Andrew Poturalski notched two goals and an assist as Charlotte took a 2-1 series lead with a 3-0 win over Providence at Bojangles’ Coliseum on Wednesday night.
The Checkers look to close out the best-of-five Atlantic Division semifinal series when they host Game 4 on Friday.
Poturalski, a Second Team AHL All-Star during the regular season, opened the scoring with a tremendous individual effort, waiting out the Bruins defense and sliding a shot past Zane McIntyre (25 saves) at 10:05 of the first period.
Morgan Geekie made it 2-0 less than four minutes later, again taking advantage of time and space down low and beating McIntyre (0-2) for his third goal of the series.
Poturalski struck again 1:04 into the third period when he stole the puck at the defensive blue line, raced down the left wing, and wristed home a shot from the bottom of the faceoff circle.
Alex Nedeljkovic (2-1) needed just 20 saves to record his second career playoff shutout.
Atlantic Division Semifinals – Series “A” (best-of-5)
A1-Charlotte Checkers vs. A4-Providence Bruins
Game 1 – Sat., Apr. 20 – Charlotte 5, PROVIDENCE 4 | Recap
Game 2 – Sun., Apr. 21 – PROVIDENCE 4, Charlotte 2 | Recap
Game 3 – Wed., Apr. 24 – CHARLOTTE 3, Providence 0
Game 4 – Fri., Apr. 26 – Providence at Charlotte, 7:00
*Game 5 – Sat., Apr. 27 – Providence at Charlotte, 6:00
*if necessary… All times Eastern
