SEEING RED

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – The Grand Rapids Griffins jumped out to an early 2-0 lead on goals from Mike Borkowski and Anthony Mantha, but surrendered four unanswered tallies in a 4-2 defeat to the Charlotte Checkers on Friday at Bojangles’ Coliseum.

Borkowski opened the scoring for the Griffins (4-2-0-0) 3:02 into the contest. Colin Campbell won a battle for the puck behind the Charlotte net and centered a pass to Borkowski in the slot for a shot past Michael Leighton’s catching glove and his first goal in a Grand Rapids uniform.

Mantha gave the visitors a two-goal advantage 1:29 later when he collected a loose puck at his own blue line before accelerating down the right wing and firing a wrist shot from the top of the right circle above Leighton’s glove-side shoulder for his AHL-leading seventh goal of the campaign.

Despite two power play chances, Charlotte registered just five shots on goal in the opening 20 minutes. However, the Checkers came to life early in the second, forcing Jared Coreau to make a vital save to preserve the Griffins’ 2-0 lead. Just over a minute into the middle frame, Connor Brickley’s pass from the point made its way through traffic and bounced off Coreau’s pads, with Patrick Brown’s rebound at the edge of the crease denied by the 6-foot-6 Grand Rapids netminder’s outstretched glove.

The Checkers continued to apply the pressure, and Keegan Lowe got Charlotte (2-3-0-0) on the scoresheet 7:38 into the second. Derek Ryan’s feed from the high slot reached Lowe at the point for a wrist shot high to the glove side.

Sergey Tolchinsky evened the score for Charlotte with 9:05 to play in the second. Andrew Miller’s pass from the slot found Andrew Poturalski at the left circle, who quickly sent a rink-wide pass to Tolchinsky at the bottom of the right circle for a one-timer into the open net.

Brock McGinn gave the Checkers their first lead of the night on the power play with less than a second remaining in the middle stanza. On an eventual 2-on-1, Ryan sent a pass from the right circle across to McGinn for a shot inside the left post to give Charlotte a 3-2 edge heading into the second intermission.

The Griffins had a golden opportunity to tie the game in the final frame when Poturalski was whistled for interference at the 18:01 mark after he pushed Eric Tangradi into Leighton. Coreau left his net soon after to create a 6-on-4 advantage, but the Checkers put the game beyond any doubt when McGinn cleared the puck from his own blue line into the open net for his second goal of the game with 50 seconds on the clock.

Charlotte finished 1-for-5 on the power play, while Grand Rapids was unable to convert on seven opportunities. Leighton stopped 26 of 28 shots to earn the victory as Coreau turned aside 28 of 31 shots in his sixth consecutive start to begin the season.

The Griffins have a rematch against the Checkers at Bojangles' Coliseum on Saturday at 6 p.m.

Notes: The Griffins are 1-2 in the first night of back-to-back games, but are 2-0 in the second half. Grand Rapids is 4-0 when scoring three or more goals and 0-2 when netting two or fewer.

Three Stars: 1. CHA McGinn (two goals); 2. CHA Ryan (two assists); 3. CHA Lowe (goal)