making the city proud and the fans proud.
MacKenzie Entwistle on tempers flaring early in this game
Anytime you’re playing a team back to back you get kind of used their guys and they get used to us. It’s 60 minutes and then another 60 minutes of battle. Sometimes the tempers flare, and obviously (Lundmark) got hit. It just kind of started a scrum and I got into a fight, but it’s about sticking up for each other and that’s what we did. We’re coming together pretty nicely as a group here.
Entwistle on getting his first goal of the season
It felt great. I was just snakebitten a little bit and I wasn’t playing my best hockey. I put some good weeks of work in, and it was just nice to get rewarded. I thought I had been playing a little bit better as the games have been going here, but like I said, I was just struggling early and it was nice to get on the scoresheet other than for a fight or a penalty. It was a great team win and a great effort both games. It’s great to get four points off of those guys.
Entwistle on what the team’s young players are learning as a whole
I think just playing as a five-man unit. Especially in this league when you play back-to-back against the same team, you kind of know what you’re getting from them. It’s about getting in sync. Your breakouts have got to be good, and a lot of talk helps. It just kind of makes the game easier. Once we can get down in the offensive zone, these young kids are very, very skilled. They can make some pretty good hockey plays and I think you saw that over the past couple of games.
