Rasmus Asplund scored his second goal of the night 3:09 into overtime to give Charlotte a 2-1 victory in Game 2 of the Atlantic Division Finals at Bojangles Coliseum on Saturday night.
With the Checkers ahead two games to none, the best-of-five series resumes Wednesday night in Hershey.
After nearly winning the game late in regulation, the Checkers came out and generated several chances early in the OT period. Just over three minutes in, John Leonard’s shot went wide but caromed off the end boards right to Asplund, who tucked it home to give Charlotte the victory.
Luke Philp got the Bears on the board first with 2:33 gone in the game, and Hershey held onto the 1-0 lead until Asplund evened the score 4:16 into the third period.
Charlotte nearly won the game with 2:10 left in regulation, but Ben Steeves hit the post behind Bears goaltender Hunter Shepard.
Kaapo Kähkönen (5-2) made 17 saves for the Checkers, while Shepard finished with 27 stops for the Bears.
(Charlotte leads series, 2-0)
Game 1 – Fri., May 16 – CHARLOTTE 3, Hershey 2
Game 2 – Sat., May 17 – CHARLOTTE 2, Hershey 1 (OT)
Game 3 – Wed., May 21 – Charlotte at Hershey, 7:00
*Game 4 – Thu., May 22 – Charlotte at Hershey, 7:00
*Game 5 – Sat., May 24 – Charlotte at Hershey, 7:00
*if necessary… All times Eastern
