Charlotte Checkers forward Patrick Giles (#36) get checked by San Jose Barracuda defenseman Shakir Mukhamadullin (#85) during the Checkers 5-4 OT win at Bojangles Coliseum on Tuesday JAN 16, 2024. (Charlotte Checkers)

by Marko Ukalovic

Justin Sourdif scored the game winning goal at the 2:34 mark of overtime as the Charlotte Checkers defeated the San Jose Barracuda 5-4 on Tuesday evening at Bojangles Coliseum.

San Jose has lost a season-worst six games in a row. Charlotte has won two games in a row.

Brendan Perlini set up Sourdif on a two-on-one odd man rush into the ‘Cuda zone. Sourdif beat goalie Magnus Chrona with a wrist shot top shelf for his second goal of the game and eighth goal of the season.

Charlotte (19-13-4-0) opened the game with two goals in the first two minutes of the game. First Justin Sourdif set up Mackie Samoskevich with a drop pass and Samoskevich beat starting ‘Cuda goalie Eetu Makiniemi with a wrist shot for his 11th goal of the season at the 1:29 mark of the first period.

Santuu Kinnunen then scored his third goal of the season 46 seconds later when he beat Makiniemi with a wrist shot from the left slot as the Checkers used an odd man rush after a turnover inside the ‘Cuda zone.

That ended the evening for Makiniemi as he made just two saves on four shots as Chrona replaced him the rest of the game.

San Jose (11-8-6-0) cut the lead in half 26 seconds later. Brent Marek’s battle for the puck inside the Checkers zone bounced up in the air and over to Tristen Robins who collected the puck and beat Checkers goalie Ludovic Waeber with a wrist shot for his first goal of the season.

The Checkers regained their two-goal lead on the power play late in the opening frame. Uvis Balinskis found Wilmer Skoog at the point and the Charlotte defenseman’s wrist shot beat Chrona through a sea of traffic in front of the crease at the 18:43 mark.

The Barracuda made it a 3-2 game 46 seconds into the second period with a power play goal. Leon Gawanke’s shot from the point was tipped past Waeber by Oskar Lindblom for his first goal of the season.

Charlotte answered back its second power play goal of the game. Samoskevich found Sourdif up in the left slot. Sourdif waited before depositing a wrist shot to the short side for his seventh goal of the season at the 12:29 mark.

San Jose once again cut their deficit to one goal after winning a faceoff inside the Checkers zone. Ethan Frisch found Danil Gushchin along the right boards. Gushchin then fed a rink wide pass over to Ethan Cardwell who one-timed a wrist shot past Waeber for his 11th goal of the season at the 14:59 mark.

The ‘Cuda tied with just over two minutes left in the middle frame when Tanner Kaspick outbattled Waeber behind the net for the puck. Kaspick fed a wide open Lindblom who backhanded the puck into an empty net for his second goal of the game at the 17:57 mark.

Spencer Knight replaces Waeber to start the third period. Waeber finished with eight saves on 12 shots. Knight (12-7-4-2) stopped all seven shots he faced to earn his 12th victory of the season. Chrona (4-10-3-0) finished with 32 saves on 35 shots in the losing effort.

GAME NOTES: San Jose finished 1-for-2 on the power play. Charlotte was 2-for-3.

San Jose is 0-6 in games that have ended in overtime this season.

The Three Stars of the Game: 1) Sourdif 2) Lindblom 3) Samoskevich.

UP NEXT: San Jose and Charlotte conclude their two-game series on Wednesday 1/17 at 4:00pm at Bojangles Coliseum.