Checkers grab home-ice advantage, stun Laval in Eastern finals opener

The Charlotte Checkers scored in the opening two minutes and stunned the Laval Rocket 5-1 Wednesday night in the opener of the AHL’s Eastern Conference finals.

Charlotte grabbed home-ice advantage in the best-of-seven series against the Rocket, the AHL’s best team during the regular season.

The series will resume with Game 2 at 7 p.m. Thursday in Laval, a suburb of Montreal, before the teams return south for Game 3 on Sunday in Charlotte.

The Checkers had the Rocket on its heels from the start, as Sandis Vitmanis scored on an assist from Ben Steeves just 1:44 into the game.

Charlotte made it 2-0 midway through the period on Justin Sourdif’s unassisted goal.

“That was big,” Checkers’ coach Geordie Kinnear said. “That first period was a great start.”

Kinnear said the momentum shifted in the second period.

“I thought (the Rocket) were the better team in that period,” he said. “But Kaapo (Kahkonen) kept us in the game.”

Charlotte goalkeeper Kahkonen stopped 12 of Laval’s 13 shots in the second period. The only shot to get past him came at the 5:47 mark, by Oliver Kapanen.

But by then, the Checkers were up 3-0, as Oliver Okuliar scored his second goal of the playoffs just 1:55 into the period.

Kinnear said Charlotte regained the momentum in the opening minute of the third period.

The Rocket had started the period on the power play, but the Checkers’ Matt Kiersted gained control of the puck and passed it to John Leonard, who got around the Laval defense. Leonard beat Rocket goalkeeper Cayden Primeau for a shorthanded goal, just 31 seconds into the final period.

Laval pulled Primeau for an extra skater with four minutes left, and Charlotte responded with an empty-net goal by Jesse Puljujarvi with 3:10 to play.

Laval was the AHL’s most-penalized team during the regular season, but the Checkers had more penalties Wednesday night, and the Rocket had six power-play opportunities. They went 0 for 6.

Kinnear said the Checkers’ power play unit is tightly knit.

“They trust each other,” he said. “They’ve done it all year.”

Laval’s frustration seemed to boil over in the closing minutes, as a big fight broke out with 2:04 left. Referees Steven Hiff and Mike Sullivan handed out 10 misconduct penalties — five to each team.

The game drew a full house of 9,000-plus to Laval’s Place Bell arena, and Kinnear said the atmosphere was electric.

“It was a great atmosphere,” he said. “They have great fans, and they were loud.”

This story was originally published May 28, 2025 at 11:07 PM.