The Checkers rose to the occasion Friday night in Lehigh Valley, flattening the Phantoms 5-2 to secure home-ice advantage in the first round of the playoffs.
Things kicked off with a high-flying first that saw recent addition Ryan McAllister follow up a Grigori Denisenko shot and deposit the rebound for his first pro tally. The Phantoms would respond on the man advantage later in the frame, but Cam Morrison came through just under the wire with a rebound strike of his own to push the visitors back on top after 20.
The action downshifted in the middle frame, with the two sides combining for just nine shots and failing to add anything to the scoreboard, but Lehigh Valley began the third with an early breakaway goal from Bobby Brink to draw the score even once more.
That deadlock didn’t last long, though, as Gerry Mayhew carved his way through traffic in the slot and buried the go-ahead strike for Charlotte minutes later. That sparked the visitors in a big way, as the Checkers kept their foot on the gas from there. Lucas Carlsson and Riley Nash each poured in a power-play goal down the stretch to extend the advantage, Mack Guzda put a stop to any rally attempts from the home squad and the Checkers finished off their 5-2 drubbing of the Phantoms.
NOTES
With tonight’s win the Checkers have clinched either the third or fourth seed in the Atlantic Division, meaning all three possible games in the first round will be played at Bojangles Coliseum … The Checkers finished their season series against the Phantoms with a 4-4-0-0 record … The Checkers are 3-2-0-0 so far on their six-game road trip to end the regular season … Lucas Carlsson scored his 20th goal of the season, becoming the 10th AHL defenseman since 2004-05 to hit that mark … Ryan McAllister scored his first pro goal and has three points through his first three games … Mackie Samoskevich recorded his first pro point (an assist on Carlsson’s third-period goal) in his pro debut … Cam Morrison has goals in back-to-back games and has four goals over his last five games … Tonight was Grigori Denisenko’s eighth multi-point game of the season and his first since March 10 … Matt Kiersted recorded his fourth multi-point game of the season … Riley Nash extended his point streak to three games and has five points over that stretch … The Checkers scored three power-play goals for the second consecutive game and the third time in the last six games … The Checkers have allowed six power-play goals over their last 11 times shorthanded … Mack Guzda has earned wins in consecutive appearances for the first time since mid-February … Zac Dalpe, Logan Hutsko, Justin Sourdif, Riley Bezeau, Xavier Cormier, Ethan Keppen, Dennis Cesana, Josh Davies, Kai Scwhindt, Mark Senden, Jake Wise and Jaxon Castor were the scratches for Charlotte
