The Checkers pulled off a wild win in front of a full house Saturday night, beating Toronto 4-3 in a shootout.
Down by a goal in the waning moments of regulation, the Checkers made one last rally attempt by pulling their goalie in favor of an extra attacker. After putting some sustained pressure on the visitors, Charlotte broke through to tie the game with just 27 seconds remaining as Jake Bean threaded a point shot through traffic and into the back of the net to push things to overtime.
The extra frame was packed with end-to-end action but neither side could finish things, and the game progressed to a shootout.
The goalies took center stage in the shootout, with both Anton Forsberg and Kasimir Kaskisuo stopping the first four shots they faced. Forsberg denied the Marlies’ fifth-round attempt to bring up Steven Lorentz with a chance to end it. Lorentz then swooped in and pulled off a slick deke with a one-handed finish to secure two points in the standings for the home team.
Charlotte’s power-play accounted for most of its offense during regulation, striking twice within 74 seconds during the middle frame to pull the Checkers ahead at the time. The Marlies would push back, however, as Mason Marchment followed his game-opening shorthanded goal with two more tallies early in the third to complete the hat trick and put the visitors on top, until Bean’s clutch strike.
