Checkers drop Iowa, 3-2, in OT

CHARLOTTE, NC – The Iowa Wild (8-10-1-1, 18 points) were defeated by the Charlotte Checkers (9-7-1-0, 19 points) 3-2 in overtime in front of 7,120 fans at Bojangles Coliseum on Saturday night. Charlotte defenseman Jake Chelios scored 1:20 into overtime to give his club the win. The Wild earned a point with the OT defeat and extended its points streak to three games (2-0-1-0). Right wing Teemu Pulkkinen scored a goal and added an assist, as Iowa dropped to 3-3-1-0 on the road this year. Iowa goalie Alex Stalock (4-6-0) made 44 saves in the loss, but managed to extend his unbeaten in regulation string to four games (3-0-1-0). Checkers goalie Alex Nedeljkovic (3-5-0) snagged the win with 27 saves on 29 shots. Iowa travels to Charlotte to meet the Checkers on Saturday at 5 PM CT.

After nearly a scoreless first period of play, the Checkers opened the scoring at 19:45 of the first period. Defensemen Keegan Lowe slipped a pass to Levko Koper in the neutral zone. Koper went wide on the left wing into the Iowa zone and sent a saucer pass, cross-ice to Clark Bishop with 15 seconds remaining in the period. Bishop sent a one-timer past Alex Stalock for the 1-0 Checkers lead off his second goal of the year.

4:04 into the second period the Checkers made it a 2-0 lead off Valentin Zykov’s sixth goal of the year. Forward Phil Di Giuseppe stole the puck in the Iowa corner and snapped a pass to the Wild slot. Zykov then fired a shot past Stalock for the two-goal lead. The Wild used its power play to trim the deficit to 2-1. Jordan Schroder dropped a pass pack to the left wing circle for Teemu Pulkkinen. After taking the pass, Pulkkinen rifled a wrist shot past Alex Nedeljkovic at 9:11 for his sixth goal of the year. Iowa tied the game 2-2 in the last minute of the second period. Defenseman Hunter Warner slid in from the blueline and snapped a wrist shot through traffic for his first career goal. Center Pat Cannone and Pulkkinen each had a hand in the goal.

After a scoreless third period, the two teams skated to overtime. Checkers defenseman Jake Chelios picked off a puck in the neutral zone and skated off for a breakaway. Chelios slipped the puck between the legs of Stalock for his first goal of the year and a 3-2 overtime win.