The Charlotte Checkers are 10-7 after splitting a pair of home games against the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins.
On Friday, Justin Sourdif notched his first two goals of the season and added an assist to power the Checkers to a 6-3 win.
Sourdif opened the scoring midway through the first period with a power-play goal and then tallied shorthanded into an empty net to provide the final margin.
Also scoring for Charlotte were Mackie Samoskevich, who set up Sourdif’s first goal, Zac Dalpe (PPG), Santtu Kinnunen and Brendan Perlini. Kinnunen’s goal was his first of the season.
Veteran forward Rasmus Asplund collected three assists and Lucas Carlsson, Patrick Khodorenko and Calle Sjalin each had one helper.
Goaltender Spencer Knight returned to action and made 24 saves to pick up his fifth win.
The Penguins struck back last night, scoring three times in the first period to chase Checkers starter Evan Cormier and cruise to a 4-1 victory.
Valtteri Puustinen, Joona Koppanen and Raivis Ansons beat Cormier, who was making his first AHL start of the season, in a 6:44 span to open up a three-goal lead. Cormier made three saves on six shots.
Ludovic Waeber replaced Cormier at the start of the second period and gave up a power-play goal to Jonathan Gruden at the 15:28 mark. He finished with 18 saves in relief.
William Lockwood ended Joel Blomqvist’s shutout bid midway through the third with the assists going to Kinnunen and Perlini. Toss the Teddys!
Charlotte will be off until Friday when they welcome the Hershey Bears to Bojangles Coliseum for a back-to-back set.
After 17 games, Carlsson leads the Checkers in goals (7) and points (15). Kinnunen leads the team with eleven assists.
In organizational news, defenseman Mike Reilly, who was waived on Friday, was claimed by the New York Islanders. Reilly appeared in two games in his short stint with the Panthers.