CHECKERS DEFEAT EVERBLADES, 3-1

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – The Charlotte Checkers bounced back after a defeat the previous night to find redemption against the Florida Everblades by a 3-1 win.



In the first period, the Everblades struck first when a shot from the right wing side by Mathieu Roy was stopped by Checkers goaltender, Jeff Jakaitis but the rebound went right to the slot to Florida forward Ernie Hartlieb who blasted the puck into an open net at 2:06. This gave the Everblades an early 1-0 advantage. Charlotte evened things up on the power-play after when Matthew Ford redirected a Tomas Zaborksky pass over the glove of Florida netminder Anton Khudobin at 6:25 tying the contest at 1-1.



The Checkers stormed out of the gate with an early goal by Ryan Murphy 32 seconds into the stanza after a Jared Nightingale shot hit the post and the puck laid in the crease behind an unknowing Khudobin where Murphy knocked it past the goal-line. This put Charlotte up 2-1 and they would sustain that lead throughout the remainder of the period.



During the final period, Ford scored his second of the game after firing a snap shot over the blocker side of Khudobin putting up the Checkers by a score of 3-1. With the Everblades down by two goals late in the contest, they were awarded a two-man advantage but were unable to find the back of the net and Checkers won the game by a score of 3-1.



Jakaitis was brilliant in his performance stopping 35 of 36 shots and Khudobin turned aside 17 of 20 in the loss.



For more information, please contact

Jason Shaya

704-940-4081

Jshaya@gocheckers.com