Checkers Suffer Early Loss in Toronto

Sunday’s tumultuous third period seemed to carry over into today’s rematch, as the Marlies used a big first to hand the Checkers their second straight loss.

The Marlies came out firing in the first, putting the pressure on the Checkers right away in today’s early contest. Rookie William Nylander opened the scoring just 2:12 into the game, somehow putting a loose puck in front through a pile of bodies and across the goal line. Ryan Rupert joined in shortly after, redirecting a floater from the point just enough to sneak it by John Muse. That gave the Marlies a 2-0 lead 5:58 into the game, and the home team never looked back, outshooting the Checkers 13-4 in the frame.

The rest of the game was a different story, as the Checkers turned the tables and were able to mount an attack of their own. They outshot Toronto 27-10 over the final 40 minutes, but could not find a way to solve netminder Christopher Gibson. Zach Boychuk broke up his shutout bid late in regulation and gave the Checkers a faint glimmer of hope, but Gibson shut them down and finished the night with 30 saves on 31 shots and a 4-1 victory.

The lack of firepower from Charlotte breaks up what had been the team’s most effective offensive stretch of the season. Prior to today, the Checkers had scored at least three goals in each of their last four games, giving them a slight boost out of the league’s goals-per-game cellar. But the early season struggle crept back in today as the Checkers could not muster up anything until it was too late. The Checkers’ hot hands went cold, as Brock McGinn saw his four-game goal streak snapped and Alex Aleardi was shut down. Chad LaRose, who has by far been the team’s most consistent scorer this season, was sidelined for the game due to an injury sustained in practice. His presence was certainly missed by the goal-starved squad.

Its 30th ranked power-play unit was a big part of the team’s inability to put points on the board, as they went just 1-for-7 with the man advantage. That included a four-minute power play in the third that was a part of eight power-play minutes that the Checkers had through the first 15 minutes of the final frame.

Muse took the crease for the Checkers with a lot of momentum, having shined in his previous six appearances in which he went 4-1-0-0. While his play improved as the game progressed, the two early strikes set the team back too much, and a backbreaking tally by Josh Leivo late in the second put things out of reach. The Leivo goal came directly after the Checkers had an apparent goal called off due to the ref having blown the play dead, much to the dismay of the Charlotte players and coaches alike.

With two consecutive disappointing performances behind them, the Checkers will now turn their focus to Hamilton. The team will continue their road trip as they prepare to face the Bulldogs in back-to-back contests this weekend before returning to the friendly confines of Time Warner Cable Arena.

NOTES

The Checkers have lost three straight games on the road to drop their road record to a league-worst 6-17-4 on the season. Meanwhile, they have won three straight at home … The Checkers are now 1-7-0 in eight all-time meetings with Toronto, including 1-3-0 this season and 0-4-0 at Toronto … The Checkers had scored three or more goal in each of their previous three games, marking their longest such streak of the season … Marlies defensemen Andrew MacWilliam and Kevin Marshall were each +9 over the two-game set against the Checkers … Brock McGinn’s goal streak ended at four games … Ben Holmstrom and Justin Shugg each extended their assist/point streaks to three games … The Checkers out-shot Toronto 31-23, ending a seven-game streak in which they had been out-shot by their opponents … Muse has stopped both penalty shots faced in his AHL career. The Checkers have stopped six of eight faced in team history … The Checkers have killed 14 consecutive penalties over their last five games … Forwards Gabriel Desjardins, Chad LaRose and Greg Nemisz and defenseman Rasmus Rissanen missed the game due to injury.