Riley Bezeau
The Checkers are heading into the holidays on a high note after beating down the Bruins 5-2 for a series sweep.

Charlotte wasted no time finding the scoresheet, with Riley Bezeau lighting the lamp less than two minutes in. The Bruins would pull back even later in the first frame, but the Checkers regained their lead in the last minute of the period courtesy of Santtu Kinnunen and never looked back.

With several marquee names out of the lineup - including last night’s hero and leading scorer Riley Nash - a myriad of Checkers stepped up to provide the offensive spark. Bezeau (1g, 2a), Zach Uens (0g, 3a) and Lucas Carlsson (1g, 2a) all potted three-point nights, five different skaters lit the lamp, and the home team cruised to its second-straight victory against the Atlantic Division heavyweights.

Facing a skilled Bruins attack Mack Guzda turned in a 29-save gem for the Checkers, stifling Providence and helping Charlotte go perfect on seven penalty kills.

QUOTES

SCORE SHEET PHOTO GALLERY Coach Geordie Kinnear on the win
First of all, it’s really hard to do to beat a team back to back, whether you’re home or away. Credit to the guys for being able to do that. I thought yesterday’s team effort was our best team effort of the year, but I think we just trumped it today with an unbelievable team effort from everybody. A lot of guys had to step up in different minutes and different roles and they did a great job with it.

Kinnear on offensive contributions from Bezeau and Uens
We’re going to be by committee scoring goals. I liked how we scored the goals with getting pucks to the blue paint with traffic there and second and third (chances). It was good that they were rewarded for that.

Kinnear on not shying away from a tough Providence team
That’s our group. We’re still building that, because this group has not been together. You look at last year, it was a different group with part Seattle and part Florida, so we’re still growing as a group but I thought we took some steps the last two games.

Kinnear on goaltender Mack Guzda
I saw a guy that, whether it was his fault or not, in the last game I ended up pulling him after two goals. The guy that came in (today) was laser focused and stepped up for his teammates. That’s what the game is about. You make mistakes and you don’t like it, but it’s, ‘What are you going to do about it?’ He did a lot about it tonight.

Kinnear on the holiday break
One, family is important, so you need to be able to spend time with your family. They make the sacrifices, so anytime you go spend a couple of days with your family over the holidays is pretty important. It’s a little reset for the guys to take and be grateful, and then come back with a new focus and new commitment and keep moving.

Forward Riley Bezeau on getting the win
Guys are pretty happy going into the break. Finishing on a good note for sure.

Bezeau on taking advantage of his opportunity
I’m just trying to play hard and play the right way. It worked out.

Bezeau on the team’s offensive breakthrough
After the win yesterday guys were feeling a little bit looser. We were feeling pretty confident coming into this game.

NOTES

Prior to tonight, the Checkers had scored two or fewer goals in six consecutive games … Three points was a new career high for all three of Bezeau, Uens and Carlsson. Coming into tonight’s game, Bezeau and Uens had two points in 29 games combined … Carlsson recorded his 100th professional assist … The Checkers went 7-for-7 on the penalty kill, including a two-man advantage in the first period and a double minor in the third … The Checkers won two straight games against Providence after starting the season series 0-3-0. The home team has won each game … The Checkers have played the last game before the holiday break at home in seven of the last eight seasons. They are 7-0-0 in those games … Checkers scratches included forwards Logan Hutsko and Riley Nash, defenseman Calle Sjalin, and goaltender Alex Lyon.