Charlotte Checkers lose AHL Calder Cup Finals opener to Chicago Wolves in OT
Stefan Matteau’s overtime goal capped a Chicago comeback Saturday night that carried the Wolves to a 4-3 victory over the Charlotte Checkers in the first game of the AHL Calder Cup Finals.
Matteau’s goal, his second of the game, came 5:30 into the extra session and spoiled the night for a Bojangles’ Coliseum crowd of 8,465 – biggest in the Checkers’ four seasons at the venue.
“We’re in the finals,” Checkers coach Mike Vellucci said after the game. “You’ve got to win four games. This is just one game. We’ll come back tomorrow.”
Game 2 in the best-of-7 series will be at 6 p.m. Sunday at the coliseum.
The Wolves stole home-ice advantage in the series by rallying from a 3-1 deficit after the first period. They scored a pair of second-period goals on long slap shots, then withstood a Checkers barrage in the third period.
The winning goal started on a fluke play, as the puck bounced off a linesman and landed on the stick of Chicago’s Nic Hague. He passed to Matteau, who was about 8 feet in front of the Charlotte goal. Matteau swatted at the puck, sending it bouncing past Checkers goalkeeper Alex Nedeljkovic.
It was a tough ending to a game that started so well for Charlotte.
Playing in the American Hockey League finals for the first time in the franchise’s nine years, the Checkers jumped to an early lead. Trevor Carrick scored just 2:19 into the game. The Wolves tied the score on Matteau’s first goal, but Charlotte pulled ahead on goals by Roland McKeown and Andrew Poturalski.
McKeown scored on a slap shot – one of five slap-shot goals in the game. Poturalski’s goal, which came in the final minute of the period, was set up by a pass from Morgan Geekie, who had stolen the puck at center ice.
“The first period really went our way,” Poturalski said. “But they’re a good team, and they came back.”
Chicago dominated the second period, scoring twice and nearly scoring at least two more times. Zac Leslie’s slap shot got past a screened-out Nedeljkovic for the Wolves’ second goal, and Zach Whitecloud tied the score on a slap shot with 5.7 seconds left in the period.
The Checkers outshot Chicago 17-7 in the third period, although the Wolves had one possession, which lasted more than two minutes, in which they took about a half-dozen shots at the Checkers’ goal.
3 who mattered
Stefan Matteau, Chicago: Matteau, who was born in Chicago but grew up in Quebec, scored two goals, including the winner in overtime.
Zach Whitecloud, Chicago: The defenseman scored the tying goal and had several big defensive plays when the Checkers threatened in the third period.
Andrew Poturalski, Charlotte: Poturalski scored his ninth goal of the playoffs.
Worth mentioning
▪ The Game 1 winner of the Calder Cup Finals has gone on to win the series more than 76 percent of the time (63 of 82 years). The last time the Game 1 winner didn’t take the series was eight years ago, when Houston won the opener but lost to Binghamton in six games.
▪ Saturday’s contest marked the first overtime game in the finals in two years – and the first overtime in a finals Game 1 since 2015.
▪ Eight members of the current Charlotte roster played for the Checkers two years ago, when the team lost to Chicago in the first round of the playoffs. No current Chicago Wolves played in that series. The Wolves were a St. Louis Blues farm team at the time and are now affiliated with the Vegas Golden Knights.
▪ Saturday night’s game will be replayed at 2 p.m. Sunday on the NHL Network. Sunday night’s Game 2 will be televised live by the NHL Network.
▪ Matteau was more than a scorer Saturday night. He also got into a fracas with Charlotte’s Clark Bishop at the end of the first period and receiving a roughing minor and a 10-minute misconduct for “continuing an altercation.”
They said it
”We’ve rebounded every time. I expect us to rebound again this time,” – Vellucci, on what he expects from his team in Game 2.
AHL Calder Cup Finals
Chicago Wolves vs. Charlotte Checkers
Game 1: Wolves 4, Checkers 3 (OT)
June 2, 6 p.m.: at Charlotte
June 5, 8 p.m.: at Chicago
June 6, 8 p.m.: at Chicago
June 8, 8 p.m.: at Chicago*
June 13, 7 p.m.: at Charlotte*
June 14, 7 p.m.: at Charlotte*
*if necessary; games will air live on NHL Network except Game 1 (2 p.m. Sunday) and Game 4 (1 p.m. Friday). All games stream live on AHLTV.
This story was originally published June 1, 2019 at 9:16 PM.