With 15 seconds left in the second period Tuesday night in Colorado, forward Gracyn Sawchyn stole the puck in his own end, skated the length of the ice and slipped a backhand across the goal line to put the Charlotte Checkers ahead for good. It was the high point of a two-night trip that ended Wednesday with the Checkers shut out for the first time this season.
Colorado Eagles goaltender Trent Miner stopped all 27 Charlotte shots on Wednesday, by the league's count, and the Eagles won 3-0 in Loveland, a night after the Checkers' 6-3 win in the same building. Eagles captain Jayson Megna broke a scoreless game late in the second period, and Colorado scored twice more early in the third.
The split leaves Charlotte 6-4, second in the American Hockey League's Atlantic Division behind the Hershey Bears, according to the league's standings.
Charlotte went 0 for 4 on the power play. Checkers goaltender Kirill Gerasimyuk made 26 saves and, for the first time in five starts this season, allowed more than two goals, the club said.
In Tuesday's win, forward Jack Devine scored twice, once on the power play and once into an empty net, and his six goals are tied for sixth in the league, the club said. Forward Will Bitten scored shorthanded, forward Robert Mastrosimone made it 4-2 less than two minutes into the third, and forward Nate Smith added a second empty-net goal.
Goaltender Tyler Muszelik made 22 saves for his first AHL win, the club said.
The Checkers play two games at the Iowa Wild, Friday and Sunday.