After a rough stretch on the road the Checkers righted the ship in their first visit to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton with a narrow 2-1 win.
The Pens broke through after a scoreless first to open the scoring early on in the second, but Janne Kuokkanen evened things up with a one-time blast on a two-man advantage for Charlotte. Neither team could break that tie until the final five minutes of regulation when the Checkers’ power play struck again, this time with Andrew Poturalski roofing a wrister past Tristan Jarry for the clutch game-winner.
The netminders took center stage for the majority of the game but it was Alex Nedeljkovic who came out on top, turning aside 27 of the 28 shots he was faced with while also helping the Checkers shut down all five of the Penguins’ power-play opportunities.
NOTES
Tonight’s win snapped the Checkers’ first winless streak of the season … Andrew Poturalski extended his point streak to six games, the second-longest by a Checker this season, and his goal streak to three games … Poturalski’s goal moved him into a tie for eighth in the AHL in scoring … Valentin Zykov was assessed a match penalty for cross-checking in the second period … Alex Nedeljkovic became the first goalie in the AHL this season to reach 10 wins … Patrick Brown and Spencer Smallman missed the game due to injury … Michal Cajkovsky, Zack Stortini and Steven Lorentz served as healthy extras
UP NEXT
The Checkers wrap up their extended road trip with a rematch against the Penguins tomorrow at 7:05.
