Sutter's Two Goals Lift Checkers Over Norfolk In Final Meeting

In their final matchup with the Norfolk Admirals, the Checkers kept their winning streak alive, coming away with a 3-2 victory behind a big night from Brody Sutter.

The Checkers held a 1-0 lead after the first 20 minutes thanks to a goal from the red hot Sutter, who took a pass on a two-on-one from Chad LaRose and buried it past Jason LaBarbera. But the Admirals responded quickly in the second as Charles Sarault put a ricocheting puck behind Drew MacIntyre just 84 seconds in. That score held and the two squads headed to the final frame all square at one.

Rookie Phil DiGiuseppe regained the Charlotte lead early in the period, ripping a shot that bounced its way through traffic and in, then Sutter found the back of the net once again to give the Checkers a 3-1 advantage midway through the third. The Admirals wouldn’t quit, however, clawing their way back within one with under two minutes to go after pulling their goalie for an extra attacker. But the Checkers buckled down for the final push, holding off Norfolk’s rally and securing a 3-2 victory, their third straight.

The play of Sutter during this streak has been lights out, as the center now has five goals in his last three games. Both of his tallies tonight were made possible by great feeds, one by LaRose, who now has points in back-to-back games after returning from injury, and one by Brendan Woods, who picked up a rebound in front and sent a nice pass to a wide open Sutter on the back door.

Sutter’s second goal, the game-winner, came on the man advantage, where the Checkers have thrived as of late. They now have power-play goals in 11 of their last 15 games. Boychuk has played a big role in that resurgence, as nine of his 22 points have now come with the man advantage. On the other side, the Checkers held the Admirals scoreless on three power-play opportunities. They have now killed each of their last 10, not giving up a power-play goal in three games.

MacIntyre came up huge in net for the Checkers, who were outshot for the 11th straight game. The veteran goalie turned aside 32 of the 34 shots he faced and earned his second consecutive win, shutting down several solid chances from the Admirals down the stretch.

This marks the third straight win for the Checkers, matching the longest streak of the season, which also featured wins over Iowa and Norfolk. It is also the most consecutive wins in regulation that the Checkers have achieved this season. They will look to keep that momentum rolling when they welcome the Lake Erie Monsters to town for a pair of contests this weekend, kicking off the longest and final home stand of the season.

NOTES

With tonight’s win in the final game between these two clubs, the Checkers take the season series over Norfolk 4-2-2 and the all-time series 24-15-3-2 … Drew MacIntyre earned his 211th AHL win, tying him for 9th all-time … Brody Sutter extended his goal streak to three games, putting him one shy of the longest by a Checkers player this season … Mike Cornell recorded his 200th AHL penalty minute ... Zach Boychuk extended his point streak to three games … Trevor Carrick and Justin Shugg both saw their active point streaks come to an end … Keegan Lowe returned to the lineup after missing 11 games due to injury … Sean Dolan and Austin Levi were healthy extras, while Greg Nemisz missed the game due to injury