Flipping the script from the night before, the Checkers were all over the home team from the start. Eetu Luostarinen converted a shorthanded breakaway less than four minutes into regulation, followed shortly after by a power-play snipe from Morgan Geekie. Chase Priskie added another just minutes after that and Brian Gibbons redirected another power-play goal in to push the Checkers ahead 4-0 before the first intermission even hit.
That red-hot start would be all Charlotte needed Saturday night. The Crunch would add three tallies over the next 40 minutes but the Checkers would match that output as well, cruising to a blowout victory.
Charlotte’s special teams played a key role in the team’s production, both on the man advantage and on the penalty kill. The Checkers got back on track with a pair of power-play tallies and also added a pair of shorthanded goals, with Gibbons accounting for one of each.
Gibbons was just one of several Checkers to turn in big numbers Saturday night. He (2g, 2a) and Chase Priskie (1g, 3a) both racked up four points, while Morgan Geekie pumped in a goal and two assists and Julien Gauthier lit the lamp twice.
Anton Forsberg kept his perfect record in a Checkers sweater going by denying 31 of the 34 shots he saw from Utica, including helping Charlotte kill six of seven penalties on the night.
