Artem Anisimov had four points for the Phantoms, who won three of four meetings between these two teams in December. Riley Nash scored the lone goal for Charlotte, which returns home having dropped all three games of this week’s road swing.
Penalties were the story of this contest, with the Phantoms scoring three times on seven opportunities through the first two periods. Two of those came in the final five minutes of the first, with Anisimov and Tyson Foerster scoring man-advantage goals on either side of an even-strength tally by Kieffer Bellows.
Things did not improve in the second period, with the Phantoms missing out on two additional power-play opportunities in the first four minutes, only to score once at even strength and then add their third power-play goal near the end of the frame.
Anisimov added his second goal of the game on a 2-on-0 break in the third to make it 6-0, with Nash avoiding the shutout with a power-play goal of his own shortly thereafter.
The result gives the Checkers, who lost to the Phantoms and Hershey earlier in the week, their first three-game regulation losing streak since Feb. 25-27 of last season. They play their next four games at home starting with a back-to-back set against Rochester on Dec. 16 and 17.
