Checkers blast Chicago Wolves 7-3
The Chicago Wolves erased an early 2-goal deficit, but couldn't mount a second comeback as the Charlotte Checkers claimed a 7-3 victory Wednesday night at Allstate Arena.
Forwards Jeremy Welsh and Jordan Caron scored for the Wolves (28-30-5-3) to forge a 2-2 knot, but Charlotte responded with three consecutive goals in the second period.
Ty Rattie added a goal for Chicago while Sergey Tolchinsky led the Checkers (33-26-3-4) with 2 goals and Derek Ryan handed out 4 assists.
"I thought in the second period we were in control of the game," said Wolves head coach John Anderson. "It was so hard to come back twice. We were fortunate enough to do it once."
Charlotte's first shot gave the Checkers a 1-0 lead 1:46 into the game. Andrew Miller carried the puck toward the left circle, spotted Tolchinsky open in the right circle and set him up for a one-timer.
The Checkers boosted the lead to 2-0 at the 4:17 mark on Kyle Hagel's fourth goal of the year, but the Wolves cut the margin to 2-1 on Welsh's power-play goal with 1:28 left in the first period. Evan Trupp found Welsh just outside the crease and he stuffed the puck past Checkers goaltender John Muse.
Chicago made it 2-2 at 8:55 of the second on Caron's well-placed wrister. Pat Cannone carried the puck into the offensive zone with speed and dropped the puck back to Caron at the top of the right circle. He gathered the puck and whistled it back Muse's blocker into the top left corner for his 15th goal of the year.
Charlotte regained a 3-2 edge at 10:36 when Brown intercepted a Wolves pass in the right circle and wristed it past goaltender Jordan Binnington. Tolchinsky added his second of the night when he blasted home a shot from the right point at 13:31.
Following Tolchinsky's power-play goal, Pheonix Copley replaced Binnington in goal. The Checkers greeted Copley with Miller's power-play goal from the high slot at 16:07 of the second.
Charlotte's Jake Chelios added a goal during 4-on-4 action at 6:33 of the third to push the margin to 6-2. Rattie replied with his 13th goal when he crashed the crease and knocked home the rebound of Welsh's shot from the left wall at 12:53.
Charlotte's Blair Jones picked up an unassisted goal at 14:19 to cap the scoring. Muse (15-5-4) stopped 25 of 28 shots to pick up the win. Binnington (15-14-5) posted 14 saves while Copley rejected 6 of 9 shots in relief.
The Wolves travel to Iowa for games at 7 p.m. Friday and 12:30 p.m. Saturday before returning to Allstate Arena on Wednesday, March 30, for an Illinois Lottery Cup battle with the Rockford IceHogs.