Barons Trip Charlotte 4-2, Take 2 Of 3 On Trip

Four Oklahoma City Barons contributed goals, three in the opening period, as the Barons defeated the Charlotte Checkers 4-2 on Monday in Charlotte, N.C.

Oklahoma splits a back-to-back set at Charlotte and wraps up a three games in three nights road stretch by winning twice to improve to 27-21-2-5. The Barons are part of a four-way tie for seventh in the Western Conference with 61 standing points.

Niko Hovinen earned his fourth win in six Barons starts as he stopped 16 of 18 shots.

The Barons scored just 52 seconds into the contest, as Josh Green tipped home a steep-angle shot past Charlotte goalie John Muse, who fell to 3-2-0.

The Checkers, 33-19-2-3, countered with goals by Marc-Andre Gragnani, on the power play at 10:15 and Bobby Raymond, at 11:46, to grab a 2-1 lead part-way through the first.

Oklahoma City regained the lead before the first intermission, however as C.J. Stretch moved in deep after a Toni Rajala pass and tucked one home to tie the score 2-2 at 13:43. Mark Arcobello put home a rebound at 19:25 to give the Barons a 3-2 edge.

Oklahoma City, which scored three first-period goals on five shots, out-shot the Checkers 12-1 in the second period and didn't allow a Charlotte shot until the final minute of the period.

Philippe Cornet tipped in a Brett Clark point shot at 10:17 of the second to give the Barons an insurance tally and 4-2 lead.

The third period was scoreless as the Barons ended the season series with Charlotte with a 4-3-1-0 record. Oklahoma City out-shot Charlotte 25-18 for the game.

The Barons return home to face the Rockford IceHogs, top affiliate of the Chicago Blackhawks, on Friday and Saturday at 7 p.m. CST at the Cox Convention Center.