HOGS FALL 2-1 IN CHARLOTTE

Charlotte, N.C. – The Rockford IceHogs (4-6-0-0) skated to a 1-1 tie through a pair of periods but an early third period goal was enough to seal a 2-1 win for the Charlotte Checkers (5-3-0-0) at the Bojangles’ Coliseum on Thursday night.

With the two clubs tied at one apiece going into the third, a miscue at the defensive blueline opened up a scoring chance for Andrew Miller. The Checkers forward gathered the loose puck, raced in on a breakaway, and buried the opportunity into the top right corner of the net at 5:26 in the third. It would stand as the game winner as Charlotte took back-to-back games over Rockford.

The Checkers got on the board early, taking a 1-0 lead at 4:53 of the opening period. Valentin Zykov snapped a shot from the right wing that was stopped by IceHogs netminder Lars Johansson, but Brock McGinn collected the rebound and deposited it past Johansson to give the Checkers the lead.

A group of penalties led to a 4-on-3 chance for Charlotte in the later stages of the first. Matt Tennyson was given a five-minute major for boarding that was offset by penalty calls to Chris DeSousa and Jake Dowell. The IceHogs killed off the power play, and then went on to a three-minute advantage of their own and capitalized on the opportunity. Sam Carrick won a faceoff back to Cameron Schilling, who snapped a shot through traffic to tie the game with 3:03 left in the first.

Neither team scored in the second period, but the penalty numbers continued to climb. Evan Mosey was whistled for a five-minute major on a boarding call late in the second, which was partially negated by a tripping call to Charlotte's Zykov, setting up four-on-four action to start the third frame. The Checkers held a 15-13 edge in shots on goal through two periods.

The IceHogs ended the night 1-for-5 on the power play while holding the Checkers to 0-for-5.

Next Home Game: Saturday, Nov. 12 vs. Charlotte Checkers. Puck drop is scheduled for 7 p.m. The IceHogs take on the Charlotte Checkers in the third of four season meetings. It is also Brovember Night in support of local prostate cancer research and education.