Final period is magic again for streaking Charlotte Checkers in AHL playoffs
Something about the third period brings out the best in the Charlotte Checkers.
For the second straight night, a third-period surge played a key role in a Charlotte playoff victory. On Saturday night, the Checkers scored three times in the closing 20 minutes for a 4-1 triumph over the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins.
It gives the Checkers a 2-0 lead in the best-of-five series, but the series’ remaining three games (or whatever number is needed) will be played in Pennsylvania.
Charlotte has won nine straight games, going back into the regular season, and they haven’t lost since mid-March.
In Game 1 on Friday night, Charlotte rallied with two third-period goals and then scored in overtime for a 3-2 triumph.
On Saturday night, the decisive goal came with 5:42 remaining, when Josiah Didier’s wrist shot skidded past Penguins’ goalkeeper Tristan Jarry, who was screened on the play. “He never saw it,” Wilkes-Barre/Scranton coach Clark Donatelli said.
Charlotte then gave the Bojangles Coliseum crowd of 6,550 a little drama, when Andrew Miller was called for hooking with 3:28 remaining. That put the Penguins on the power play, but the Checkers held firm.
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton pulled Jarry for an extra skater, and the Checkers responded with a pair of empty-net goals – by Clark Bishop with 1:22 to play, and by defenseman Haydn Fleury (his second of the game) with 34 seconds left.
“Once we got going, after about five minutes, and we got our legs under us, we played well,” Checkers coach Mike Vellucci said.
Vellucci was referring to the Penguins’ goal, which came just 22 seconds into the game. Joseph Cramarossa slipped behind the Charlotte defense, took a pass from Andrey Pedan, and flipped the puck past Checkers’ goalie Alex Nedeljkovic.
The Checkers tied the game with 6:13 left in the first period when Fleury got the rebound of his own shot, skated around the back of the goal, then beat Jarry from the other side.
After that, until the final minutes, the two teams appeared evenly-matched.
“I expect more of that in the rest of the series,” Donatelli said.
“I think the games up there will be like the ones here,” Vellucci said.
3 who mattered
Haydn Fleury (Charlotte): Fleury scored Charlotte’s first and last goals. His first goal, in the opening period, was a picture of resilience. Jarry had stopped his first shot, but Fleury got his own rebound and scored.
Greg McKegg (Charlotte): McKegg, who once played for Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, had another assist Saturday (adding to the two he got Friday) and nearly scored a goal.
Alex Nedeljkovic (Charlotte): The Penguins’ first shot got past him, but the other 27 didn’t. He appeared to get better as the game went along.
Observations
▪ Three of Charlotte’s four goals were scored by defensemen – two by Fleury, and the other by Didier.
▪ Fleury’s empty-net goal in the final minute would gladden the heart of any pool player. He got the puck near his own blue line and bounced a shot off the boards. The angle was perfect.
▪ Donatelli was unhappy about his team taking a number of penalties Friday night. Wilkes-Barre/Scranton was called for only two penalties Saturday.
Worth mentioning
▪ Checkers coaches and players were happy with the size and noise of Saturday night’s crowd. The 6,550 fans at Bojangles’ Coliseum “were very loud,” Vellucci said. Attendance at playoff games tends to drop from the regular season, because it’s tough to market ticket sales in advance. But Saturday’s crowd was near the team’s season average.
▪ Game 3 of the series will be at 7:05 p.m. Thursday in Pennsylvania. Games 4 and 5, if needed, will be at 7:05 p.m. Saturday and 3:05 p.m. next Sunday.
They said it
“We held serve here. Now we have to go up there and get one.” – Charlotte coach Mike Vellucci, referring to the final games of the series being at Mohegan Sun Arena in Wilkes-Barre, Pa.
This story was originally published April 21, 2018 at 10:32 PM with the headline "Final period is magic again for streaking Charlotte Checkers in AHL playoffs."