Sweeeep: Checkers Move on to Round 3
Photo: Jacob Kupferman/Charlotte Checkers
After watching their parent-club Carolina Hurricanes sweep their second round opponent in the Islanders, the Checkers decided to follow suit. With a 5-2 win last night in Hershey, the Checkers swept the Bears in round two and advance to the third round. Charlotte is now 7-1 in the playoffs so far and will look to stay hot in the Eastern Conference Final.
It was Aleksi Saarela who really stood out last night. He was the first player to put a tally on the scoreboard and the last one, and also scored another goal in between to register the hat trick. It was his first career playoff hat trick. Julien Gauthier and Tomas Jurco also got in the scoring column as well, with power play goals in the 2nd and 3rd periods. It’s always good to see them capitalizing on the power play. Alex Nedeljkovic started in the net again and stopped 16 of 18 shots from the Bears. The win gave him six so far in this year’s playoffs. Dustin Tokarski won game 1 of the second round when Nedeljkovic was called up to join the Hurricanes roster.
With the 2nd round sweep, the Checkers move on to face the Toronto Marlies, who swept the Cleveland Monsters, in the Eastern Conference Finals which will begin Friday, May 17. The Checkers will host games 1 and 2, and games 6 and 7 if necessary. Toronto has yet to lose a game in the playoffs, sweeping both of their opponents so far, so it should be a very competitive and fun series with the Checkers. During the regular season, Charlotte went 1-1-2 against the Marlies. You can get tickets to the home games now, which will be played at Bojangles Coliseum, by visiting gocheckers.com. Also, the “Playoff Concessions” will continue with $2 hot dogs, popcorn, and domestic beers. Come join the fun and get loud to help the Checkers continue their successful season and chase to the Calder Cup. Go Checkers!
Garett