The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins scored three goals in six and a half minutes of the second period Saturday night and beat the Charlotte Checkers 4-1 at Bojangles Coliseum. It was the second night in a row the Penguins came from behind.
On Friday, the Checkers led 3-0 with less than 10 minutes left. The Penguins scored three times in 3 minutes, 40 seconds to tie it, and defenseman Jake Livanavage won it 4-3 at 2:59 of overtime.
"We just have to eliminate the big individual mistakes," Checkers coach Geordie Kinnear said after Saturday's game, pointing to the odd-man rushes his team gave up.
Saturday's loss ended a three-game point streak, and the Checkers have allowed at least three goals in six straight games, the club said.
Forward Gracyn Sawchyn put the Checkers ahead Saturday with a power-play goal at 8:06 of the first period, his fourth of the season, with a Penguins player serving a holding penalty. Wilkes-Barre/Scranton tied it at 3:31 of the second period, went ahead at 6:56 and made it 3-1 at 10:01. Hugh McGing added a fourth goal at 12:10 of the third. The Penguins outshot Charlotte 30-18, and goaltender Kirill Gerasimyuk made 26 saves, according to the league's official game report.
Forward Riese Gaber went down after blocking a shot in the third period. Kinnear said he did not yet know Gaber's condition, and he singled out the block as a leader paying a price to keep the puck out of the net.
On Friday, forward Jack Devine scored on a first-period power play, his ninth goal of the season. Defenseman Mikulas Hovorka and forward Johnny Beecher scored at 4:14 and 8:35 of the third period. Early in the third, goaltender Cooper Black, back with Charlotte after making his NHL debut, stopped a penalty shot, the first awarded against the Checkers this season, the club said.
Then the Penguins scored at 10:22 and 13:14, and Rutger McGroarty tied it on a power play at 14:02, 28 seconds after Charlotte defenseman Donovan Sebrango was called for tripping. Black made 27 saves. It was the Checkers' first loss beyond regulation this season, the club said.
"The third period we got up and kind of stopped skating," Kinnear said Friday, according to the club.
The Checkers host the Providence Bruins at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 10, and Wednesday, Nov. 11, at Bojangles Coliseum.