Mired in a three-game losing skid, the Checkers found themselves in a 2-0 hole midway through regulation. Connor Bunnaman was able to spark the home side, however, when he collected a rebound and deposited around the Springfield netminder to put Charlotte on the board. Minutes later Anthony Bitetto threaded a seeing-eye point shot through traffic and in to even the score heading into the second intermission.
The two sides traded chances in the third, but neither team could get the upper hand and the contest moved on to overtime. The extra frame also featured a run of back-and-forth action, but with under a minute to go Springfield poked the puck away from a Charlotte rush, busted out on a breakaway and pushed the puck across the goal line to steal the two points.
QUOTES
Coach Geordie Kinnear on the gameI thought we looked more like a team. Maybe not play-wise, but we were more of a team by sticking up for one another and playing tougher in tough areas. It took us a little bit. When we scored we started getting in sync a little bit and then you start seeing how we want to play as a group. It was a good point. Down 2-0 and come back. Good effort for sure.
Kinnear on his team’s goals
You have to get the puck to the blue paint, obviously. A really good goaltender and you’ve got to have guys there. Bunnaman starts us off with a blue paint goal. After we settled into it, it was a real good hockey game.
Kinnear on building momentum from this game
We don’t look behind us, we just continue to get better. We had pockets of really good hockey and our best hockey is yet to come. We’re learning lessons along the way. We’re focused on how we play. We saw pockets of it tonight and trended the right way for sure.
