The Charlotte Checkers earned a hard-fought split on the road against the Toronto Marlies over the weekend,
On Saturday, Jesse Puljujärvi opened the scoring 1:23 into the action with a power-play goal assisted by C.J. Smith and Trevor Carrick. It was his third goal since joining the Checkers. Unfortunately, that would be it for Charlotte offensively as the Marlies went on to win by a 3-1 count in front of crowd of 8,173 souls at the home of the Maple Leafs, Scotiabank Arena. Veteran goaltender Kaapo Kähkönen took the loss, finishing with 20 saves on 23 shots.
The Checkers rebounded to post a 3-2 victory over Toronto at Coca-Cola Coliseum on Sunday. John Leonard and Ben Steeves scored to stake Charlotte to a 2-0 lead. Sandis Vilmanis notched the eventual game-winner unassisted with 5:03 left in the second period. Puljujärvi continued his fine play with two assists, and Justin Sourdif and Smith were also credited with helpers. Ken Appleby made 16 saves to collect his 13th win of the season.
Charlotte (33-18-3-3) will continue its six-game road trip on Wednesday night when they pay a visit to the Utica Comets.