Game Story: Charlotte - 4 at W-B/Scranton - 2 (3/2/24)

WILKES-BARRE, Pa. - The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins appeared to be off and running in Saturday night's rematch, carrying over some momentum from Friday night's win by jumping out to a 2-0 first period lead.

But credit to Charlotte, who stuck with their gameplan and found a way to get things going in the final 40 minutes - overcoming that two-goal first period deficit on their way to four unanswered goals and a 4-2 win on the road.

Vinnie Hinostroza and Austin Rueschhoff tallied goals for the Penguins, both set up by Sam Poulin - who made it five assists in two games on the weekend in his return after a one-month injury absence - but that was all the offense Wilkes-Barre/Scranton was able to muster up Saturday.

The Checkers, led by captain Zac Dalpe, made it a one-goal game heading to the third on the captain's 13th goal of the season in the middle frame.

Charlotte got third period goals from defensemen as Uvis Balinskis tied the game up with 12:53 left in regulation before Michael Benning pinched from his blue line position and got rewarded for heading to the net, scoring a go-ahead goal to put the Checkers ahead for the first time on the night with 2:58 left to play.

Mackie Samoskevich added an empty net goal to cap the scoring, while the Checkers got 30 saves from Spencer Knight to preserve the late third period lead into two points.

Post-Game EXTRA!

Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins head coach JD Forrest

On what changed after Penguins took the 2-0 lead in first period

"Yeah, we just got away from our game I thought. You know, give you gotta give a lot of credit to Charlotte. It's hard to beat a good team two nights in a row. We talked about that before. And I think after we had an early lead, we thought maybe it wasn't going to be that difficult. And they stepped on the gas, played with some desperation. A team that's chasing you, you have to expect that. And we didn't match it."

Penguins forward Sam Poulin

On what led to the Checkers' comeback after Pens took 2-0 lead in first period

"I don't know, I think we had the lead, and maybe we weren't [very] intense after that. So it's just a matter of playing 60 minutes. I think these [two] games were pretty tight, and the teams are pretty good. So if you don't show up for all 60, then it won't pay off for you, so we have to do a better job with this next time."

Charlotte Checkers head coach Geordie Kinnear

On the resiliency to overcome 2-0 deficit

"Down 2-0, but I didn't hate our game to be quite honest with you. We just talked about a few things today, guys were steady, continued to play how we play and got rewarded for it."

On coming up with some big wins on a tough road trip

"We played [last] Saturday and Sunday at home, early flight on Tuesday, got to Hartford practiced there played Hartford Wednesday, big road win there, traveled all night. Friday, not our best game. And then today, I was proud of the guys out there they had to dig in. So not an easy road trip, but proud of the effort tonight."

GAME STORY

The two teams appeared to be settling in to a tight-checking, low-scoring affair when Dmitri Samorukov sent a seemingly harmless pass up the left wing wall to Sam Poulin in the neutral zone just over five minutes into the contest.

Credit the Checkers defensemen in position on the play for taking Poulin out along the wall in the Penguins' offensive zone, but Poulin made an even better effort while on his stomach to nudge the puck into the left-wing circle to Zohorna who swiftly sent a pass to the top of the crease for an easy tap-in past Knight for Hinostroza.

Hinostroza's 11th of the season - and third of the weekend in four periods of hockey - gave the Penguins some early momentum, not to mention a 1-0 lead.

Wilkes-Barre/Scranton extended their lead to 2-0 on a power play tally from Rueschhoff on yet another assist from Poulin after Hinostroza entered the zone with speed through the middle and dished it to the left wing wall for Poulin.

Poulin was patient and waited for things to open up for Rueschhoff atop the right-wing circle, hitting the big Penguins forward with a hard pass on the tape before Reuschhoff toe dragged it between the circles and fired a hard shot past Knight low to the glove-side for his seventh of the season with 7:05 left in the opening period.

Charlotte began to generate some more consistent pressure in the closing minutes of the first frame, and ended up out-shooting the Penguins by a 12-11 margin in the period, but credit Hellberg and the Penguins' defense for keeping the Checkers off the scoreboard on their way to the first intermission with a two-goal lead.

Wilkes-Barre/Scranton killed off some carryover penalty time to begin the middle frame, and had an early period power play chance of their own, before the two teams settled in to a back-and-forth, tight-checking contest similar to the opening of the first period.

The only difference in the middle frame was that it was the Checkers scoring to make it a one-goal hockey game.

Following a faceoff in the Penguins defensive zone, the puck was tied up amongst skates with the biscuit hitting Jake Wise's skate before Dalpe was able to collect and wrist a puck past Hellberg 8:14 into the period.

The hard-fought battle ensued as the chess match continued between the Penguins and Checkers, with neither team able to generate much in the way of high-danger chances.

The Penguins had another opportunity to extend their lead on the power play with 3:20 left before the second intermission, but were unable to capitalize - sending the two teams to the third period in a one-goal hockey game.

Charlotte continued to hang around in a one-goal hockey game, and they were able to tie things up at 2-2 after a seeing-eye shot from the center point from Uvis Balinskis found its way into the top shelf of Hellberg's net with 12:53 left in regulation.

This came after more hard work in the dirty areas of the ice from Dalpe and Wise, who added assists on Balinskis' third tally of the season.

The third period featured a lot of whistles and stoppages, as there wasn't much flow or pace to the play in the opening 11+ minutes of the stanza.

In the end, the Checkers' persistence paid off after Rasmus Asplund stole a puck off a Penguins defender behind the WBS net and fed Benning out in front for a go-ahead goal with 2:58 left to play.

Wilkes-Barre/Scranton pulled Hellberg for the extra attacker with just over two minutes left, nearly tying the game a few times on some dangerous chances in the waning moments of the contest, but were unable to force overtime.

Samoskevich tallied an empty netter to seal the deal on the Checkers' come-from-behind 4-2 win.

Charlotte Checkers Lineup Notes

Spencer Knight got the start in net for Charlotte Saturday. Evan Cormier served as the Checkers' backup goaltender.

Two lineup changes from Friday night's lineup besides the starting goaltender for Saturday's rematch.

Up front, Patrick Khodorenko and Patrick Giles were out with Brendan Perlini and Ryan McAllister inserted in the lineup along with some line shuffling.

The same six defensemen suited up for Saturday's rematch.

Checkers Scratches: Mack Guzda, Ludovic Waeber, Calle Sjalin, Riley Bezeau, Patrick Khodorenko, Skyler Brind'Amour, , Lucas Carlsson and Patrick Giles

Lines/Pairings

Cameron Morrison - Alex True - Gerry Mayhew Wilmer Skoog - Jamie Sourdif - Mackie Samoskevich Jamieson Rees - Rasmus Asplund - Brendan Perlini Ryan McAllister - Jake Wise - Zac Dalpe

Matt Kiersted - Santtu Kinnunen Casey Fitzgerald - Dennis Cesana Uvis Balinskis - Micheal Benning

Spencer Knight (Backup: Evan Cormier)

Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins Lineup Notes

Magnus Hellberg got the start in net for the Penguins Saturday, with Joel Blomqvist serving as the team's backup goaltender.

Owen Headrick replaced Jack Rathbone on the Penguins' third pairing as the only lineup change from Friday night's game.

Penguins Scratches: Taylor Fedun, Marc Johnstone, Peter Abbandonato, Max Cajkovic, Sam Houde, Jack Rathbone and Lukas Svejkovsky

Lines/Pairings

Radim Zohorna - Sam Poulin - Vinnie Hinostroza Austin Rueschhoff - Joona Koppanen - Corey Andonovski Matt Filipe - Raivis Ansons - Jagger Joshua Dillon Hamaliuk - Justin Addamo - Avery Hayes

Ty Smith - Xavier Ouellet Ryan Shea - Jack St. Ivany Jack Rathbone - Dmitri Samorukov

Joel Blomqvist (Backup: Magnus Hellberg)

GAME SUMMARY

1st Period

5:19: WBS - Hinostroza (11) - Zohorna, Poulin 8:06: CHA - (PP) Asplund, minor (holding) 12:35: CHA - (PP) Samoskevich, minor (slashing) 12:55: WBS - PPG Rueschhoff (7) - Poulin, Hinostroza 13:08: WBS - (PP) Andonovski, minor (hooking) 19:21: WBS - (PP) St. Ivany, minor (boarding)

2nd Period

1:40: CHA - (PP) True, minor (slashing) 8:14: CHA - Dalpe (13) - Wise 16:40: CHA - (PP) Rees, minor (cross-checking)

3rd Period

7:07: CHA - Balinskis (3) - Dalpe, Wise 13:59: CHA - (PP) Cesana, minor (high-sticking) 17:02: CHA - Benning (7) - Asplund, Kiersted 19:39: CHA - ENG Samoskevich (15) - unassisted

BOXSCORE

Charlotte  0 - 1 - 3 = 4 W-B/Scranton  2 - 0 - 0 = 2

Shots

Charlotte  12 - 7 - 13 = 32 W-B/Scranton  11 - 7 - 14 = 32

Goalies

WBS: Magnus Hellberg (28 saves - 31 shots) CHA: Spencer Knight (30 saves - 32 shots)

Power Play

WBS: 1-for-5 CHA: 0-for-2

Penalty Kill

WBS: 2-for-2 CHA: 4-for-5