2019 Calder Cup Finals: Game 1 - Chicago at Charlotte
CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- The 2019 Calder Cup Finals began Friday night in Charlotte, and there was no shortage of excitement - or hockey - in tonight's Game 1.
After the Charlotte Checkers took a an early 3-1 lead in the first period, the Chicago Wolves clawed their way back in the middle frame - forcing overtime before getting a game-winner from Steffan Matteau to take a 1-0 series lead in the best-of-seven series with Game 2 scheduled for puck drop Sunday night at 6 p.m. ET.
Charlotte Checkers Roster Notes
Checkers' Lines (Starters in Bold/Italics)
Steven Lorentz - Morgan Geekie - Andrew Poturalski Tomas Jurco - Patrick Brown - Martin Necas Aleksi Saarela - Nicolas Roy - Stelio MattheosNick Schilkey - Clark Bishop - Zach Nastasiuk
Trevor Carrick - Josiah DidierJake Bean - Roland McKeown Haydn Fleury - Bobby Sanguinetti
Alex Nedeljkovic - Dustin Tokarski
Chicago Wolves Roster Notes
Wolves' Lines (Starters in Bold/Italics)
Daniel Carr - T.J. Tynan - Curtis McKenzie Steffan Matteau - Gage Quinney - Keegan KolesarTye McGinn - Cody Glass - Thomas Hyka Tobias Lindberg - Matthew Weis - Brooks Macek
Nic Hague - Zach WhitecloudJake Bischoff - Zac Leslie Griffin Reinhart - Dylan Coghlan
Oscar Dansk - Maxime Legace
GAME STORY
FIRST PERIOD
Charlotte used the hometown crowd to their advantage in the opening shift and subsequent minutes, drawing a hooking penalty 48 seconds into the contest and nearly scoring on the delayed call. It wasn't long before the surging Checkers struck first and took the early 1-0 lead.
On the ensuing man advantage, Nicolas Roy took a puck to the net and the home fans thought he got one in behind the Wolves' goaltender. He didn't, but the Checkers got to the loose puck and wotked it up top to Trevor Carrick for a shot from the left point that appeared to change directions on its way past Oscar Dansk. Aleksi Saarela and Roy picked up assists on Carrick's power play goal - his second tally of the postseason.
After surrendering the first eight shots on net in the game, Chicago responded with a goal of their own off the benefit of a friendly bouncing puck. Griffin Reinhart flung the puck toward the net before Steffan Matteau got a piece of it on its way past Alex Nedeljkovic. Matteau's second of the playoffs evened the game at 1-1 just under six minutes into the period.
The Wolves seemed to settle in well after Charlotte dominated the opening minutes. Game 1s are typically a feeling out process for both teams, but the home team came to the opening face-off fully ready to go. The road team responded.
Charlotte got back to it late in the period, taking the lead back at 2-1 after great work in the offensive zone by Martin Necas eventually opened things up for a shot from the left point by Roland McKeown that eluded heavy traffic on its way into the back of the net with 4:14 left before the first intermission. Haydn Fleury and Necas picked up helpers on McKeown's first of the playoffs.
The physical play picked up as the period wore on, with the post-whistle scrums increasing in intensity with each passing stoppage. A big scrum with 3:13 left in the period saw matching minors assessed, but it's certainly just the beginning of the animosity that comes between two teams playing for a championship.
Andrew Poturalski and T.J. Tynan served the penalties, but it was Poturalski making the most of things after he got out of the box. The Checkers' leading scorer exited the box before taking a puck down the right wing and beating Dansk on a backhander with 56.7 seconds left in the period to extend the Checkers' lead to 3-1 heading to the middle frame.
SECOND PERIOD
The first period didn't end quietly, as a big scrum erupted after the first period horn sounded as the Chicago Wolves were about to exit the ice and head to their locker room in the corner of their attacking zone.
Chicago was assessed the extra minor, but was able to kill off the Checkers' power play to begin the middle frame - a timely kill after surrending a late first period goal and finding themselves in a two-goal game.
The two teams really began to settle into the game as the fast-moving middle frame wore on.
The Wolves had some good chances in the middle part of the period, but Nedeljkovic continued to make timely stops to keep the Checkers ahead by the same 3-1 score as the game approached the midway mark of regulation.
Chicago was persistent, and eventually made it a one-goal game at the 11:27 mark on another puck that found its way back to the point and was re-directed in past the goaltender. This one came courtesy of Zac Leslie from the right point, his first tally of the postseason, to make it a 3-2 game.
It wasn't until the final seconds of the period, but the persistent Wolves found a way to send the game to the third period deadlocked at 3-3. Zac Whitecloud got a puck at the left point from T.J. Tynan and blasted one through traffic past everyone with 5.7 seconds left before the second intermission.
THIRD PERIOD
With the game tied entering the third, the intensity picked up and kept picking up with each passing shift. It quickly became a classic back-and-forth style with end-to-end action.
At one end, Oscar Dansk made a series of saves early on that saw him flopping around like a fish out of water. At the other, Alex Nedeljkovic stoned Tomas Hyka and Tye McGinn on separate Grade-A chances from point-blank range.
The Wolves had a glorious chance to take the lead just past the midway mark of the period when they had Charlotte hemmed in their defensive zone for nearly three straight minutes. Chicago did literally everything but score on the extended shift in the offensive zone.
With just under four minutes left in regulation, the Checkers had a glorious opportunity of their own with a late game power play, but credit to Chicago for getting the crucial kill.
Sixty minutes wasn't enough to determine a winner, so after a hectic third period the two teams went back to the locker rooms for a breather before overtime
OVERTIME
Chicago drew themselves a power play just 2:14 into the first OT, and had some good looks Nedeljkovic's way, but ultimately the Checkers PK prevailed and extended the game further into the extra session.
The Wolves found a way to get it done, getting an OT game-winner from Steffan Matteau 5:30 into the extra session to lift Chicago to the Game 1 win and a 1-0 series lead in the Calder Cup Finals.
GAME SUMMARY
1st Period
0:48: CHI - (PP) Kolesar, minor (hooking) 2:19: CHA - PPG Carrick (2) - Saarela, Roy 5:54: CHI - Matteau (2) - Reinhart 7:12: CHA - (PP) Jurco, minor (interference) 15:47: CHA - McKeown (1) - Fleury, Necas 16:47: CHI - Tynan, minor (roughing) 16:47: CHA - Poturalski, minor (roughing) 19:03: CHA - Poturalski (9) - Geekie 20:00: CHI - McKenzie, minor (roughing) 20:00: CHI - (PP) Matteau, minor (roughing) 20:00: CHI - Matteau, ten-minute misconduct (continuing altercation) 20:00: CHA - Bishop, minor (roughing)
2nd Period
11:27: CHI - Leslie (1) - Carr 12:53: CHI - Reinhart, minor (tripping) 12:53: CHA - Saarela, minor (embellishment) 19:54: CHI - Whitecloud (3) - Tynan, Reinhart
3rd Period
16:04: CHI - (PP) McGinn, minor (hooking)
Overtime
2:14: CHA - (PP) Fleury, minor (cross-checking) 5:30: CHI - Matteau (3) - Hague
BOXSCORE
Chicago 1 - 2 - 0 - 1 = 4 Charlotte 3 - 0 - 0 - 0 = 3
Shots
Chicago 14 - 11 - 7 - 4 = 36 Charlotte 13 - 7 - 17 - 1 = 38
Goalies
CHI: Oscar Dansk (35 saves - 38 shots) CHA: Alex Nedeljkovic (32 saves - 36 shots)
Power Play
CHI: 0-for-2 CHA: 1-for-2
Penalty Kill
CHI: 1-for-2 CHA: 2-for-2
Attendance: 8,465
