T-Birds Drop Second Straight in Charlotte
AHL Springfield Thunderbirds

T-Birds Drop Second Straight in Charlotte

Published on January 14, 2026 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Springfield Thunderbirds News Release


Springfield Thunderbirds forward Zach Dean vs. the Charlotte Checkers
Springfield Thunderbirds forward Zach Dean vs. the Charlotte Checkers
(Springfield Thunderbirds)

CHARLOTTE, N.C. - The Springfield Thunderbirds (13-17-4-2) took a second straight defeat at the hands of the Charlotte Checkers (21-12-2-0) on Wednesday night at Bojangles Coliseum by a final score of 8-2.

For a second straight night, the Checkers got their home crowd into the game quickly, and Ben Steeves cashed in his third goal in two games, beating Georgi Romanov on a clean breakaway backhander just 3:42 into the action, giving Charlotte a 1-0 lead.

Unlike the five-goal blitz they had to endure a night earlier, the Thunderbirds had a quick rebuttal as Zach Dean logged his first goal of the season, beating Cooper Black low to the blocker side at 4:50, getting Springfield evened up, 1-1.

Romanov seemed to be settling into the game nicely after Dean's equalizer, as the T-Birds backstop turned away a Brian Pinho breakaway, as well as a pair of point-blank looks for Brett Chorske, keeping the game tied as the period entered the final minutes.

Unfortunately for the T-Birds' Charlotte's offensive confidence continued to swell as Robert Mastrosimone got to his own deflected pass at 17:10 and snapped a forehander through Romanov from the right circle, making it a 2-1 score after 20 minutes.

Mastrosimone quickly added another to his total, with a diving backhand effort just 1:33 into the second, which pushed the Charlotte lead to 3-1. Jack Devine added a goal off a faceoff that squeezed through Romanov's arm at 6:17 to push the lead to three. Devine's goal also chased Romanov from the net for the remainder of the evening.

Chris Wagner briefly stopped the Charlotte onslaught with a one-timer on the power play at 11:10, but the momentum quickly swung back to the Checkers, as a run of three goals in less than five minutes from Nolan Foote, Riese Gaber, and Wilmer Skoog put the game out of reach before the middle stanza concluded.

Mastrosimone picked up his hat-trick goal at 3:49 of the final period to round out the scoring, picking up his fifth of the season in the process.

The T-Birds complete a three-game road week on Saturday when they visit the Bridgeport Islanders inside Total Mortgage Arena for a 7:00 p.m. puck drop.

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).

Check out the Springfield Thunderbirds Statistics

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Images from this story

Springfield Thunderbirds forward Zach Dean vs. the Charlotte Checkers
Springfield Thunderbirds forward Zach Dean vs. the Charlotte Checkers
   



American Hockey League Stories from January 14, 2026


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