CATCHING? 

     VERSUS         

The Hartford Wolf Pack have lost by an aggregate score of 27-12 over their last four games. The Charlotte Checkers meanwhile, prior to their 2-1 defeat in Gwinnett on Sunday,  had won four straight overwhelming their opponents by a 16-5 margin. That was until Friday morning when they were steamrolled in the teams first midnight game behind Evan Rankin’s five goal performance 7-0 to the Toledo Walleye in front of 4,533 at the Time-Warner Cable Arena.

Rankin led the way for Toledo with five goals while Maxime Tanguay, the younger brother of NHL stalwart Alex Tanguay of the Tampa Bay Lightning, chipped in with four assists. The Checkers threw 33 shots at Toledo’s starting goaltender Jordan Pearce (11-12-1) who repelled them all en route to his second shutout of the season.

Just over two minutes into the game, Toledo opened the scoring when Tanguay entered the zone on a 2-on-1 and set up Rankin for a one-timer that beat Munce over the shoulder.

6:02 later, Rankin added his second to give the Walleye a two-goal lead. Defenseman J.C. Sawyer entered the zone and saucered a pass over to Rankin who’s one-timer beat Munce over the shoulder again.

Charlotte just had nothing defensively as Toledo added a third tally before the end of the period. With 4:55 to go in the first, Derek Nesbitt took what seemed like a harmless looking slap shot from just inside the blueline from the left side that beat Munce high to the glove side.

Had the Checkers had a backup goaltender, that surely would have been the end of Munce’s night, but they only had an emergency netminder on hand so it was going to be up to Munce to find a way to get it back. He didn’t.

The first period ended with the Walleye lighting the lamp on three of their nine shots on goal.

Rankin had his hat trick exactly three minutes into the second to go up 4-0. Precisely three minutes after that tally, defenseman Joe Charlebois added a fourth goal to his stat sheet when he slid the puck past Munce on the power play to give Toledo the 5-0 lead.

All season long, defense has not been one of the Checkers’ strengths, but with the Walleye practically scoring at will, unlike their AHL counterparts, emotions began to dominate the way they played the rest of the way.

Charlotte was outshot 15-6 in the second period.

Tempers flared midway through the third period as 6’2”, 225 pound defenseman T.J. Reynolds was challenged by 5’10” 200 pound right-wing Adam Keefe. BIG mistake.

To his credit Keefe gave it his best shot as the two began throwing punches, but the taller, heavier and FAR more fight-experienced Reynolds just pummeled the 25 year old from Brampton, Ontario. Keefe will certainly think twice before tangling with the Kitchener, Ontario native again.

After getting ignited by watching their defenseman dismember his opponent, the Checkers pressed the attack but Pearce, who had his best outing of the season, was there to shut the door on the soon to be AHL affiliate of the Carolina Hurricanes.

The Walleye added their sixth tally when Luis Tremblay made a nice behind-the-back pass to Rankin from behind the Charlotte net. Rankin, who was in the slot, one-timed the puck past Munce for his fourth of the game.

Rankin rubbed it with 3:33 to go for his fifth goal of the game late in the period on a tic-tac-toe play with Tanguay and Sebastien Piche.

The Checkers threw 14 shots at Pearce in the third period, but it wasn’t enough as the rookie netminder recorded his 11th win of the season.

The Checkers (28-17-6) will embark on a four-game road trip before returning to Charlotte on Wednesday, March 3rd.  Puck drops at 7 pm and ticket information can be obtained by calling 704-342-4-ICE or visiting www.gocheckers.com.

GAME SUMMARY and OFFICIAL SCORERS SHEET  

STANDINGS:

NOTES:

* Charlotte is 8-1-1 in its last 10 home games…

* David Marshall has seven points (3g, 4a) in his last seven games…

* T.J. Reynolds leads the ECHL with 207 penalty minutes and is second in overall plus-minus with a +21 rating…

* After winning six-in-a-row in December, Toledo has really struggled to find their way going 4-8-0-0.

* With Matt Zaba being returned to the Wolf Pack by the NY rangers and Steve Valiquette back on the NY Rangers roster, at least temporarily, Miika Wiikman may be returned to Charlotte.

* Charlotte has not lost a game when leading after the first or second period. 13-0-2-1 when leading after one and 17-0-2-2 when leading after two. Conversely they’ve come from behind seven times when trailing after one and twice when trialing after two. 7-12-0-1 after one, 2-14-1-0 when trailing after two.

* Here’s an interesting number to take a look at. It’s very indicative of an offensive minded team. When the Checkers outshoot their opponents, they are 21-8-02. When they’re outshot, they are 6-9-2-1.

* Andrew Carroll, Derek Couture, Kenny Roche and Kevin Schaeffer remain with Hartford (AHL), Ethan Graham is with Texas (AHL) while Matt Ford and Randy Rowe are with Lake Erie (AHL)…

LINES:

Stefanishion – Leveille © – Doig
Slattengren – Tkaczuk – Schepke
Taylor – Chabot – Marshall

Brouillette – Ward
Berube – Reynolds
Dowzak – Crane

Munce

(Assistant Captains Bold and Italicized)

SCRATCHES:

Trevor Glass – Lower Body – Early March
Chris Snavely – Upper Body – 2-3 weeks
Chris Chappell – Shoulder Surgery – Season Over

THREE STARS:

1. TOL – E. Rankin
2. CHR – B. Lane
3. TOL – M. Tanguay

ON ICE OFFICIALS:

Referee:
Steve Patafie (29)

Linesmen:
Mathieu Chenier (71)
Paul Reid (97)

NEXT GAME:

The Checkers will gave General Manager and Head Coach Derek Wilkinson a couple of days to get his blood pressure lowered after such a terrible performance and possibly to get a couple of players. The Wolf Pack have three forwards that should be back in the game shortly, P.A. Parenteau, Ryan Garlock, and Andres Ambühl who’ll be returning from the Olympics. That will send Wilkinson and the Checkers back Andrew Carroll, got sure. Then things get a bit murky. Kenny Roche has played extremely well since being called up. There is a good chance that Pack head coach Ken Gernander may keep the former Rangers third round pick to his offensively starved lineup. That could mean he keeps some healthy scratches around or he might send Devin DiDiomete and/or Derek Couture back to Charlotte.

On the back end, with Bobby Sanguinetti and Michael Sauer both getting close to returning as well Kevin Schaeffer and possibly Jared Nightingale could be headed back to “The Queen City.” Nightingale might stick around longer however as the seventh defenseman. That however will depend upon whether or not Mathieu Dandenault ever comes back from the groin injury he had early in the season.

Either way on any of these things, the Checkers will have an infusion of talent soon that should make them quite formidable as the playoffs approach.

You’ll find in live in-game coverage at www.twitter.com/howlingstoday.

You can always buy tickets for any Checkers game home or away at Ticketmaster.com.

Should you want to watch this very exciting team from the comfort of your computer chair, all Checkers games are available on B2Live.

SCORE-SHEET:

Toledo Walleye 7 At Charlotte Checkers 0 – Status: Official Final

Feb 18, 2010 – Time Warner Cable Arena

Toledo 3 3 1 – 7

Charlotte 0 0 0 – 0

1st Period-1, Toledo, Rankin 22 (Tanguay, Smith), 2:35. 2, Toledo, Rankin 23 (Sawyer, Tanguay), 8:37. 3, Toledo, Nesbitt 11 (Piche, Keefe), 15:05. Penalties-Piche Tol (hooking), 15:27; Keefe Tol (roughing), 19:19; Piche Tol (high-sticking), 19:19; Stefanishion Chr (roughing), 19:19.

2nd Period-4, Toledo, Rankin 24 (Tanguay, Sawyer), 3:00. 5, Toledo, Charlebois 4 (Nesbitt, Piche), 6:00 (pp). 6, Toledo, Rankin 25 (Tremblay, MacMillan), 15:53. Penalties-Ward Chr (holding), 5:24; Keefe Tol (fighting – major), 9:15; Reynolds Chr (fighting – major), 9:15; Leveille Chr (hooking), 10:50; Brouillette Chr (tripping), 13:42; Leveille Chr (tripping), 19:53.

3rd Period-7, Toledo, Rankin 26 (Tanguay, Piche), 16:27. Penalties-Slattengren Chr (high-sticking), 3:05; Piche Tol (delay of game), 8:27; Zarb Tol (tripping), 9:36; Berube Chr (slashing ), 14:58; Nebus Tol (tripping), 15:41; Rankin Tol (high-sticking), 19:14; Reynolds Chr (slashing ), 19:14; Keefe Tol (spearing major, game misconduct – spearing), 20:00.

Shots on Goal-Toledo 9-15-14-38. Charlotte 13-6-14-33.

Power Play Opportunities-Toledo 1 of 6; Charlotte 0 of 5.

Goalies-Toledo, Pearce 10-12-1-0 (33 shots-33 saves). Charlotte, Munce 13-10-1-1 (38 shots-31 saves).

A-4,533