SPRINGFIELD, MA – In a rare morning matchup, the Checkers couldn’t quite muster enough to overcome the Springfield Thunderbirds, falling by a 5-3 score.
After a back-and-fourth contest, the two sides were tied heading into the final minutes of regulation and appeared to be destined for overtime. Things fell apart for the Checkers, however, as they took a too-many-men penalty with less than three minutes left followed 37 seconds later by a delay of game penalty for sending the puck over the glass. Down two men and facing the AHL’s 10th-ranked power play, the Checkers surrendered the go-ahead goal on a quick one-timer from Tim Erixon. With still another penalty to kill following that, Charlotte couldn’t conjure up a rally and the Thunderbirds sealed their victory with an empty-net strike in the waning minutes.
Both teams leaned heavily on their special teams to provide offense throughout the night. Springfield opened the scoring with a power-play tally and picked up the game winner on a two-man advantage. The Checkers converted on one of three power-play opportunities on the night, with Valentin Zykov extending his team lead with his eighth goal of the season, but were also able to strike shorthanded thanks to Warren Foegele’s third such marker of the season.
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