CHICAGO, Ill. – The top seeds are now all gone in the Eastern Conference as the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins were checked out of the playoffs as Charlotte shocked the 4,092 fans at the Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza. The win itself was not surprising but how the game was won as the Checkers scored four straight goal after the seven minute mark in the third to come from behind down and shutout by three goals to win the series four games to two.
The Checkers will now face the Binghamton Senators in the Eastern Conference Finals as the team with home-ice advantage.
The Penguins got on the board with two goals in the second to start the scoring. Captain Ryan Craig scored his third of the playoffs at the 7:13 mark with helpers from Ben Street and Robert Bortuzzo. Two and a half minutes later, defenseman Corey Potter notched the power play goal to place his team up by two going into the third.
Joe Vitale got a short-handed goal early in the third at 1:13 and you would think this game would be in hand with a three goal lead for the Penguins but no, this was not the case. All it took was eight shots to bring the Charlotte Checkers back. At the 7:24 mark Chris Terry scored with assist coming from Brett Sutter and Zack FitzGerald. Next it was Sutter with a goal of his own at 10:40. It was Terry again for his fourth of the playoffs with help from Jon Matsumoto and Zack Boychuk to tie the score at 11:10. And to wrap up the quad goal package, it was rookie Zac Dalpe scoring the game winner with 3:18 left in the game.
Brad Theissen was sent home saving 29 of 33 shots while Mike Murphy held on for the win facing 35 shots.
Mother’s Day action can see the Western Conference Finals set as the Hamilton Bulldogs and Houston Aeros can advance, but the Manitoba Moose and Milwaukee Admirals can stay alive and send their respective series to a Game 7. CONFERENCE FINALS Eastern Conference Finals CHARLOTTE vs. BINGHAMTON Not yet started Game 1 – Thu May 12 7:05 PM Binghamton at Charlotte Game 2 – Fri May 13 7:05 PM Binghamton at Charlotte Game 3 – Tue May 17 7:05 PM Charlotte at Binghamton Game 4 – Wed May 18 7:05 PM Charlotte at Binghamton Game 5 – Sat May 21 7:05 PM * Charlotte at Binghamton Game 6 – Mon May 23 7:05 PM * Binghamton at Charlotte Game 7 – Tue May 24 7:05 PM * Binghamton at Charlotte SECOND ROUND Atlantic Division Finals PORTLAND vs. BINGHAMTON Binghamton wins series 4 – 2 Game 1 – Wed Apr 27 7:00 PM Binghamton 3, PORTLAND 2 Game 2 – Thu Apr 28 7:00 PM Binghamton 5, PORTLAND 3 Game 3 – Sat Apr 30 7:05 PM Portland 3, BINGHAMTON 2 Game 4 – Mon May 2 7:05 PM BINGHAMTON 6, Portland 1 Game 5 – Tue May 3 7:05 PM Portland 6, BINGHAMTON 2 Game 6 – Fri May 6 7:00 PM Binghamton 3, PORTLAND 0 East Division Finals W-B/SCRANTON vs. CHARLOTTE Charlotte wins series 4 – 2 Game 1 – Thu Apr 28 7:05 PM Charlotte 3, W-B/SCRANTON 2 Game 2 – Sat Apr 30 7:05 PM W-B/SCRANTON 3, Charlotte 0 Game 3 – Mon May 2 7:00 PM CHARLOTTE 2, W-B/Scranton 1 OT Game 4 – Wed May 4 7:00 PM CHARLOTTE 1, W-B/Scranton 0 Game 5 – Fri May 6 7:00 PM W-B/Scranton 1, CHARLOTTE 0 Game 6 – Sat May 7 7:05 PM Charlotte 4, W-B/SCRANTON 3 North Division Finals HAMILTON vs. MANITOBA Hamilton leads series 3 – 2 Game 1 – Thu Apr 28 7:30 PM HAMILTON 4, Manitoba 1 Game 2 – Sun May 1 4:00 PM HAMILTON 4, Manitoba 2 Game 3 – Tue May 3 7:30 PM MANITOBA 5, Hamilton 4 Game 4 – Wed May 4 7:30 PM MANITOBA 2, Hamilton 1 OT2 Game 5 – Fri May 6 7:30 PM Hamilton 5, MANITOBA 1 Game 6 – Sun May 8 7:30 PM Manitoba at Hamilton Game 7 – Mon May 9 7:30 PM * Manitoba at Hamilton West Division Finals MILWAUKEE vs. HOUSTON Houston leads series 3 – 2 Game 1 – Fri Apr 29 7:00 PM MILWAUKEE 3, Houston 1 Game 2 – Sun May 1 5:00 PM Houston 2, MILWAUKEE 0 Game 3 – Tue May 3 7:05 PM Milwaukee 5, HOUSTON 3 Game 4 – Thu May 5 7:05 PM HOUSTON 3, Milwaukee 2 OT Game 5 – Fri May 6 7:35 PM HOUSTON 3, Milwaukee 2 OT Game 6 – Sun May 8 5:00 PM Houston at Milwaukee Game 7 – Tue May 10 7:00 PM * Houston at Milwaukee FIRST ROUND Atlantic Division Semifinals PORTLAND vs. CONNECTICUT Portland wins series 4 – 2 Atlantic Division Semifinals MANCHESTER vs. BINGHAMTON Binghamton wins series 4 – 3 East Division Semifinals W-B/SCRANTON vs. NORFOLK W-B/Scranton wins series 4 – 2 East Division Semifinals HERSHEY vs. CHARLOTTE Charlotte wins series 4 – 2 North Division Semifinals HAMILTON vs. OKLAHOMA CITY Hamilton wins series 4 – 2 North Division Semifinals LAKE ERIE vs. MANITOBA Manitoba wins series 4 – 3 West Division Semifinals MILWAUKEE vs. TEXAS Milwaukee wins series 4 – 2 West Division Semifinals HOUSTON vs. PEORIA Houston wins series 4 – 0 (* if necessary) Contact the writer at matt
You must be logged in to post a comment.