Springfield forward Dylan Peterson broke a 1-1 tie early in the third period, and the Springfield Thunderbirds beat the Charlotte Checkers 2-1 Saturday night at Bojangles Coliseum, ending Charlotte's four-game winning streak.
It was the Checkers' first home loss of the season. They outshot Springfield 28-13, including 15-4 in the third period, but Springfield goalie Will Cranley made 27 saves. Charlotte, the American Hockey League affiliate of the Florida Panthers, is 5-3 after splitting the two-game series.
"It was kind of a weird hockey game. It wasn't that pretty, to be honest with you," Checkers head coach Geordie Kinnear said after the game. "Obviously they made one more play than we did."
Both goals in the first two periods came on the power play, when one team has an extra skater because the other is serving a penalty. Springfield defenseman Theo Lindstein scored at 5:51 of the first. Charlotte forward Jack Devine tied it with 28 seconds left in the second, his third straight game with a point. Charlotte finished 1 for 6 on the power play; Springfield was 1 for 5.
Peterson scored the winner at 6:32 of the third, finishing a pass across the ice from Springfield center Jack Finley.
The first two periods produced 34 penalty minutes. Fourteen seconds into the second, Charlotte defenseman Casey Fitzgerald and Springfield defenseman Colin Ralph fought, and each got a five-minute major.
"That's why he's here," Kinnear said of Fitzgerald, an alternate captain. "Those aren't easy things to do as a hockey player."
Checkers goalie Kirill Gerasimyuk made 11 saves in his second start in two nights and took his first loss of the season. He has not allowed more than two goals in any game. "Sometimes you have to be uncomfortable," Kinnear said, calling the back-to-back starts "a big development piece."
Checkers forward MacKenzie Entwistle made his season debut, a night after forward Brian Pinho made his. "It hasn't been an easy situation for those guys," Kinnear said.
Checkers defenseman Tobias Bjornfot, who Kinnear said Friday had been hurt on a hit, did not play.
The Checkers play next at the Colorado Eagles at 9:05 p.m. ET Tuesday, the first of two games there.
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