Mayhew's Clutch Heroics Shock Islanders In 4-3 OT Win

Details
The Checkers found themselves in a wild one Saturday night in Bridgeport, but they emerged with a big win thanks to some heroics from Gerry Mayhew.

Down by a goal in the waning seconds of regulation, the Checkers were mounting one last push for the equalizer. The puck worked its way to a spinning Zac Dalpe in the slot, and when his shot attempt hit a sliding Bridgeport body in front of the net Gerry Mayhew was there to collect the loose puck and put it home with less than two ticks remaining on the clock to knot the score and force overtime.



SCORE SHEET
The Checkers were awarded an extended power play early on in the extra frame, and they made the Islanders pay. Jake Wise crushed a one timer from the point and the rebound kicked out to the left of the Bridgeport netminder, where Mayhew was waiting to bury it and send the visitors off with a critical two points in the standings.



Before those fireworks, the Checkers had built up a lead through 40 minutes of play thanks to a quick power-play conversion from Zac Dalpe and a low-angle rip from Wise in the second to negate Bridgeport’s opening tally. Things shifted in the third, though, as the home side amped up the pressure to even the score midway through the frame and take its first lead of the night with under three minutes to go - setting the stage for Mayhew’s takeover.

NOTES

The Checkers are now 4-3 in overtime games this season, with Mayhew scoring the game-winner in three of those … The Checkers are 4-0-1-0 against the Islanders this season … Dalpe’s goal was his 123rd in a Charlotte sweater, matching Zach Boychuk’s franchise record … Dalpe now has six goals in his last six games … Balinskis now has nine points in nine games with the Checkers … Justin Sourdif has points in back-to-back games … Mike Benning recorded his first two-assist game as a pro … Jake Wise has four points in his last three games … This was the third time since Dec. 16 that the Checkers have scored multiple power-play goals … Ryan McAllister, Alexander True, Mark Senden, Dennis Cesana, Calle Sjalin and Mack Guzda were the scratches for Charlotte