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Augusta's Jim Shepherd (left) tries to keep up with Charlotte's Kurt Seher during hockey action at the Augusta Friday evening in Augusta.
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David Wilkie envisioned a better result in his first game as a head coach, but at least the Augusta Lynx gave him some reasons to believe there are better days on the horizon.
Less than 12 hours after Wilkie took over as coach for Jim Burton, who moves from the bench to the front office as the team's new general manager, the Lynx dropped their sixth straight, falling 5-2 to the Charlotte Checkers before a crowd of 4,623 fans at Augusta-Richmond County Civic Center.
"The guys worked their butts off, and we definitely came out hard and played a lot harder than we have in the last five games," Wilkie said. "I was happy with a lot of things tonight, but we've got some teaching to do and a long way to go."
Despite outshooting the Checkers 45-37, the Lynx (3-8-0) came up empty on most of their best scoring chances and again were plagued by turnovers and a weak penalty-killing unit.
Charlotte (4-5-1) jumped to a 3-1 lead early in the second period, led by a pair of goals Brendan Yarema, and got help from goalie John Holmqvist, who appeared in one game for the NHL's New York Rangers last season and was making his first start after being assigned from Hartford of the American Hockey League.
Yerema's first goal came shorthanded on a breakaway after the Lynx turned the puck over at the Charlotte blue line. The Checkers also scored twice on six power-play chances against a Lynx penalty kill that ranks last in the ECHL.
"We obviously have some problems on the penalty kill and defensively," said Lynx veteran Darryl Laplante, who moved from forward to defense to help out a thin Lynx blueline. "The effort was definitely there. We just need to cut down on the mistakes."
Goalie Colin Zulianello was solid in his season debut after missing the first month with a groin injury, making 32 saves.
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In front of the Charlotte goal, Augusta's Josh St. Louis gets taken down by Charlotte's Chad McIver.
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Jeff Szwez and Ryan Lauzon scored the goals for the Lynx, with Lauzon's tally on a power play cutting the Charlotte lead to 3-2 with 2:33 left in the second period.
Eddie Pershin pushed Charlotte's lead to 4-2 with 4:51 left in the contest, and Patrick Aufiero added an empty-netter with 1:37 left.
"I'm disappointed, but at least the effort was there," Wilkie said. "But these guys know they've got to work hard. If they don't play hard, they're not going to be here. That's the bottom line. I won't put up with guys not playing hard."
Reach Rob Mueller at (706) 823-3425.
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