3 quick goals boost Charlotte to AHL victory

The Charlotte Checkers scored three times with a span of 77 seconds Saturday night and went on to defeat Lake Erie 4-1 in the American Hockey League.

After going scoreless for almost 29 minutes, Charlotte took command and chased Monsters goalie Anton Forsberg from the game.

First it was Derek Ryan, who punched in a power-play goal nearly nine minutes into the second period. Just 24 seconds later, Brody Sutter intercepted a pass in the defensive zone and capitalized against Forsberg. Keegan Lowe completed the surge 53 seconds after that, firing a puck home from the point to give the Checkers a 3-0 lead and end the night for Lake Erie’s goalie.

The Monsters got on the board before the end of the second, but Daniel Altshuller earned a second consecutive win by turning aside 36 of 37 shots on goal. Those saves included 19 during Lake Erie’s third-period push

“When you’re playing against a team that has the horsepower that they do, he was tested and he did some great things out there,” Charlotte coach Mark Morris said of Altshuller. “To have two successive wins in your first two starts has to do wonders for his confidence.”

The Checkers have seen a few two-goal leads evaporate this season, including last week’s shootout loss to Iowa. Saturday, however, they made sure not to let the Monsters creep back into the game.

“For me it’s just trust,” Altshuller said. “I just trust that if I make the first stop that the (defensemen) are going to box out and give me time to get back in position or just clear the rebound. That’s what we did tonight. They had only a couple of rebound chances and everything else they boxed out and got the puck away.”

The teams will finish off their pre-holiday schedule with a 1 p.m. contest Sunday at Bojangles’ Coliseum.

This story was originally published December 20, 2015 at 12:13 AM with the headline "3 quick goals boost Charlotte to AHL victory."