The Checkers will face either the Laval Rocket or Rochester Americans in the conference finals.
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The Charlotte Checkers are headed to the Eastern Conference Finals in the Calder Cup Playoffs.
The Checkers completed a series sweep of the Hershey Bears in the Division Finals with a 6-3 win on Wednesday. Charlotte won the first two games at home before finishing the job on the road in Pennsylvania.
Hershey took a 2-0 lead in the second period of Wednesday’s game, but Charlotte punched back with five unanswered goals to put the game away. Brett Chorske, Michael Benning, John Leonard, Will Lockwood, Kyle Criscuolo, and Rasmus Asplund all scored in the victory for Charlotte.
Hershey edged Charlotte by two points in the Atlantic Division to gain homefield advantage for this series, but the Checkers quickly forced the Bears into a corner. The Bears, who won the last two Calder Cups, will not have a chance at the three-peat.
Game 1 was a back-and-forth affair with Charlotte prevailing in the third period on a Leonard goal. The Checkers were kept out of the net in Game 2 until the final five minutes, when Asplund scored to tie the game. Asplund broke through again in overtime to give the Checkers a 2-1 win and a 2-0 series lead.
While facing a division-winner on the road in the playoffs is a daunting task, the Checkers actually fared better away from home against the Bears this season. Charlotte was 3-0-1 in Hershey during the regular season, compared to a 1-2-1 record against the Bears at home.
This will be Charlotte’s second trip to the Eastern Conference Finals. The Chackers last made the round in 2019, when the team won its first Calder Cup.
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