Sunday, October 17, 2010

AHL Game 4: WBS 4, Charlotte 3

revenge sweep!Ok, so maybe a 2 game regular season series does not make up for the 4-0 playoff sweep put on the Pens by the Rats last year, but ruining the Checkers' inaugural weekend in Charlotte has to count for something. The Pens made it a sweep on Sunday afternoon, beating Charlotte again to finish the 2 game series and move to 4-0 on the season. This time, however, it was quite the fight. Charlotte jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead on goals from NHL experienced vets Zach Boychuk and Jerome Samson when WBS answered with a veteran of their own and Brett Sterling's first (of hopefully many) goal of the season. But then things took a bit of a turn for the worse for the Pens when Boychuk struck again with just 20 seconds left in the period and put the Checkers in solid position for their first home win. There are points (even this early) in any team's season when an individual needs to take over a game and carry the team on his back to a win. Tonight, that man was Tim Wallace. Tim scored his first of the night (and 2nd of the season) late in the 2nd to bring the Pens within one, and then later in the third he forced his way to the net to poke the game tying goal past Murphy. Wallace was also present on the ice for the Pens' GWG, which was achieved on a Nick Johnson shot that deflected off Steve Wagner and into the net, sending the Pens into a frenzy as well as another win. There was one scary moment late that involved Brett Sterling hobbling off the ice into the locker room late in the 3rd, but after the game coach Hynes remarked that he was alright and it was mainly a precautionary thing. Some interesting things to note were that both Jason DeSantis and Joey Mormina got the green light on D, replacing Carl Sneep and Hutchinson (who is still up in the NHL). Dustin Jeffery also had a solid night, totalling up 3 assists and was the primary setup of Wallace's 2nd goal. As mentioned above, it is comebacks like this one that determine a good team from a great one, and the Pens just keep rollin!

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