Grigori Denisenko scored the game-tying goal with 5:41 left in regulation and then notched the only marker of the shootout in the fourth round to lift the Charlotte Checkers to a 5-4 victory over the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins at Bojangles Coliseum.
The Checkers (10-4-1-1 22P) have won four in a row and climbed into second place in the AHL’s Atlantic Division.
Denisenko, who also had an assist, got his second of the season on the power play with the assists going to Lucas Carlsson and Michael Del Zotto to send the game to overtime.
Zac Dalpe, Aleksi Heponiemi and Patrick Giles also scored for the Checkers. Giles’ goal was the first of his professional career. Heponiemi’s tally came on a power play.
Carlsson finished the tilt with two helpers while Dennis Cesana, Chris Tierney, Logan Hutsko and Anthony Bitetto each had one.
Alex Lyon stopped 32 shots and did not yield in the shootout to raise his record to 5-3-1.
The Florida Panthers chances of repeating as Atlantic Division faded even more as the Boston Bruins, their next opponent, beat the Tampa Bay Lightning by a 5-3 count. Patrice Bergeron collected his 1,000 point in the game.
Boston (17-2) opened up a 14-point lead over the Cats with each team having played 19 games. The Bruins handed the Panthers their first loss of the season at TD Garden on October 17, so the Cats will be looking to be the ones to end Boston’s seven-game winning streak.