An ugly loss in Abbotsford for Checkers

Keeping tonight's gamer short because, well, you'll see...

The Checkers fell 7-1 to the Heat in Greg Nemisz' return to the Abbotsford Entertainment & Sports Center on Tuesday night.

With John Muse in net, Charlotte fell behind 4-0 in the first 13 minutes of play and never really threatened a comeback. Muse, who entered the game on a personal five-game winning-streak, stopped eight of the 12 shots he saw before being replaced by Mike Murphy.

Murphy (24 saves on 27 shots) held the Heat (28-14-1) scoreless in the second period, before they poured on three more in the third.

Philippe Cornet's seventh goal of the season saved the Checkers from their second shutout in three games. Rookie defenseman Danny Biega was credited with the assist.

In his first appearance with the Heat, goaltender Olivier Roy stopped 25 of 26 shots. Roy's other four appearances in the AHL this season came with Oklahoma City.

Nemisz, who was acquired by the Checkers (22-20-1) on Dec. 30 from the Heat in exchange for Kevin Westgarth, finished the night with one shot on goal and a minus-one. After being drafted 25th overall by Calgary in 2008, Nemisz, had spent the previous three seasons with the Heat.

Charlotte went 0-for-4 on the power play (0-for-their-last-14 overall) and found themselves down a man on eight separate occasions -- three of which resulted in Heat goals.

Seven different players scored goals for Abbotsford, with Ben Street (1g, 1a), Corban Knight (1g, 2a), Max Reinhart (1g, 1a), Markus Granlund (1g, 1a), Derek Smith (2a) and Brett Olson (2a) all registering multiple-point nights.

Keegan Lowe and Matthew Pistilli were Tuesday's healthy scratches, while Nicolas Blanchard and Jared Staal sat out with injuries.

The Checkers will play the Heat again on Wednesday, same place and time.