CHARLOTTE, NC – The Checkers swept the Grand Rapid Griffins four games to none in the series, but it was the Griffins that lit up the scoreboard with two goals in the first 15 minutes of the first period. Tomas Tater beat Checkers goalie Justin Peters on a one on one situation then Brett Raedeke added a second.
Jerome Samson closed the gap for Charlotte scoring within 1.29 of Raedekes goal. This goal gave Charlotte a real boost going into the second period. Samson was returning from a two week stint with the NHL’s Carolina Hurricanes, the goal was his first in seven games.
The floodgates opened for Charlotte in the second and third periods with four unanswered goals. Sean Dolan jumped on a rebound to put the puck past Griffin goalie Tom McCollum then defenseman Evgenii Dadonov scored his second goal as a Checker with a breakaway effort. Dadonov now has 11 points since his trade from the Florida Panthers organization in January.
The third period was only nine seconds old when Chris Terry gave Charlotte the lead, this goal proved to be the game winner. Grand Rapids scored their third through Tomas Tater one minute later, making the score 5-3. With 24 seconds left on the clock Chris Terry added number six. Justin Peters got his first AHL win since November 27, 2011 with 28 saves.
Charlotte now travel to Peoria to face the Rivermen. Charlotte’s win over the Griffins keeps them right in the thick of the play-off race, depending on other results tonight they could be sixth in the Western Division.
EddieMitchell@ProHockeyNews.com
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