WILKES-BARRE, Pa. – The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins muscled their way to a 4-1 victory over the Charlotte Checkers on Friday night at Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza.
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (16-11-3-0) set the tone early with several heavy hits, eventually wearing down its opponent and leading to offense. Joel Blomqvist posted 30 saves while manning the crease for the Penguins, while Colin White (1G-1A), Peter Abbandonato (2A) and Corey Andonovski (2A) all recorded multi-point games.
Will Butcher buried the night’s first goal midway through the first period. A fierce forecheck by Penguins forced a turnover in the Checkers’ zone, and Rem Pitlick quickly snapped the puck back to an open Butcher who finished things off.
The Penguins extended that lead to 2-0 on an early strike to start the second period. Alex Nylander showed off his quick hands in the slot and then darted a shot past Checkers goalie Spencer Knight.
After three second-period penalty kills, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton made good on the power play to take a 3-0 lead. White tipped in a heavy drive by Xavier Ouellet with 1:52 left in the second stanza.
Charlotte’s Lucas Carlsson put the visitors on the board at 13:40 of the third period, but Matt Filipe later hustled up to a loose puck and poked in an empty netter to seal the Penguins’ victory.
The Penguins ultimately went five-for-five on the penalty kill and one-for-four on the man advantage. Knight was credited with 12 saves on 15 shots faced in the loss.
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton and Charlotte will go at it again tomorrow, Saturday, Dec. 30. Game time for the Penguins’ rematch with the Checkers and their last game of the calendar year is 6:05 p.m. at Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza.
Season-ticket packages for the Penguins’ 25th season of hockey are on sale now. Full-Season, 22-game, 12-game, Flexbook and Premium Seating plans are available by reaching out to the Penguins directly at (570) 208-7367. Individual-game tickets are also available by visiting Ticketmaster.com, the Mohegan Sun Arena Box Office or calling the Penguins’ front office at (570) 208-7367.
