Zach Boychuk, Chris Terry help Checkers move within a point of playoff spot

Both Zach Boychuk and Chris Terry found the back of the net on Tuesday night to help the Checkers take care of the Iowa Wild, 2-1, in front of 3,902 at the Wells Fargo Arena.

Entering the game in ninth place in the Western Conference, despite losing three of their previous four games, the Checkers managed to pull within one point of the Rochester Americans, who lost earlier in the day.

John Muse stopped 24 of the 25 shots he faced to earn his franchise-record 23rd victory of the season.

The goal for Terry extended his point streak to eight games (7g, 3a), while Boychuk snapped a five game goalless streak, which was his second-longest drought of the season.

Boychuk’s 15th power-play goal (tied for most in the AHL) of the season put the Checkers up 1-0 midway through the first period.

In the second period, an apparent icing that wound up being waived off by the officials led to a goal for the Wild to even things at 1-1.

The Charlotte power play struck again in the third, when Boychuk and Michal Jordan assisted on a Terry one-timer from the right wing.

The two teams will play again on Wednesday, with the puck drop scheduled for 8:05 p.m.

Notes: Boychuk (29) and Terry (27) now rank fourth and fifth, respectively, in the AHL in goals. … Jordan’s assist on Terry’s goal extended his point streak to four games (1g, 4a). He now has 11 points (1g, 10a) in 13 games this month. … Brett Sutter, who picked up an assist on Boychuk’s goal, now has 13 points (5g, 8a) in 13 games this month. … The Checkers power play went 2-for-5 on Tuesday and improved its success rate to 22.3 percent, which ranks second in the AHL. They are 6-for-17 on the man advantage over the past three games (35.3 percent). … Rochester, who Charlotte now sits just one point behind, has lost seven straight. … Defenseman Ryan Murphy was assigned by the Hurricanes earlier in the day but was unavailable for the game. … Greg Nemisz, Aaron Palushaj (day-to-day) and Brendan Woods missed the game with injuries. ... Rookie defenseman Dennis Robertson was a healthy scratch.