Kirill Gerasimyuk waited three games for his first start of the season. On Sunday at Springfield he stopped 25 of 26 shots, then all three Thunderbirds in the shootout, and the Charlotte Checkers won 2-1, a day after losing 6-2 at Providence.
"If I look at one of the most improved players on and off the ice, Kirill would fit that bill," coach Geordie Kinnear said afterward. "He's come in, he's a dad now."
Angus Crookshank shot first in the shootout and beat Will Cranley with a forehand past his glove. That was all Charlotte needed. Gerasimyuk's last stop was a sprawling save in the third round, according to the club, which says he has now stopped all eight AHL shootout attempts he has faced over the last two seasons.
Cole Schwindt, who scored Charlotte's goal in regulation, said Gerasimyuk "played great through and through" and that he probably owes the goalie dinner after the overtime.
The win evened Charlotte's record at 2-2 after four road games to open the season.
Schwindt's first Checkers goal since 2022
Charlotte outshot Springfield 13-3 in the first period, according to the Thunderbirds, but couldn't beat Cranley. Springfield scored first, and did it shorthanded: Alek Kaskimaki finished a give-and-go with Otto Stenberg at 10:46 of the second.
Kinnear said the team talked about that goal after two periods. "There's going to be momentum swings and how you have to handle it with maturity," he said.
Schwindt tied it at 3:44 of the third, ending Cranley's run of 103 minutes without allowing a goal to start his season. "Luckily it went in," Schwindt said.
It was his first goal for the Checkers since April 8, 2022, the club said. Schwindt had 40 points here as a rookie in 2021-22, played two seasons mostly with the AHL's Calgary Wranglers, then spent the last two entirely in the NHL with Vegas and Florida, according to the club. Florida signed him to a two-year contract in July.
Neither team scored in the three-on-three overtime. Kaskimaki hit the post on a breakaway backhander that would have won it for Springfield.
Still perfect on the penalty kill
Charlotte killed Springfield's only power play, and the club says its penalty kill is still perfect. By our count from the club's numbers, that is 14 power plays faced and 14 killed in four games.
"What I was happy with tonight was when the penalty kill was against a really good power play," Kinnear said.
Charlotte went 0-for-3 on its own power play.
Saturday at Providence
Robert Mastrosimone scored on a power play 1:35 into Saturday's game. Providence answered with goals from Brendan Gaunce and Mikey Eyssimont in the first and Lukas Reichel 11 seconds into the second. Nate Bastian, in his first game for the Checkers, made it 3-2 with two seconds left in the second period, and Charlotte stayed within a goal for most of the third. Then Providence scored three times in 62 seconds inside the last four minutes: Eyssimont, goalie Simon Zajíček (credited with a goal 38 seconds later), and Eyssimont again into an empty net for a hat trick. Cooper Black made 28 saves.
Home
The Checkers open at home on Friday, Oct. 16, at 7 p.m. against Hartford at Bojangles Coliseum, and play the Wolf Pack again Saturday. Schwindt skated there last week. "Not a lot has changed," he said.
Kinnear said the team still has a lot of work to do. "It's not looking exactly how it's supposed to, but we took a step to it," he said.
The full schedule lists all 72 games.