Saturday, February 22, 2014

Terry scores in third straight, but Checkers fall 4-1


With the newly assigned Justin Peters still a day away from game-shape, the goaltending duties fell to Mike Murphy on Friday night in Texas, and for the fourth consecutive start, the Checkers all-time leader in wins, surrendered four goals.

The end-game was a 4-1 loss for the Checkers and an end to their two-game winning streak, despite Chris Terry -- who played in his 350th AHL game -- scoring for the third consecutive game.

The goal tied Terry (18g, 27a) with Zach Boychuk (23g, 22a) for the Checkers lead in points with 45 and was assisted by defenseman Ryan Murphy, who now has 11 helpers in 11 games with Charlotte since his assignment from the Hurricanes.

After snapping a 13-game scoreless streak, Terry now has four goals in his last three games and six points (4g, 2a) overall.

After allowing three goals on 13 shots on goal in the first period, Mike Murphy rebounded to stop 17 of the next 18 the Stars threw at him, but the damage had already been done. Christopher Nilstorp turned away 36 of Charlotte's 37 shots on goal -- five of which (a team-high) came from the stick of Aaron Palushaj.

Brett Ritchie led the Stars with goals 13 and 14 of the season.

John Muse and Greg Nemisz missed the game due to injuries, while Keegan Lowe and Matt Marquardt sat out as the healthy scratches.

The Checkers will look to rebound in the second game of their franchise-long 10-game road trip Saturday night against Texas at the Cedar Park Center at 8 p.m. It's likely Peters, who was assigned to Charlotte on Thursday for a conditioning stint, will get the start in net.

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