Checked Into Oblivion

At first, I thought there might have been an error made when it came to the score. The only problem? There was no error. The Charlotte Checkers absolutely exploded for goals on Tuesday night in an 11-1 hammering of the Rochester Americans, setting a new franchise record for goals in a game. It was a big night for Charlotte where a ridiculous outburst of scoring in a short period of time helped them achieve this new accolade.

At the end of the first period, Charlotte held a 3-0 lead which, in most cases, is not insurmountable, but a solid lead nonetheless. Charlotte's Max Gildon made it 4-0 at 6:10 of the middle frame, and Mattias Samuelsson would get Rochester back to a three-goal deficit when he snapped Joey Daccord's shutout at 8:06. Holding that 4-1 lead, it seemed Charlotte was in the driver's seat in this game, but that's when things went completely off the rails.

At 15:12, Henry Bowlby scored to make it 5-1. 16 seconds later, Kole Lind made it 6-1. 20 seconds later, Chase Priskie made it 7-1 as the Checkers scored three goals in 36 seconds. And they weren't done there as Grigori Denisenko made it 8-1 just 1:07 later. 1:52 after that, Luke Henman made it 9-1. And 56 seconds after that goal, Kole Lind scored with 17 seconds left in the second period to make it 10-1 as the Checkers scored seven goals in the frame with six of them scored in 4:31!

Those seven goals are nowhere near the AHL record that Providence set on November 25, 1998 when they hung a ten spot on Syracuse in the first period of their game, but the Checkers were one goal short of their own franchise record for goals in a period when they put up eight on against Syracuse on December 6, 2010. In a fact that doesn't have Syracuse as the victim, the fastest six goals in AHL history was in a game between Worcester and Springfield on December 14, 1997 when those two teams scored three goals each in a span of 1:21!

What makes the night even a little more weird is that all 11 goals Checkers goals were scored at even-strength. The Checkers went 0-for-3 on the power-play in this game, but it wasn't like they couldn't find any offence on this night. Kole Lind finished with five points on the night as the Checkers had 13 players record a total of 33 points in this contest. Yowza.

Things don't get any more pleasant for Rochester as they'll be back at Bojangles' Coliseum tomorrow for the second-half of this back-to-back set against the Checkers. There are a couple of records that Charlotte could reach if they go bananas on the scoreboard tomorrow, but these numbers below seem unlikely as I have a feeling Rochester will be out to avenge this loss in a big way.

For the record, the most goals scored by any team against any other team in two consecutive games is 25, and that happened back in 1963 when Cleveland hammered Pittsburgh on March 3 and March 31. The most goals scored by any team in two consecutive games is 24 as Buffalo beat Philadelphia 16-4 on November 14, 1948 before downing Indianapolis 8-3 three nights later. Again, I doubt we'll see Charlotte in double-digit scores tomorrow, but weirder things have happened.

The 4111 fans in Charlotte likely won't need to hit the gym tomorrow with all the sitting-to-standing they were doing tonight. Their team certainly made it worth the price of admission tonight!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!