MICFLIKIER’S HAT TRICK SILENCES SOUND TIGERS

VERSUS    

MICFLIKIER’S HAT TRICK SILENCES SOUND TIGERS
Checkers with season-high goal output in 6-1 win

Jacob Micflikier registered the first hat trick in Checkers history as Charlotte defeated the Bridgeport Sound Tigers, 6-1, on Thursday evening at Time Warner Cable Arena.

The Checkers’ offense was working on all cylinders, scoring a team-season-high six goals and outshooting Bridgeport 41-18. Charlotte has only one regulation loss in its last nine games (5-1-3).

Aside from Micflikier’s outburst, Charlotte padded their lead with third period goals from Zac Dalpe, Zach Boychuk, and Jerome Samson. Justin Pogge stopped 17 of 18 shots for the Checkers and Bryan Rodney added three assists. Tony Romano scored Bridgeport’s lone goal on a breakaway late in the first period.

The Checkers got on the board first, 8:33 in, when Micfliker stood in front of the net and redirected a slap-pass from Bryan Rodney on the power play.

Bridgeport drew even with less than four minutes to play in the first period when Tony Romano accepted a long pass from defenseman Dustin Kohn and put the puck through the pads of Pogge on a breakaway.

Charlotte broke the 1-1 tie at 5:22 of the second period when Micflikier gathered a rebound off a Rodney blast and buried it for his second goal of the game.

Micflikier made history, four minutes later, when he jammed home a rebound for his third of the night. Oskar Osala threw a puck on net and Micflikier put the rebound past Bridgeport goaltender Nathan Lawson.

Charlotte outshot Bridgeport, 23-13, through two periods of play.

Dalpe added to the Checkers’ lead, six minutes into the third period, when he chipped in a rebound following a Samson spin-around pass.

Charlotte made it 5-1 when Zach Boychuk collected a bouncing puck off of a Chris Terry shot, spun around and flicked it over the blocker of Lawson. The assist extended Terry’s point streak to seven games (5g, 4a).

Jerome Samson added his team-leading 10th of the season, 27 seconds later, and the Checkers walked away with a 6-1 win.

The Checkers (7-7-3) will host Bridgeport (5-8-0) again tomorrow at 7 p.m. Ticket information can be obtained by calling 704-342-4423 or visiting www.gocheckers.com.

NOTES:

Chris Terry extended his point scoring streak to seven games (5g, 4a)…Zac Dalpe is on a four-game goal streak (4g, 2a)…Jerome Samson ranks tied for second in the league in goals (10), and first in the league in shots (89)…Zack FitzGerald leads the league in penalty minutes (75)…The Checkers are 5-1-3 in their last nine games.

Bridgeport Sound Tigers 1 at Charlotte Checkers 6 – Status: Final
Thursday, November 11, 2010 – Time Warner Cable Arena

Bridgeport 1 0 0 – 1
Charlotte 1 2 3 – 6

1st Period-1, Charlotte, Micflikier 5 (Rodney, Sanguinetti), 8:33 (PP). 2, Bridgeport, Romano 2 (Kohn), 16:08. Penalties-Samson Cha (hooking), 5:01; Joensuu Bri (tripping), 7:19; Yablonski Bri (boarding), 11:09.

2nd Period-3, Charlotte, Micflikier 6 (Rodney, Sanguinetti), 5:22. 4, Charlotte, Micflikier 7 (Osala, Nash), 9:32. Penalties-Jordan Cha (interference), 5:59.

3rd Period-5, Charlotte, Dalpe 4 (Samson, Osala), 5:56 (PP). 6, Charlotte, Boychuk 7 (Terry, Rodney), 8:06. 7, Charlotte, Samson 10 (Bowman, Chaput), 8:33. Penalties-Taylor Bri (hooking), 4:32; Pogge Cha (tripping), 9:45; Wotton Bri (slashing), 16:19; Haley Bri (roughing), 18:16; FitzGerald Cha (roughing), 18:16.

Shots on Goal-Bridgeport 7-6-5-18. Charlotte 11-12-18-41.
Power Play Opportunities-Bridgeport 0 / 3; Charlotte 2 / 4.
Goalies-Bridgeport, Lawson 1-2-0 (41 shots-35 saves). Charlotte, Pogge 3-4-0 (18 shots-17 saves).
A-3,717
Referees-Geno Binda (22).
Linesmen-Ben Shiley (21), Terry Wicklum (58).