Charlotte unlucky in home return

CHARLOTTE, NC – The second loss in as many days for Charlotte, going

down 3-1, this time at home to the Norfolk Admirals. The Checkers started brightly enough with a 17-8 shot advantage over Norfolk in the first period. As the game progressed, however, the wheels came off. It may have been tiredness, but Norfolk was also playing their third game in three days. Norfolk, by beating Charlotte, completed a sweep of the three games over the weekend, previously recording two wins over Adirondack.
 
One of the problems for the Checkers was Norfolk’s goalie Jaroslav Janus; he stopped 33 shots for a brilliant evening. John Muse in the Charlotte goal made 25 saves but saw his league record drop to 8-2-0 this season.
 
Defenseman Evan Oberg put the Admirals on the board in the first period, jumping on the puck after a goal-mouth scramble. It looked as if Charlotte had taken the lead earlier in the period when Evgenil Dadonov’s shot was knocked away by a defenseman on the goal line after it had beaten Janus. The officials ruled that the puck had not crossed the goal line.
 
In the second period Norfolk went further ahead when rookie Cory Conacher made Charlotte pay for a turn-over mistake. Trevor Smith supplied the pass for the Admirals and Conacher supplied the finish. Bobby Sanguinetti pulled a goal back for Charlotte on a power-play with an assist from Zach Boychuk. Then Norfolk’s Pierre-Cedric Labrie added number three, an empty netter, after Checker’s goalie John Muse had been pulled from the ice.
 
Norfolk is now only one point behind Charlotte in the race for the GEICO Challenge Cup. The trophy will be awarded to the team with the best head-to-head over an eight game series.
 
Charlotte now return to the road for visits to Peoria and Chicago, the next home game at Time Warner Cable Arena is on February 24 against the league leading Oklahoma Barons.

 
Contact EddieMitchell@ProHockeyNews.com
Photographer at Tom.Nelson@prohockeynews.com