Texas managed to send 8,913 North Carolinians home unhappy this evening with a 4-2 come from behind victory. Texas got every kind of scoring with even strength, power play and even shorthanded goals getting the tally to the victorious four. This was a big win for Texas. The lines were slightly retooled, including the power play, which is discussed below. The point here is that Texas can hang with the big boys in the conference, such as Charlotte, and is very close to having something great on the ice every night.
Luke Gazdic scored his sixth of the year and his first shorthanded goal to open the scoring in the first. Brett Sutter and the Checkers evened things one minute later and the score was tied after one.
Charlotte opened the second period scoring with a goal from Drayson Bowman, unfortunately for Texas a shorthanded goal. Texas then climbed back into the driver seat with two power play tallies. Coach Pyle retooled his power play units to great success tonight. Two of the players changed had goals on the PP.
First, Matt Fraser was swapped to the umbrella PP unit, which features one defenseman and four forwards. Jordie Benn stays at the point while the other four spread out in an umbrella formation. Ryan Garbutt lost his spot on the PP to make room for Fraser, who joined Wathier, Sceviour and Glennie. Fraser collected the first PP goal at 14:44 of the second.
Newcomer to the power play, Mike Hedden, replaced Matt Fraser on the second more "traditional" PP unit, which also features Dillon, Lukowich, Morin and Sawada. Hedden made good on his PP time, scoring his second goal of the year, the eventual game winner, with four seconds left in the period.
Texas added one more in the third off the stick of Maxime Fortunus, his third of the season. Beskorowany had 22 saves on 24 shots in the game. Texas went 2/8 on the PP and did not allow a Charlotte PP goal on 5 tries.
Tonight's lines:
No lines tonight, as I couldn't watch or listen live. Note that Hedden started on a line with Morin and Sawada though. Godard was swapped into the lineup for Stephen Schultz.
Injuries, scratches, and notes:
Coyle, Schultz (scratched)
Larsen, Vincour, Bachman (callup)
Tonight's attendance was 8,913.
AHL Gamesheet - Texas at Charlotte - December 3 2011
Luke Gazdic scored his sixth of the year and his first shorthanded goal to open the scoring in the first. Brett Sutter and the Checkers evened things one minute later and the score was tied after one.
Charlotte opened the second period scoring with a goal from Drayson Bowman, unfortunately for Texas a shorthanded goal. Texas then climbed back into the driver seat with two power play tallies. Coach Pyle retooled his power play units to great success tonight. Two of the players changed had goals on the PP.
First, Matt Fraser was swapped to the umbrella PP unit, which features one defenseman and four forwards. Jordie Benn stays at the point while the other four spread out in an umbrella formation. Ryan Garbutt lost his spot on the PP to make room for Fraser, who joined Wathier, Sceviour and Glennie. Fraser collected the first PP goal at 14:44 of the second.
Newcomer to the power play, Mike Hedden, replaced Matt Fraser on the second more "traditional" PP unit, which also features Dillon, Lukowich, Morin and Sawada. Hedden made good on his PP time, scoring his second goal of the year, the eventual game winner, with four seconds left in the period.
Texas added one more in the third off the stick of Maxime Fortunus, his third of the season. Beskorowany had 22 saves on 24 shots in the game. Texas went 2/8 on the PP and did not allow a Charlotte PP goal on 5 tries.
Tonight's lines:
No lines tonight, as I couldn't watch or listen live. Note that Hedden started on a line with Morin and Sawada though. Godard was swapped into the lineup for Stephen Schultz.
Injuries, scratches, and notes:
Coyle, Schultz (scratched)
Larsen, Vincour, Bachman (callup)
Tonight's attendance was 8,913.
AHL Gamesheet - Texas at Charlotte - December 3 2011
The lines tonight featured a curious first: Roman centered a line with Gazdic and Godard on the wings.
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