Springfield Thunderbirds/St. Louis Blues forward Hugh McGing (56) celebrates his goal with forward Dalibor Dvorsky (54) against the Nashville Predators during a game at Bridgestone Arena. McGing was awarded the Second Star in the game vs Charlotte. (Source: Steve Roberts-Imagn Images)A zesty Springfield Thunderbirds beat the Charlotte Checkers 5-3 to level out the Atlantic Division First Round Series of the 2026 Calder Cup Playoffs to ensure a final Game Three.
Charlotte continued where they left off from Game One and outshot Springfield again in the first period. This time the T-Birds did put up resistance, but that didn't stop Checkers captain Trevor Carrick to put up the opening goal of the game in just the fifth minute.
Springfield did respond back in the eighth minute of the second period when defenseman Wyatt Newpower put in the equalizer. However, Charlotte was just heavy in shot volume and eventually regained the 2-1 lead less than a minute later when former Panthers' 2022 fourth-rounder Ludvig Jansson shot the puck past T-birds goalie Georgi Romanov.
By the mid-point of the second period, the Checkers had outshot Springfield 20-8 and had the 2-1 lead. After that, the Thunderbirds went on a 7-2 shooting run in which the second-last shot went off the stick of Zach Dean past the goal line but was initially deemed a no goal as Charlotte goalie Cooper Black had accidentally pulled the goal posts out of position. After a short review, it was declared a goal, tying the game 2-2. 14 seconds later, Charlotte committed a penalty, putting Springfield on the power play and forward Chris Wagner scored the game-winning goal on the first shot of the man-advantage to give Springfield the 3-2 lead.
Charlotte would outshoot Springfield 9-6 in the third period, but all they got in return was a short-handed goal and an empty-netter.
Springfield goalie Romanov made 29 saves off 31 shots for a save percentage of 0.935.