The Charlotte Checkers will have a different pair of goalies when they host the Springfield Thunderbirds at Bojangles Coliseum this weekend, after the Florida Panthers called up goalie Cooper Black on Tuesday.
Black made 33 saves in last Saturday's 4-2 win over the Hartford Wolf Pack. Florida recalled him, bringing him up from the Checkers to its NHL roster, with Florida goalie Jacob Markstrom sidelined, the Checkers said. Charlotte then recalled goalie Tyler Muszelik, 22, from the Savannah Ghost Pirates, its affiliate in the ECHL, the league a level below the AHL. Muszelik will split the work in net with Kirill Gerasimyuk, who won both of his starts this season.
Charlotte, the American Hockey League affiliate of the Panthers, plays Springfield at 7 p.m. Friday and 6 p.m. Saturday. The Checkers are 4-2 and have won three straight. Springfield, the AHL affiliate of the St. Louis Blues, is 2-2-1-1: two wins, two regulation losses, one overtime loss and one shootout loss.
The teams met Oct. 11 in Springfield, where Gerasimyuk stopped all three Thunderbirds shooters in a 2-1 shootout win.
This is Black's second call-up in a week. Florida first recalled him Oct. 13 and sent him back to Charlotte on Oct. 16. He is 2-1 this season with a .919 save percentage, the club said.
Muszelik made his professional debut Oct. 4 at Hershey, with 20 saves in a 3-2 loss. Florida, which holds his contract, loaned him to Charlotte from Savannah on Oct. 13, the day Black was first recalled. He backed up Gerasimyuk in the Oct. 16 home opener and went back to Savannah the next day. He has played one game for the Ghost Pirates, a 25-save win.
Florida also recalled forward Cole Reinhardt on Oct. 17. Reinhardt, 26, had two assists in five games for Charlotte and has played 77 NHL games.
Charlotte assigned forward Philip Tresca, 24, who played four seasons at Harvard, to Savannah on Oct. 15. On Tuesday it sent forward Kasper Lundell, 22, who made his North American professional debut for Charlotte on Oct. 4, and defenseman Emil Pieniniemi, 21, who has not played for Charlotte, to Savannah as well.
The Oct. 17 win tied head coach Geordie Kinnear with Bruce Boudreau, who went on to coach in Washington, for 14th in AHL coaching wins, according to the club. "I just come to work, try to get everyone better," Kinnear said after the game.
Friday is Oktoberfest night and Saturday is 90's Night, according to the club's promotions schedule.
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