The Charlotte Checkers defeated the Hershey Bears 2-1 in overtime on Sunday night to move on to the next round in their quest for the Calder Cup.  Their next opponent will be the first place Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. 

Nicolas Blanchard scored the game-winning goal just 1:30 into the extra period.  Brett Sutter had the other tally for the Checkers.  They ended up eliminating last year's Calder Cup Champions in six games by a 4-2 margin.  

Mike Murphy made 26 saves on 27 shots to earn his third win of the series.

A few more notes from the Checkers press release:

Zach Boychuk had a point in every game of the series (3g, 4a)…Zac Dalpe and Keith Aucoin led all players in the series with eight points each…Brian Fahey’s third-period goal broke a scoreless streak of 82:48 for the Bears…Hershey finished the series 1-of-28 on the power play…The Checkers had 11 players register multiple points in the series.

The Checkers start the next round in Wilkes-Barre on Thursday night with their home games coming on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday night (if necessary) during the first week of May.  The schedule follows:

East Division Final – Series "J" (best-of-7)
E1-Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins vs. E3-Charlotte Checkers
Game 1 – Thu., Apr. 28 – Charlotte at W-B/Scranton, 7:05
Game 2 – Sat., Apr. 30 – Charlotte at W-B/Scranton, 7:05
Game 3 – Mon., May 2 – W-B/Scranton at Charlotte, 7:00
Game 4 – Wed., May 4 – W-B/Scranton at Charlotte, 7:00
*Game 5 – Fri., May 6 – W-B/Scranton at Charlotte, 7:00
*Game 6 – Sat., May 7 – Charlotte at W-B/Scranton, 7:05
*Game 7 – Mon., May 9 – Charlotte at W-B/Scranton, 7:05

For more information, go to GoCheckers.com.