Checkers Win Season Opener, Beat Thunderbirds 4-3
The Charlotte Checkers (1-0-0-0) opened the 2025-26 season with a 4-3 victory over the Springfield Thunderbirds (0-1-0-0) on Saturday night.
Charlotte scored on the first shift, as Jack Studnicka took advantage of a Springfield miscue, backhanding the puck through the legs of Thunderbirds goaltender Vadim Zherenko 19 seconds into the game.
Studnicka was signed by the Panthers on a one-year contract in July and made an immediate impact in his Checkers debut. The 26-year-old scored 16 goals and 29 assists in 72 games last year with the Ontario Reign. Jack Devine was given credit for the lone assist on Studnicka’s opening tally.
Ben Steeves added to Charlotte’s lead, cashing in on a Checkers power play with a one-timer from the right circle off a pass from Ryan McAllister at 9:04. Steeves, who scored ten goals in 60 games last season, finished off a hectic sequence in which Nolan Foote, McAllister and Steeves controlled the puck in the attacking zone on the power play. Foote recorded his first point with the Checkers on the secondary assist.
Ludvig Jansson continued the offensive barrage, notching his first professional goal in his first AHL game, firing a rebound through Zherenko at 11:28. McAllister’s shot went off the back boards, careening to Jansson at the right circle, and his shot barely slipped through the left pad of the Thunderbirds netminder. Jansson, a fourth-round pick by the Panthers in 2022, played last season in the SHL with Lulea HF, winning a league championship.
Otto Stenberg and Matt Luff scored under two minutes apart to turn the momentum to Springfield’s side, cutting Charlotte’s lead to 3-2. Luff was on a PTO with the Checkers last season, appearing in six games before signing with the Thunderbirds for the rest of the 2024-25 season.
Jack Devine restored Charlotte’s two-goal lead with a power-play goal at 2:11 of the second period, finishing a feed from Trevor Carrick at the top of the point. Devine’s goal was his first regular-season AHL tally of his career (he scored two goals in the 2025 Calder Cup Playoffs). Studnicka picked up a multi-point night with the secondary assist.
Juraj Pekarcik made things interesting at 18:23 of the third period, beating Checkers goaltender Cooper Black above the right shoulder with a one-timer as Springfield pulled Zherenko for a sixth skater. Charlotte held on for the 4-3 win, securing their first victory of the 2025-26 campaign.
The Checkers outshot Springfield 36-29, going 2-for-5 on the power play and 3-for-3 on the penalty kill. Black made 26 saves on 29 shots, locking in the win. Zherenko stopped 32 of 36 shots in the loss. Charlotte will take on the Providence Bruins at Amica Mutual Pavilion at 3:05 p.m. on Sunday.
Charlotte scored on the first shift, as Jack Studnicka took advantage of a Springfield miscue, backhanding the puck through the legs of Thunderbirds goaltender Vadim Zherenko 19 seconds into the game.
Studnicka was signed by the Panthers on a one-year contract in July and made an immediate impact in his Checkers debut. The 26-year-old scored 16 goals and 29 assists in 72 games last year with the Ontario Reign. Jack Devine was given credit for the lone assist on Studnicka’s opening tally.
Ben Steeves added to Charlotte’s lead, cashing in on a Checkers power play with a one-timer from the right circle off a pass from Ryan McAllister at 9:04. Steeves, who scored ten goals in 60 games last season, finished off a hectic sequence in which Nolan Foote, McAllister and Steeves controlled the puck in the attacking zone on the power play. Foote recorded his first point with the Checkers on the secondary assist.
Ludvig Jansson continued the offensive barrage, notching his first professional goal in his first AHL game, firing a rebound through Zherenko at 11:28. McAllister’s shot went off the back boards, careening to Jansson at the right circle, and his shot barely slipped through the left pad of the Thunderbirds netminder. Jansson, a fourth-round pick by the Panthers in 2022, played last season in the SHL with Lulea HF, winning a league championship.
Otto Stenberg and Matt Luff scored under two minutes apart to turn the momentum to Springfield’s side, cutting Charlotte’s lead to 3-2. Luff was on a PTO with the Checkers last season, appearing in six games before signing with the Thunderbirds for the rest of the 2024-25 season.
Jack Devine restored Charlotte’s two-goal lead with a power-play goal at 2:11 of the second period, finishing a feed from Trevor Carrick at the top of the point. Devine’s goal was his first regular-season AHL tally of his career (he scored two goals in the 2025 Calder Cup Playoffs). Studnicka picked up a multi-point night with the secondary assist.
Juraj Pekarcik made things interesting at 18:23 of the third period, beating Checkers goaltender Cooper Black above the right shoulder with a one-timer as Springfield pulled Zherenko for a sixth skater. Charlotte held on for the 4-3 win, securing their first victory of the 2025-26 campaign.
The Checkers outshot Springfield 36-29, going 2-for-5 on the power play and 3-for-3 on the penalty kill. Black made 26 saves on 29 shots, locking in the win. Zherenko stopped 32 of 36 shots in the loss. Charlotte will take on the Providence Bruins at Amica Mutual Pavilion at 3:05 p.m. on Sunday.