Bears at Checkers Game 5: Live Blog and Open Game Thread
by Brian LeBlanc on Apr 22, 2011 6:34 PM EDT
in Charlotte Checkers
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PrintJust because the Canes aren't in the postseason doesn't mean there's no playoff hockey in the Old North State.
In their first season in the American Hockey League, the Charlotte Checkers are deadlocked at two games apiece with the two-time defending Calder Cup champion Hershey Bears in their first-round playoff matchup. Zac Dalpe and Zach Boychuk, as they did most of the regular season, have powered the Checkers' offensive attack, with a combined ten points in the first four games of the series. Drayson Bowman, who had every intention of playing in the playoffs in a different league, has three points including an assist on Nick Dodge's game-winner Wednesday night.
Who's missing? Jacob Micflikier, for one, who had a breakthrough regular season but hasn't scored yet in the postseason, tallying two assists in the first four games and only one in the two games the teams have played in Charlotte. Oskar Osala shook off a slow start with a goal on Wednesday, his first point of the series. Meanwhile, the Bears are led by former Cane Keith Aucoin, who has matched Boychuk with six points in the series.
Jeff Daniels returned to Mike Murphy in game four, and Murphy rewarded the Checkers to tie the series with his first win since returning from a concussion in game three on Tuesday. Murphy is expected to be in the net again tonight, facing Braden Holtby, who Canes fans might remember from action with the Washington Capitals this season.
A win tonight will mean that the Checkers have two chances to close out the series in Hershey, with game six Sunday and game seven, if necessary, Monday. With plenty of support both from Charlotte and a big contingent expected from Raleigh, they'll have the crowd firmly on their side.
2:30 1st: Not the greatest start for the Checkers. The Bears currently have a 3-0 shot advantage, and the Checkers look a bit discombobulated in their own zone.
3:06 1st: Bears take a 1-0 lead; Pinozzoto 2 (Kane) The bad start burns the Checkers as they give up a goal three minutes in. Steve Pinozzoto was untouched in the slot and Boyd Kane found him with a sweet pass through two Checkers defenders. Murphy had no chance to get across and make the save.
7:30 1st: Best chance of the night so far goes to Brad Herauf, who was stoned by Holtby just outside the crease with a perfect poke check just as Herauf tried to shovel the puck into the net. Since the Bears goal, the Checkers have played better, but it's not hard to improve on the rather uninspired start the home team began with.
14:12 1st: Starting to get a bit chippy behind the Hershey net, with an offside by the Checkers leading to some pushing and shoving. Jacob Micflikier has left the ice with a reported injury, leaving the Checkers with 11 forwards.
End 1st: Nothing doing for the Checkers even though they did come on late. Micflikier returned late in the period, and Chris Terry just barely missed a tip-in with ten seconds left, but the Checkers are were held off the scoreboard. Shots in the first were 14-11 Hershey, but the Checkers calmed down and played well after giving up the first goal.
1:49 2nd: Bears lead 2-0; Perreault 3 (Willsie, Greentree) Ten seconds earlier, Holtby stoned Casey Borer on a backdoor play with a stretching kick save that sent Kyle Greentree back on a rush the other way. Brian WIllsie took a shot from the top of the near circle that Murphy kicked out - right to Mathieu Perreault, who had a wide open net to bury the Bears' second of the night. That's a frustrating sequence right there.
4:24 2nd: Now the Checkers are playing like a frustrated team, and Nicolas Blanchard took out a good bit of that frustration on Boyd Kane just inside the Charlotte blue line, earning a charging penalty that had Kane down on the ice for about a minute. Kane stayed on the Hershey bench but was in obvious pain.
12:57 2nd: Bears up 3-0; Carroll 1 (Perreault, McNeill) For as well as Murphy played in the first period to keep the Checkers in it, his rebound control (or lack thereof) has led directly to both Bears goals this period. This time, it was Andrew Carroll's turn to clean up the trash, dangling the puck just outside Murphy's left skate and shoveling it home to give the Bears a 3-goal lead.
17:14 2nd: Checkers on the board, down 3-1; Sutter 1 (Dalpe, Boychuk) Sometimes, you need a fluke goal to get yourself back into the game. It wasn't a textbook goal for Brett Sutter, but he'll take it. A routine dump-in behind the net took a weird bounce off the boards and never made it to Holtby, and Sutter came flying in from the blue line to tap the puck home. Holtby actually got back to make most of the save, but it pinballed around off his pads and into the net. Doesn't matter...the Checkers will gladly take it.
End 2nd: The Checkers will begin the third period with 1:30 remaining of a power play that nearly connected at the end of the second. Justin Faulk fired a bullet from the left point that was kicked out and was in a great position for Chris Terry to clean up the rebound, but it caught Terry on the backhand and he double-clutched, never getting a good shot off. If the Checkers can cash in on the power play to start the third, look out.
1:00 3rd: Checkers cut the deficit to 3-2; Bowman 2 (Rodney, Faulk) (pp) Look out, indeed. Drayson Bowman sniped a beautiful shot from the top of the near circle to beat Holtby clean through some traffic in front of the net. Gorgeous goal, and one the Checkers desperately needed. They're playing with a ton of confidence now. By the way, the assist is Justin Faulk's first professional point.
5:48 3rd: Checkers tie it! Osala 2 (Sutter) Heck of a breakaway goal by former Bear Oskar Osala knots the game at 3. On a breakaway thanks to a well-timed line change, Osala's initial shot was mostly saved by Holtby but the puck squeezed out to give Osala a chance to knock home his own rebound. He didn't miss, going just around Holtby's left skate in a play reminiscent of Carroll's second-period marker.
9:23 3rd: The Checkers have been really tilting the ice to the Bears' end all period, and Holtby has been under siege almost continuously. Despite that, he's made some big saves, including a Bellemore point shot that found its way clean through about four bodies in front and yet still resulted in what looked like a routine glove save.
11:24 3rd: Checkers lead 4-3! Dodge 3 (Osala, Bowman) The Checkers have scored four unanswered goals to take their first lead of the night, and when it's going your way it's really going your way. Oskar Osala centered to no one in particular from behind the net, and Nick Dodge was Johnny on the spot to knock it home off his body and into the net. The Bears protested loudly at the scorer's bench, apparently thinking Dodge kicked it in, but to no avail.
15:30 3rd: Two straight penalties gave the Bears a 5-on-3 for :53, but they were done in by their sticks. Two sticks broke on point shots in the first twenty seconds of the two-man advantage, giving the Checkers a chance to regroup and they ended up killing off both penalties.
19:00 3rd: Empty netter seals it; Bowman 2 (Osala) (en) And that'll do it. Checkers take a 3-2 series lead back to Hershey with Game 6 on Sunday.
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Let us know who Faulk is paired with Brian. Branecky is telling us that Fitzy is a scratch and Sanguinetti is in.
Twitter @HMof2
by Carolyn Christians on Apr 22, 2011 6:42 PM EDT reply actions
I’ve also heard that FitzGerald will be scratched but nothing official yet. Seems like the best bet though.
by Brian LeBlanc on Apr 22, 2011 6:58 PM EDT up reply actions
Can you give us the lines?
Twitter @HMof2
by Carolyn Christians on Apr 22, 2011 7:07 PM EDT reply actions
Hey there, lots a folks at the games, the rest may be overbooked tonight.
Twitter @HMof2
by Carolyn Christians on Apr 22, 2011 7:24 PM EDT up reply actions
Why did Herauf go down the tunnel? Was it a misconduct?
Twitter @HMof2
by Carolyn Christians on Apr 22, 2011 7:19 PM EDT reply actions
No misconduct, I’m positive. We don’t have a speaker where I am, so I’m at the mercy of the PA to announce penalties. I would guess it was equipment.
by Brian LeBlanc on Apr 22, 2011 7:20 PM EDT up reply actions
Yep, equipment. He’s back on the bench now.
by Brian LeBlanc on Apr 22, 2011 7:21 PM EDT up reply actions
Thanks – Tim Leone was tweeting his take, but was vague w/only 140 characters and all.
Twitter @HMof2
by Carolyn Christians on Apr 22, 2011 7:21 PM EDT up reply actions
thanks HM
I thought I was on the right link..sigh…
What did you do during the playoffs ? Go Checkers v& Chiefs !!
Time Leone: Micflikier just exited, slamming his stick on tunnel wall.
My bad – it was ^ Micflikier
Now:
Guessing by Micflikier’s reaction it’s an injury, not equipment.
Twitter @HMof2
by Carolyn Christians on Apr 22, 2011 7:23 PM EDT up reply actions
Well then. I missed that completely, but I’m in a really weird spot in the rink and I can tell you that I will miss quite a bit tonight.
by Brian LeBlanc on Apr 22, 2011 7:24 PM EDT up reply actions
Decent turn-out by the press tonight?
Twitter @HMof2
by Carolyn Christians on Apr 22, 2011 7:27 PM EDT up reply actions
Yep. The normal press box is completely full. I’m behind the Checkers’ net set off center by about 50 feet.
by Brian LeBlanc on Apr 22, 2011 7:28 PM EDT up reply actions
Are you with the healthy scratches?
Twitter @HMof2
by Carolyn Christians on Apr 22, 2011 7:32 PM EDT up reply actions
Nope – other side of the row. They’re in 111, I’m in 108.
by Brian LeBlanc on Apr 22, 2011 7:33 PM EDT up reply actions
Above the ice girls who don’t skate?
Twitter @HMof2
by Carolyn Christians on Apr 22, 2011 7:38 PM EDT up reply actions
Yep, I can see them quite easily. Don’t tell my wife.
by Brian LeBlanc on Apr 22, 2011 7:42 PM EDT up reply actions
Your secret’s safe with me.
Twitter @HMof2
by Carolyn Christians on Apr 22, 2011 7:48 PM EDT up reply actions
go checkers !!
beat the fleas off those bears butts !!! LOL
What did you do during the playoffs ? Go Checkers v& Chiefs !!
Got to go folks..
my daughter & family just here after a very long flight from Columbo Sri Lanka TTYL !!
Go Checkers !!
What did you do during the playoffs ? Go Checkers v& Chiefs !!
Have a great weekend then!
Twitter @HMof2
by Carolyn Christians on Apr 22, 2011 7:32 PM EDT up reply actions
With Micflikier out the lines are going to be all over the place, but when he was in they went like this:
Blanchard-Dodge-Herauf
Sutter-Nash-Bowman
Terry-Matsumoto-Boychuk
Osala-Dalpe-Micflikier
Defensive pairings:
Borer-Rodney
Faulk-Sanguinetti
Bellemore-Jordan
Leone tweeted a minute ago that Micfliker was back… :shrug:
Twitter @HMof2
by Carolyn Christians on Apr 22, 2011 7:31 PM EDT up reply actions
Honestly, not as good as I expected. Probably somewhere in the neighborhood of 7500 or so.
by Brian LeBlanc on Apr 22, 2011 7:38 PM EDT up reply actions
If so that’s twice what they’ve been drawing for the Tues/Wed games. Easter weekend is not helping at all.
Twitter @HMof2
by Carolyn Christians on Apr 22, 2011 7:47 PM EDT up reply actions
It seemed more full at the Worcester game than this one, and that game had over 8000. Of course, I have no frame of reference in this arena, so I’m just going on guesses…but there are lots of empty seats.
by Brian LeBlanc on Apr 22, 2011 7:50 PM EDT up reply actions
Here’s the site for AHL Attendance if you’re curious
Twitter @HMof2
by Carolyn Christians on Apr 22, 2011 7:49 PM EDT up reply actions
First period quick-hit thoughts:
→ The bad start had the Checkers back on their heels, culminating in Pinizzoto’s goal, but after that they settled down and played well. Murphy saw most of the shots that made it through, and while the Checkers didn’t do great in bringing the physical play in front of the net, they got out of the way enough to let Murphy see the shots and stop them.
→ Justin Faulk had the type of second-career-game moments you’d expect him to have defensively, and I’m not sure the pairing with Sanguinetti is the best for him. I’d rather see him paired with more of a stay-at-home type like Borer since the Faulk-Sanguinetti pairing is just asking for trouble defensively.
→ Keep an eye on Jon Matsumoto. He’s been one of the better Checkers offensively, his rather dumb delay-of-game penalty notwithstanding, and he’s playing on a line with two pretty good scorers in Terry and Boychuk. That combination was sniffing the net with regularity, especially late in the period.
Mathieu Perreault makes it 2-0 Bears ten seconds after Borer is stoned on Holtby’s best save of the night. That’s a crushing goal right there.
Is crushing like wobbly?
Twitter @HMof2
by Carolyn Christians on Apr 22, 2011 8:01 PM EDT up reply actions
Oof. Blanchard creams Boyd Kane into the boards next to the Bears penalty box. Kane stays on the bench but is in obvious pain. Blanchard to the box and the Bears get a ten-second 5-on-3.
In Philadelphia, Buffalo is now up 3-0 in the first. Boucher out, Leighton in. plus ca change
Twitter @HMof2
by Carolyn Christians on Apr 22, 2011 8:15 PM EDT reply actions
WHo got that? Sutter it sounded like?
Twitter @HMof2
by Carolyn Christians on Apr 22, 2011 8:25 PM EDT reply actions
Yeah, really bizarre play. Puck comes around the boards, Holtby goes back to play it but it takes a weird bounce right into the slot before it gets to him. Sutter taps it home and Holtby actually makes most of the save, but it pinballed around and eventually went in off his back.
by Brian LeBlanc on Apr 22, 2011 8:28 PM EDT up reply actions
a goal of consequence even.
Twitter @HMof2
by Carolyn Christians on Apr 22, 2011 8:42 PM EDT up reply actions
Second period quick-hit thoughts:
→ Murphy’s rebound control is suffering, probably because of the long layoff but it directly cost the Checkers both goals in the period. That can’t make Jeff Daniels happy. Part of that, though, is on the Checkers defenders who, yet again, weren’t doing much of anything to clean Bears out of the slot.
→ Brett Sutter’s garbage goal – and I mean that in the nicest way possible – was just what the Checkers needed. With a lengthy power play to start the third period, the Checkers are by no means out of this game.
→ I didn’t notice a ton of ice time for Terry once the line juggling began and he was moved off the Matsumoto-Boychuk combination, but he’s proving that he can play with just about anyone and make noise in the process. If not for the rebound of a Faulk shot late in the second being on Terry’s backhand, causing him to double-clutch, he would have had an easy goal on a long Holtby rebound.
→ Micflikier has been rather invisible. I know he’s hurt, but when your third-leading scorer is a no-show it makes the job that much tougher. Boychuk and Dalpe are doing their parts, but when Brett Sutter is your only goal scorer that says plenty about the need for, in my best Tripp Tracy voice, your best players to be your best players.
Helpful stat from Hershey press:
@timleone
Charlotte has outscored Hershey a collective 5-2 in third period in the series.
Twitter @HMof2
by Carolyn Christians on Apr 22, 2011 8:45 PM EDT reply actions
And by the way, they changed the second goal to Boychuk’s, meaning Faulk has now lost assists due to scoring changes in both of the last two games. Goal is now Boychuk 3 (Bowman, Rodney) (pp) 1:00
You’re right. I guess that’s why Jeff Daniels gets paid large sums of money to coach a hockey team and set defensive pairings and I, um, don’t. :)
by Brian LeBlanc on Apr 22, 2011 9:14 PM EDT up reply actions
Here comes a penalty kill of consequence. Rodney to the box for interference, giving the Bears a 5-on-3 for 53 seconds.
Checkers kill off the Rodney penalty too, but then ice the puck immediately after the power play ends, forcing Daniels to call his timeout to rest his players.
Well, with Rodney in the box, who plays more on the PK than anyone, the options were a bit limited. :)
by Brian LeBlanc on Apr 22, 2011 9:21 PM EDT up reply actions
Fitzgerald (scratched) even moreso , I believe.
Twitter @HMof2
by Carolyn Christians on Apr 22, 2011 10:24 PM EDT up reply actions
Great Game......that shows character. Really nice to see these guys step up and do jobs they dont normally do.
Osala steps up huge, Murphy has a nice game after he settled down. Sanguinetti played great D (although he is normally known for offense). Everyone just stepped up and filled in…
Time in the A
It really cannot be overemphasized just how important experiences like tonight’s are for our future Canes.
Coming back from down 0-3, killing the 5-on-3 at the end with your #1 PK D-man in the box, playing the tough D while chasing the opponent…it’s just all good.
We’re fortunate to finally have the roster depth to afford our top prospects time to gain confidence and experience that will transfer to the NHL. :-)
Here we are now...entertain us.
Here’s the final gamesheet. Attendance 6183.
Twitter @HMof2
by Carolyn Christians on Apr 22, 2011 10:30 PM EDT reply actions
Dalpe has 3 goals and 4 assists in five games. Boychuk has 3 goals and 3 assists in five games. Bowman, too, has been impressive. Tonight, Osala and Bowman had 3 point nights. Sutter has continued to improve since coming to the Checkers. Daniels’ decision to move Sutter to right wing on a line with Boychuk and Dalpe has paid huge dividends for the Checkers. Faulk is a very impressive defenseman. He has incredible poise to go with his speed, intense shot, and physical play. I thought Sanguinetti had another excellent game as well.
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