ODDS AND EVENS 

     VERSUS    

CHECKERS EDGED BY CYCLONES IN GAME 7

Goaltender Smith Stops 33 of 34 Shots In 2-1 Win, Helps Cincinnati To Conference Finals

If they could have just reversed their trend of winning even games instead of odds, you’d be reading about the Charlotte Checkers advancing to the next round instead of congratulating the Cincinnati Cyclones on a 4-3 series victory.

The Charlotte Checkers fell two goals down in the second period and battled back but came up on the short end of the 2-1 score in Game 7 on Wednesday evening.

It was the first ever Game 7 in Checkers history and also proved to be the last as it was announced in March that Charlotte will begin play in the American Hockey League beginning in 2010-11.

With the win, the Cyclones advance to the American Conference Finals for the fourth straight year and will face the Reading Royals. Cincinnati won the Kelly Cup in 2007-08.

Cyclones rookie goaltender Jeremy Smith stopped 33 of 34 shots while Ryan Munce stopped 20 in a losing effort. Mark Van Guilder notched both goals for Cincinnati and Mike Taylor replied for Charlotte.

The Cyclones opened the scoring with less than eight minutes to play in the first period on Van Guilder’s first of the night. Maxime Lacroix threw the puck on net and it bounced onto the stick of Van Guilder who chipped it home past Munce.

Minutes later, Cincinnati was assessed a tripping penalty and the Checkers went to work on the power play. The Cyclones’ defenders, however, kept Charlotte to the outside and Smith made two easy saves to keep it a 1-0 game.

Cincinnati held a 11-4 shot advantage through 20 minutes of play.

The Cyclones went ahead by two, 4:40 into the second period, on Van Guilder’s second goal, a power-play marker. Defenseman Brett Motherwell fired a shot from the point off the post and the rebound landed on the stick of Van Guilder who tapped it home.

Munce kept the Checkers in the game minutes later when he stopped Jimmy Kilpatrick point blank on a breakaway.

Smith then answered his Charlotte counterpart when he dove across his crease to stab a Julien Brouillette wrist shot from the slot.

The Checkers persisted however and got on the board with 3:09 left to play in the second. David Marshall worked the puck over to Michel Leveille who fired a shot from the blueline. Taylor was parked in the crease and banged home his team-leading sixth goal of the postseason.

Charlotte outshot the visiting Cyclones 16-8 in the second period and carried the momentum into the third period.

With a minute to play in the game and Munce pulled for the extra attacker, the Checkers went on the attack and fired a barrage of shots at the Cincinnati net. Smith made an acrobatic pad save on a shot off a rebound before Leveille fired the puck off the crossbar. Charlotte’s forwards threw everything they could on net but could not seem to find the back of the net, despite their best efforts. Smith stopped the remaining flurry of shots as the buzzer sounded, ending the game and season for the Checkers.
 
GAME SUMMARY and OFFICIAL SCORERS SHEET

NOTES:

* Checkers fans, don’t forget that we will still be covering your team come the fall when they enter the American Hockey League.

* Congratulations to ex-Wolf Pack Tom Pyatt and Dominic Moore who were instrumental in the Montreal Canadiens upset victory over the Washington Capitals

* Aaron Slattengren led the Checkers with 10 points (2g, 8a) in the playoffs while Mike Taylor led the team with six goals

* Charlotte finishes 12-3 in its last 15 home games

* Charlotte clinched its first division title and #1 conference seed in franchise history heading into the playoffs

* Ryan Munce led the ECHL in save percentage (.913), was third in wins (26) and was named ECHL Goaltender of the Month for March

* Andrew Carroll led the Checkers this season with 30 goals, including six game winners 

LINES:

Roche – Leveille © – Slattengren
Rowe – Bartlett – Taylor 
Doig – Carroll – Stefanishion
Marshall

Schaefer – Hendrikx  
Nightingale – Brouillette
Reynolds – Ward

Munce
Zemlak

(Assistant Captains Bold and Italicized)

SCRATCHES:
Dave Urquhart – Healthy Scratch
Mike Berube – Healthy Scratch
Brock Bradford – Healthy Scratch 
Matt Schepke – Upper Body Injury 
Daniel Tkaczuk – Upper Body Injury

ON-ICE OFFICALS:

Referee:
Jean Hebert (27)

Linesmen:
Mathieu Chenier (71)
Mike Hamilton (80)

NEXT GAME:

Checkers begin again in the fall…in the American League

For live in-game coverage from your cell phone or computer, we’ll have the action for you 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:

Cincinnati Cyclones 2 At Charlotte Checkers 1 – Status: Final

Apr 28, 2010 – Time Warner Cable Arena

Cincinnati 1 1 0 – 2

Charlotte 0 1 0 – 1

1st Period-1, Cincinnati, Van Guilder 1 (Lacroix, Kilpatrick), 12:46. Penalties-Roeder Cin (tripping), 2:30; Marshall Chr (bench – too many men), 13:24; Robinson Cin (tripping), 15:51.

2nd Period-2, Cincinnati, Van Guilder 2 (Motherwell, Kilpatrick), 4:40 (pp). 3, Charlotte, Taylor 6 (Leveille, Marshall), 16:51. Penalties-Rowe Chr (slashing ), 3:24; Roeder Cin (roughing), 5:12; Slattengren Chr (roughing), 5:12; Ehgoetz Cin (hooking), 5:49; Sheahan Cin (delay of game), 14:41; Stefanishion Chr (cross-checking), 19:22.

3rd Period- No Scoring.Penalties-Roeder Cin (holding), 17:03.

Shots on Goal-Cincinnati 11-8-3-22. Charlotte 4-16-14-34.

Power Play Opportunities-Cincinnati 1 of 3; Charlotte 0 of 5.

Goalies-Cincinnati, Smith 7-4-1-0 (34 shots-33 saves). Charlotte, Munce 6-5-0-0 (22 shots-20 saves).

A-2,233