CHECKERS CLIPPED BY WINGS 5-4 

   VERSUS   
The Charlotte Checkers fell behind by four goals and mounted a late-game comeback but were unable to pull it off as they dropped a 5-4 thriller to the Kalamazoo Wings (Philadelphia Flyers affiliate) on Sunday. Charlotte outshot the Wings 49-22 but goaltender Jeremy Duchesne made several key saves for the victory.

Charlotte opened the scoring just over four minutes into the game on a slap shot by defenseman Julien Brouillette. Brouillette took a pass from Kenny Roche and, with the help of a screen by Andrew Carroll, beat Duchesne.

The lead wouldn’t last long as Kalamazoo would reply with a power play goal by rookie forward Trent Daavettila just over five minutes later. Daavettila took a pass from Brian McGuirk and deflected the puck past Checkers goaltender Billy Sauer.

Kalamazoo increased their lead to 3-1 with two quick goals a minute and 17 seconds apart early in the second period. Wings leading scorer Rick Cleaver beat a Checkers defenseman one-on-one and fired the puck past Sauer for his team-leading eighth goal of the season. Forward Bryan Jurynec then scored on a shot that deflected off a Checkers defender.

The Wings would keep coming as Mathieu Curadeau skated down the left-side boards and fired a shot over the shoulder of Sauer. The goal came at the 11:32 mark of the second period and was assisted by Andrew Fournier and Rick Cleaver. Sauer was pulled and Miika Wiikman would come into the game in relief.

Just over six minutes into the third frame, Kalamazoo would make it a 5-1 game on a goal by Darryl Lloyd.

Midway through the third period, and after another Kalamazoo goal, Charlotte would answer back with two quick tallies to bring the score to 5-3. Rookie forward Matt Schepke skated around the net and tucked home his third of the season before Chris Chappell banged home a rebound just 25 seconds later

Charlotte would then cut the Wings lead to 5-4 on a power-play goal by Kenny Roche. The Checkers then pressed, firing all they could at Duchesne but it wasn’t enough as Kalamazoo hung on for the win

The Checkers (4-3-1-0) will now prepare for the East Division-leading Elmira Jackals (7-1-1-0) on Friday at Time Warner Cable Arena. Game time is 7 p.m. and ticket information can be obtained by calling 704-342-4-ICE or visiting www.gocheckers.com.

GAME SUMMARY and SCORERS SHEET

THREE STARS:

1. KAL – 19 Rick Cleaver
2. CHR – 24 Matt Schepke
3. CHR – 15 Julien Brouillette

ON ICE OFFICIALS:

Jean Hebert (27), Referee
Mathieu Chenier (71), Linesman
Paul Reid (97), Linesman

NEXT GAME:

The Checkers go back at it again at home in Charlotte Friday night when the tangle with the Elmira Jackels (Ottawa Senators). You can watch the game live on B2 Network.

SCORE-SHEET

Kalamazoo 1 3 1 – 5
Charlotte 1 0 3 – 4

1st Period-1, Charlotte, Brouillette 2 (Roche), 4:22. 2, Kalamazoo, Daavettila 7 (McGuirk, Ftorek), 9:54 (pp). Penalties-Curadeau Kal (slashing ), 7:09; Leveille Chr (tripping), 8:12; Morrow Kal (hooking), 10:48; Lloyd Kal (roughing), 18:58; Peralta Kal (roughing), 18:58; Nightingale Chr (roughing, roughing), 18:58.

2nd Period-3, Kalamazoo, Cleaver 8 (Mason), 4:29. 4, Kalamazoo, Jurynec 1 (Versteeg, Peralta), 5:46. 5, Kalamazoo, Curadeau 7 (Fournier, Cleaver), 11:32. Penalties-Lloyd Kal (roughing), 3:34; Doig Chr (roughing), 3:34; Legault Kal (fighting – major), 5:48; Nightingale Chr (fighting – major), 5:48; Featherstone Kal (cross-checking), 15:33; Ftorek Kal (holding), 16:43; Nightingale Chr (diving), 16:43; Jurynec Kal (closing hand on puck), 18:30.

3rd Period-6, Kalamazoo, Lloyd 5 (Cleaver, Featherstone), 6:30. 7, Charlotte, Schepke 3   11:54. 8, Charlotte, Chappell 1 (Carroll), 12:19. 9, Charlotte, Roche 1 (Leveille), 15:00 (pp). Penalties-Morrow Kal (hooking), 1:22; Versteeg Kal (hooking), 3:37; Morrow Kal (interference), 14:38; Doig Chr (hooking), 16:28; Curadeau Kal (hooking), 19:42.

Shots on Goal-Kalamazoo 8-11-3-22. Charlotte 15-15-19-49.
Power Play Opportunities-Kalamazoo 1 of 2; Charlotte 1 of 8.
Goalies-Kalamazoo, Duchesne 3-0-0-0 (49 shots-45 saves). Charlotte, Sauer 1-1-1-0 (11 shots-7 saves); Wiikman 0-1-0-0 (11 shots-10 saves).
A-4,137