Game Story: Charlotte - 7 at W-B/Scranton - 6 (10/12/24)

WILKES-BARRE, Pa. - The season-opening game of 2024-25 was certainly not short of excitement as the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins and Charlotte Checkers combined for 13 goals and 75 shots on goal Saturday night at the Mohegan Arena.

It wasn't until the third period that the game's first two-goal lead occurred, as the Penguins opened up a 5-3 advantage with 19:09 left in regulation. Unfortunately for the Pens, the Checkers rattled off four straight goals in the third period and held off a late comeback bid by the Penguins to take home a 7-6 win in a wild one in Wilkes-Barre.

Aidan McDonough recorded the first hat trick of the year to lead the Checkers' offense, with Rasmus Asplund, Trevor Carrick,MacKenzie Entwistle and Jaycob Megna each tallying a goal in the win for Charlotte.

The Penguins had six different goal scorers - Emil Bemstrom, Tristan Broz, Avery Hayes, Jimmy Huntington, Marc Johnstone and Filip Kral - but it wasn't enough to secure the two points on opening night. Sebastian Aho, Ville Koivunen and Sam Poulin recorded two assists each in the loss for Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.

It wasn't a stat-friendly night for either goaltender, as Charlotte's Chris Driedger (31 saves - 37 shots) and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton's Filip Larsson (31 saves - 38 shots) were both under siege throughout the contest.

GAME STORY

Things got off to a sour start for the Penguins in their home opener as the first shot of the season ended up in the back of their net.

After a routine play behind the net saw Dan Renouf send a puck up the wall, Checkers defender Jaycob Megna was able to keep possession just inside the left-point and float one to the net.

There was some traffic in front of Penguins' netminder Filip Larsson, who appeared to never see the puck as it went through everyone and into the back of the net to give Charlotte a 1-0 lead 1:34 into the contest.

Wilkes-Barre/Scranton shook off the sloppy start and got to their game, creating chances and later tying the game at one apiece after a snipe from Jimmy Huntington in the right-wing circle.

Credit Penguins defenseman Nate Clurman with a solid keep-in at the right point after Charlotte had won a face-off in their defensive zone, and Clurman sent the puck to Sam Poulin atop the left-wing circle before Poulin slid a cross-ice pass to Huntington in the right circle for a quick shot off the cross-bar and in past Checkers netminder Chris Driedger.

From there, the Penguins seemed to have momentum on their side - out-shooting Charlotte by as wide as a 10-4 margin in the period before getting a goal from Emil Bemstrom with 1:35 left before the first intermission to take a 2-1 lead.

Once again, it was Clurman making a play - pinching down from his position at the right point and getting it down low to Ville Koivunen behind the Checkers' net. Koivunen's vision was on display, as he threaded the needle out in front and right onto the tape of Bemstrom for a quick shot past Driedger to give the Penguins the lead heading into the middle frame.

The teams began trading goals in the middle frame, and a back-and-forth battle ensued. It seemed every time the Penguins took the lead, Charlotte answered to tie the game back up.

MacKenzie Entwistle scored shorthanded early in the period to get the Checkers even with the Penguins at 2-2.

Just under four minutes later, Avery Hayes finished off a net-front scramble as the Penguins' persistence paid off in a big way.

Aidan McDonough tied the game back up at 3-3 with 8:03 left in the period, knocking in a rebound of a point shot from Megna.

Then, the Penguins re-gained the lead after Bemstrom hit Tristan Broz in stride with a cross-ice pass in the neutral zone.

Broz took the pass and zipped down the left wing, zinging a hard wrist shot past Driedger to put the Penguins in front 4-3 heading to the third period.

The Penguins appeared to be in control early in the third period, drawing themselves a power play when Huntington was hit with a high-stick off the opening draw of the period.

Wilkes-Barre/Scranton converted on the ensuing power play to take a 5-3 lead with 19:09 left in regulation after Koivunen fed a wide-open Filip Kral in the right-wing circle for a quick shot past a sliding Driedger.

That's when things came off the rails for the Penguins, as they saw the Checkers rattle off four straight goals - including three in a span of 3:53 - to pull away with a 7-5 lead into the final 4:51 of play.

Down 7-5, the Penguins pulled their goaltender with nearly three minutes still left in regulation - eventually getting a goal in the final 30 seconds of play from Marc Johnstone but Wilkes-Barre/Scranton ran out of time and were unable to find an equalizer to force overtime in a wacky 7-6 setback.

Charlotte Checkers Lineup Notes

Chris Driedger got the start in net for the Checkers Saturday night. Ken Appleby served as Charlotte's backup goaltender.

Lines/Pairings:

Wilmer Skoog - Rasmus Asplund - Sandis Vilmanis Aidan McDonough - Kyle Criscuolo - Ryan McAllister John Leonard - Zac Dalpe - Will Lockwood Josh Davies - MacKenzie Entwistle - Oliver Okuliar

Matt Kiersted - Trevor Carrick Tobias Bjornfot - Michael Benning Jaycob Megna - Mikulas Hovorka

Chris Driedger - Ken Appleby

Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins Lineup Notes

Filip Larsson got the start in net for the Penguins Saturday in the team's season-opener. Sergei Murashov served as Wilkes-Barre/Scranton's backup goaltender.

Lines/Pairings:

Jonathan Gruden - Jimmy Huntington - Sam Poulin Emil Bemstrom - Tristan Broz - Ville Koivunen Avery Hayes - Joona Koppanen - Corey Andonovski Bokondji Imama - Raivis Ansons - Marc Johnstone

Filip Kral - Mac Hollowel Sebastian Aho - Nate Clurman Owen Pickering - Dan Renouf

Filip Larsson (Backup: Sergei Murashov)

GAME SUMMARY

1st Period

1:34: CHA - Megna (1) - unassisted 7:53: WBS - Huntington (1) - Poulin, Clurman 9:29: CHA - (PP) Skoog, minor (holding the stick) 18:25: WBS - Bemstrom (1) - Koivunen, Clurman 19:09: CHA - (PP) Criscuolo, minor (slashing)

2nd Period

1:49: CHA - (PP) Hovorka, minor (slashing) 2:11: CHA - SHG Entwistle (1) - unassisted 5:52: WBS - Hayes (1) - unassisted 11:57: CHA - McDonough (1) - Megna, Hovorka 12:20: WBS - (PP) Koivunen, minor (cross-checking) 14:40: WBS - Broz (1) - Bemstrom 17:07: CHA - (PP) McAllister, minor (delay of game)

3rd Period

0:03: CHA - (PP) Asplund, minor (high-sticking) 0:51: WBS - PPG Kral (1) - Koivunen, Aho 1:07: WBS - (PP) Clurman, minor (interference) 2:44: CHA - PPG Carrick (1) - McAllister, Vilmanis 5:13: CHA - (PP) Benning, minor (slashing) 6:26: CHA - SHG Asplund (1) - unassisted 7:37: CHA - McDonough (2) - Criscuolo 8:11: WBS - (PP) Hayes, minor (hooking) 9:28: CHA - (PP) Skoog, minor (hooking) 15:09: CHA - McDonough (3) - Lockwood 19:38: WBS - Johnstone (1) - Poulin, Aho

BOXSCORE

Charlotte  1 - 2 - 4 = 7 W-B/Scranton  2 - 2 - 2  = 6

Shots

Charlotte  8 - 17 - 13 = 38 W-B/Scranton  15 - 14 - 8  = 37

Goalies

CHA: Chris Driedger (31 saves - 37 shots) WBS: Filip Larsson (31 saves - 38 shots)

Power Play

CHA: 1-for-3 WBS: 1-for-7

Penalty Kill

CHA: 6-for-7 WBS: 2-for-3

Post-Game EXTRA!

WBS Penguins Head Coach Kirk MacDonald

On the first game sloppiness, overall takeaways from Game 1

"I think we actually get a lot of good things.  I think we can, you know, when we're in situations where we can maybe live the fight another day, I think we can take care of the puck a little bit better. Obviously, offensively, we did a great job creating offense five on five. Obviously, you can't give up too shorties in a game and expect to win. You got to want to win the special teams battle."

"I think there's a lot of good things that we did. It's just the time of year where there's times where the game can get a little squirrel-y, and it did tonight."

"I thought we really played, probably, 50 minutes of really good hockey, and we kind of just gave it away, like, 10 minutes cost us the game, really. That being said, it's game one there's 71 to go, and it's a process, especially with some of the younger guys. We'll get better. I don't doubt the team's commitment or their effort, just there's a couple breakdowns where we could be better."