Draped in Queen City Grits specialty jerseys for What If? Night presented by Novant Health, the Checkers shook off Hershey’s early opening goal by racking up three consecutive tallies in the middle frame. The first came via a snipe from Wilmer Skoog in the early stages of the period, then Robert Mastrosimone and Trevor Carrick each lit the lamp less than a minute apart late - the latter of which made the captain the seventh defensemen in league history to reach 100 AHL goals.
That 3-1 lead through 40 minutes wouldn’t survive to the end of regulation though, as the Bears responded with a pair in the third to send the game to overtime. The Checkers successfully killed a penalty early on in the extra frame, but were almost immediately assessed a delay of game penalty. The Bears then converted on that opportunity with 46 ticks left on the clock to skate away with the two standings points.
History! pic.twitter.com/rFPmNI8IJd
— Charlotte Checkers (@CheckersHockey) January 17, 2026
QUOTES
Coach Geordie Kinnear on the gameI think if you look at the second period, we got to our game finally. I didn’t really love the start of the game. We found it a little bit in the first and then we started to find it a little bit more but then came off it in the third. You have to give the other team some credit. I thought their best players got to their agenda and were the difference makers in the third period. I didn’t love how we handled it, but again, you have to give the other team some credit.
Kinnear on Trevor Carrick’s 100th goal
He's wanted that for a little bit. Sometimes it seems like those guys that have that milestone, it takes a little bit of time so I think that weighed on him a little bit. Super proud of where he started when I first had him as an assistant coach here to where he is now as captain of the Charlotte Checkers. Obviously bittersweet with the outcome of the game, but a pretty amazing accomplishment by a really good person.
Kinnear on the return of MacKenzie Entwistle from injury
He's been chomping at the bit to get back. I know he’s been a little bit frustrated not being in the lineup, but he’s one of the leaders of our group. I thought for the first game, I liked the competitiveness and he’ll just continue to grow. I know when he got hurt he was playing some of his best hockey, and he’ll get back there. Happy to have him back in the lineup.
Kinnear on Colton Huard’s fight after Wilmer Skoog’s goal
Huard was here last year and part of our group and was learning what it takes to be a really good hockey team. Those are bonding moments for me as a team, regardless of who it is. Especially because he went down to Savannah to work on his game and then came back up and stuck up for a teammate says a lot about the individual and the bonding moments we continue to need to move forward.
Trevor Carrick on his 100th goal
It took a few months, and it was nice to kind of get it out of the way I guess and kind of move on from it. At the moment it felt pretty good, and it was nice to see the guys get excited for me as well. It would have been nice to get a win tonight, but we can get it over with and move on now.
Carrick on getting the milestone at home
It would have been nice to get it done three months ago, but it’s a special place and I obviously love it here. It means a lot to me just having my family and even my daughter here tonight to see it in person. Even listening to the crowd pop after was pretty cool. It means a lot.
Carrick on losing the lead in the third period
I don’t know what happened there. A couple of unlucky bounces kind of got away from us. I think we were feeling pretty good going into that third period and just kind of got away from our game there. They’re a good team and it’s always fun playing them. We’ll have to kind of rinse and repeat and get it done tomorrow.
Carrick on being able to get to his milestone
I think just being able to play for so long definitely helps, and with injuries I’ve been fortunate. I just try to improve every summer and get faster to keep up with these young guys. The game’s obviously getting younger and faster so I’m just trying to do little things to stay around, really, and just taking it day by day.
Carrick on the penalty situation in overtime
It sucks. Especially overtime 4-on-3’s, they can be challenging. It’s not something you work on a whole lot, and back-to-back like that they’re going to get their chances and they obviously got that last one there. You’ve got to be careful in overtime and try to keep your sticks down and play hard. It was definitely deflating.
