Spencer Knight was perfect between the pipes, standing tall on all 23 shots he saw - much to the frustration of a Bridgeport squad that had seven fruitless power plays on the night.
Offensively, another quick start was all the Checkers needed, and two of their hot hands provided it. Lucas Carlsson jumped into action and pulled off a slick wrap-around to open the scoring just over seven minutes in, the Jake Wise doubled the lead by picking up a loose rebound out front in the waning minutes of the frame.
That would prove to be the only tallies on the scoresheet for either side. The physicality rose as the game rolled on, with both squads combining for 13 man advantages, but nothing else found its way into the back of the net. The Checkers never relented, however, and were able to make it across the finish line with their two-goal advantage intact.
This save by Spencer Knight ? pic.twitter.com/2RluYEHhir
— Charlotte Checkers (@CheckersHockey) October 28, 2023
QUOTES
Geordie Kinnear on the gameTo be honest I liked a lot about our game at five-on-five. Obviously with special teams the game kind of went in different directions for a little bit there. We need to have more discipline in certain areas and composure, but overall a great game. That game (on Wednesday) didn’t go our way in Rochester, but the guys came out and played hard in front of Knigher. I thought Knighter did a great job. Continue to build.
Kinnear on the amount of penalties
A lot of guys sat on the bench for a little bit and lost the flow. Our game plan is that we want to play four lines and you can’t play four lines when you’re shorthanded. Unfortunate, we didn’t like some of the penalties we took, but we’re still in the learning stage. Winning hockey requires discipline and we have to make sure we have discipline. We’ll take some of those penalties that are physical penalties, but we don’t want those that are unnecessary.
Kinnear on Lucas Carlsson
I tell everyone who asks me about Carly, what makes him so good is that he works so hard in practice every day. You watch our practices, he’s the hardest worker all the time. When your best players are your hardest workers, it’s great for the environment and it’s great for him. He’s just a great player for us, a great character and a great person.
Kinnear on Spencer Knight
He was great. You look at the game that didn’t go our way in Rochester, but it’s about moving on and not looking in the rearview mirror. I thought he was very focused and was the best player on the ice.
Spencer Knight on the game
It was good. I thought they pressed really hard, especially in the first and the second when they had a few power plays and were snapping it around a little bit. I think we just came into the third with a determination to close it out. When you move your feet and play well you get rewarded and we got to go on the power play a little bit. It was good.
Knight on the team’s goaltending
I think we have three good goalies they can all trust, which is good. I think that helps a lot. Waebs got it done last night and played really well, Guz has always played well. I think we just try to give them the best chance to win.
Knight on playing in Charlotte
It’s a great city, it’s great people. I talk to people on the street when sometimes you get recognized, and they’re all super friendly and nice. It’s good. I really like it here.
Lucas Carlsson on his goal
I tried to shoot it short side at first, but I got the puck again and just wrapped it around. It’s probably my first wraparound goal.
Carlsson on Knight
He’s unbelievable. We all know how good he can be and today he showed it. He was great.
