Hershey Hangs on to Defeat Checkers 2-1

The Checkers returned home with a tightly contested battle against Hershey Saturday afternoon, but couldn’t quite muster up a rally before time expired on a 2-1 defeat.

The low-scoring affair saw Hershey open the scoring early in the first, then double that lead with a buzzer beater before the second intermission.

The Checkers would chip into that deficit early in the third when Mikulas Hovorka collected a loose puck through traffic in front and roofed a shot past the Hershey netminder. That would be the end of Charlotte’s comeback attempt, though, as they couldn’t quite get one across the line down the final stretch and ultimately saw their five-game winning streak snapped.

QUOTES

Coach Geordie Kinnear on the state of his team down the stretch
There’s a lot of moving parts. Some guys were getting more opportunity tonight, which is a great thing. I liked a lot of the hockey. There was some of the hockey I didn’t like, but there was a lot of good moments tonight.

Kinnear on what to take from this game
Really you don’t want to give up a goal with one second left. If you look, it’s a bit of a trend. In Toronto, a big moment in the second period, you give up a goal and they get momentum. I thought we did a good job (tonight) coming out in the third and learned the lesson from Toronto, but it was too little, too late. You’ve got to give their goalie a lot of credit and you’ve got to give their team a lot of credit. I thought they blocked a lot of shots. I thought we over-passed and were (on the) perimeter at times, but again, you’ve got to give where credit is due. I thought there was a lot of sacrifice by that group over there. We were on the outside a little bit, and their goalie in his first game back was really good.

Kinnear on Hershey
They’re skilled, so anytime they have numbers they’re going to try to score. I thought they had numbers at times, and when you give skill some space and some numbers, they’re going to be able to execute some plays. That’s what they’re very good at, and I thought they executed their plays. The second period, obviously we lose the period, but there were some moments that were good. Again, you lose a 2-1 hockey game, take some lessons out of it, continue to move forward and make the most of it tomorrow.

Kinnear on Dennis Cesana entering the lineup
It's not easy. They (ECHL Savannah) are coming off of a long road trip and they’ve played some high-stakes hockey down the stretch. Dennis I would consider as a gamer. He likes to come out and have the puck and make plays. It’s a different pace at our level, so I thought he adjusted over the pace of it and I thought he did a great job for coming in under tough circumstances.

Kinnear on Wilmer Skoog making his NHL debut tonight
Everyone talks about the process until it becomes a process. He’s gone through the ups and the downs. If you look at his career, he came to us as a free agent, started with us, went to the (ECHL), grinded down there, didn’t score any goals down there and then came back to us and I think he got 21 if I’m doing my math correctly. The next season he doesn’t have a great regular season numbers wise and learned a lot of ups and downs, but then you look at the playoffs and he was a big-time performer. He found an identity for himself, and then obviously a leader for us this year. Everyone gets impatient at times, but that kid really respected the process and put the work in. He’s a fit, fit athlete, a student of the game, he loves the game and loves to compete. A long, drawn-out answer, but for me that’s how it’s supposed to look and I’m so proud of that kid, because I behind the scenes saw the work he put in.

NOTES

The Checkers are 3-2-2-0 against the Bears this season … This loss snapped a five-game winning streak for Charlotte … 22 shots on goal were the lowest by Charlotte since March 18 … Mitch Vande Sompel, Kai Schwindt, Brett Chorske and Louis Domingue were the scratches for Charlotte.