Checkers sweep Whale, 1-0

CHARLOTTE, NC – Mike Murphy made 28 saves, and Matthew Pistilli’s second-period power-play goal was the only score of the game, as the Charlotte Checkers eked out a 1-0 win over the Connecticut Whale Saturday night at the Time Warner Cable Arena.
 
The result gave the Checkers a sweep of a pair of home games against the Whale, whom Charlotte had pounded by a 5-1 score on Thursday night.  With the loss, the Whale (28-24-2-6, 64 pts.) dropped into a third-place tie in the Atlantic Division with Springfield, which defeated Portland at home by a score of 4-1.  It was the Whale’s sixth shutout loss in sixty games on the season and their second 1-0 loss.
 
The Whale were without Head Coach Ken Gernander for a second straight game.  Gernander remained in a Charlotte hospital as a precautionary measure, after experiencing pain and swelling in his lower extremities the morning of the Whale’s Thursday loss.  Connecticut also lost Tim Kennedy, who was tied for second on the team in points (12-30-42 in 53 games), before the game, as he was traded by the parent New York Rangers earlier in the day to the Florida Panthers, along with a third-round draft pick, in exchange for veteran defenseman Bryan McCabe.
 
Kennedy’s absence forced the Whale to play with only seventeen skaters, one fewer than the normal roster limit of 18, but Connecticut dominated much of the first period, outshooting Charlotte 14-2.
 
The Whale got a bad break, though, with only 23 seconds left in the first, when referee Jeff Smith called Devin DiDiomete for a major penalty for checking to the head, after a hit by DiDiomete on Checker defenseman Zack FitzGerald.  The head-hit infraction also carried with it a game misconduct, so the Whale not only had to kill a major power play, but also lost DiDiomete for the game, reducing their lineup to 16 skaters.
 
The Whale came close to killing the penalty, but with 27 seconds still left in it, Pistilli cashed in a second rebound to put Charlotte on top.  Whale goaltender Dov Grumet-Morris (21 saves) stopped Zac Dalpe’s one-timer from the center point, and former Wolf Pack defenseman Ethan Graham’s rebound try went off the post to Grumet-Morris’ right, but Pistilli, at the left side of the goalmouth, was perfectly positioned to bury the third try with Grumet-Morris down.
 
That was all the offense Murphy needed, as he improved his season record to 19-9-3 and his record in his last nine decisions to 8-0-1.
 
The Checkers are in their first year as an AHL franchise, after 17 seasons of play in Charlotte as an ECHL team.  For 16 of those years, the Checkers were the Rangers’ ECHL affiliate, developing players for the then-Hartford Wolf Pack and before that the Binghamton Rangers.
 
The Whale return to action this Wednesday, March 2 in their first XL Center home game in three-and-a-half weeks, hosting the Springfield Falcons in a 7:00 PM game. 
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