CHARLOTTE, N.C. - The Springfield Thunderbirds (13-16-4-2) were doomed by a tough first period in an 8-2 loss to the Charlotte Checkers (20-12-2-0) on Tuesday night at Bojangles Coliseum. 

The first period began horribly for the T-Birds, as Liam McLinskey greeted Vadim Zherenko with a game-opening tally at 4:48 to make it 1-0 game on a perfectly placed wrister.

Springfield's power play was given a chance to even the slate, but instead the Checkers' penalty-kill turned to the offense as Mikulas Hovorka beat Zherenko on an odd-man rush to make it 2-0 at 9:31. 

Ben Steeves would add two tallies in the first period, the first of which came on a breakaway at 13:22 to make it a 3-0 game. Hunter St. Martin's second goal in three games against the T-Birds made it a 4-0 score at 14:27, and after Georgi Romanov replaced Zherenko, Steeves rudely introduced himself to a second Springfield goaltender, beating Romanov on a backhand at 16:08 to make it 5-0.

The T-Birds finally stopped the bleeding in the closing seconds of the period when captain Matthew Peca drove the net in the right circle with a quick backhand-to-forehand chip shot over the glove of Charlotte netminder Louis Domingue, sending the game to the intermission at a 5-1 score.

Things would not get any better for the T-Birds when the second period began, as Wilmer Skoog and Nolan Foote each tallied goals in the first four minutes to extend the Charlotte lead to 7-1.

Dillon Dube got Springfield its second goal of the night at 7:22 of the third period under bizarre circumstances, as a dump-in off Dube's stick fluttered over the stick of Domingue as the veteran netminder was looking to swat it toward the neutral zone. 

Charlotte capped off its stellar offensive showing with a one-time power play goal by Mike Benning at 11:33 to round out the scoring. 

The two division foes will rematch on Wednesday at 7:00 p.m. for their final meeting in Charlotte during the regular season. 

Single-game tickets and ticket memberships for all remaining games in the Thunderbirds' 2025-26 season are available now - fans can order now by visiting www.SpringfieldThunderbirds.com or by calling (413) 739-GOAL (4625).