SPRINGFIELD, Mass. — The Springfield Thunderbirds (12-10-2-1) fell victim to a two-goal comeback by the Charlotte Checkers (15-6-1-2) on Wednesday night at Bojangles Coliseum. 

The T-Birds did themselves no favors by taking back-to-back penalties just four seconds apart, resulting in 1:57 of two-man advantage time for the league's top power play. Steve Konowalchuk's team dug in, though, as Vadim Zherenko and the penalty killers did the job to survive the lengthy threat.

Charlotte still rode the momentum from the power play to the game's opening tally by Oliver Okuliar at 4:45 of the first period, giving the Checkers a 1-0 advantage.

After the burst from Charlotte, the T-Birds quickly chipped away on the shot board. At 15:00 of the frame, Dalibor Dvorsky brought Springfield even with his team-leading 11th of the season, cashing in on a rebound at the edge of the crease and driving it past former T-Bird Chris Driedger. 

The 1-1 score continued for nearly a whole period of game action until the T-Birds' third and fourth units capitalized on back-to-back shifts. Tanner Dickinson started the scoring blitz with a wrister from the left circle that glanced off traffic and eluded Driedger at 14:02 of the second period, making it a 2-1 lead for Springfield.

34 seconds later, Mathias Laferriere and Drew Callin entered the offensive zone on a 2-on-1 and took advantage of the situation. Driedger made an initial pad save off a Laferriere shot from the left circle. However, the rebound kicked right to Callin, who quickly deked to the forehand and put it behind Driedger to give the T-Birds a 3-1 advantage.

Penalties, though, continued to throw a wrench in the T-Birds' plans, and the Charlotte power play finally connected in the final minute of the second as Rasmus Asplund redirected a Trevor Carrick wrist shot behind Zherenko, chopping the lead to 3-2 at 19:21 of the middle frame.

For a second straight night, rookie Ben Steeves provided a clutch tying marker for Charlotte, taking a feed from Okuliar in the right circle and snapping a shot past Zherenko's stick hand at 3:55 of the third, bringing the game to a stalemate, 3-3.

The two teams did not generate much after the Steeves goal, with the two clubs combining for only eight shots in the entire third period, and the tie score carried into the final three minutes of the game. 

Again, discipline proved pivotal, as Tobias Bjornfot drew a high-sticking double minor and a four-minute power play for the Checkers with 2:39 remaining. 

The league's top man advantage lived up to their billing in the final minute, as Wilmer Skoog unloaded a blistering one-time slapper that found twine with 54 seconds left to give Charlotte the 4-3 lead. Springfield's last-ditch efforts to tie came up empty in the closing moments, and Charlotte completed the two-game sweep of the T-Birds.

The T-Birds continue their five-game road trip north of the border in Belleville on Saturday (7:00 p.m.) and Laval on Sunday (3:00 p.m.).

Interested 2024-25 season ticket members can call (413) 739-GOAL (4625) or visit www.SpringfieldThunderbirds.com to learn how to become a regular at the Thunderdome.