The overtime featured lots of pressure and plenty of chances for the Checkers, but nothing was beating the hot hand of Bruins netminder Brandon Bussi early. As the extra frame neared two minutes elapsed, Rasmus Asplund swung into the offensive zone and dropped a pass to Wilmer Skoog, who gravitated to the middle of the ice and unleashed a quick shot from the slot that found the back of the net and put an end to the contest.
CLUTCH pic.twitter.com/b0xxDq5Dex
— Charlotte Checkers (@CheckersHockey) March 24, 2024
The Checkers pumped an abundance of rubber on net throughout the night, outshooting the home team 48-26, but there were only two breakthroughs for the visitors in regulation.
The first was an opening tally from Zac Dalpe as the captain finished off an odd-man rush dish from Patrick Giles. The other was early in the third period when - after the Bruins rattled off a pair of power-play strikes in the middle frame to claim the lead - Casey Fitzgerald collected a cross-ice pass from Mackie Samoskevich and roofed it to bring the score even once more and ultimately force overtime.
Magnus Hellberg was a solid force between the pipes for Charlotte, finishing the night with 24 stops and coming up with multiple clutch denials to keep the Checkers on track for two standings points.