Penguins Fall 2-1 in OT, Trail 2-1 in Series

The WBS Penguins have gone with 7 defensemen the last two games and Carl Sneep got to play in his first two career AHL playoff games. Played well in my opinion.

In a low scoring playoff hockey game, not capitalizing on your opportunities and turning over the puck in the neutral zone will hurt a team's chances of winning every time. It really did in the WBS Penguins tonight, as they lost 2-1 against the Charlotte Checkers. The Checkers have now regained the series lead two games to one with Game 4 on Wednesday night in Charlotte.

The Penguins were getting out chanced early in the first period but Brad Thiessen made the necessary stops to keep it scoreless. Later in the first, Tim Wallace would make a good play in the defensive zone that would lead to a 2-on-1 with Chris Collins. Wallace flipped a pass over to Collins who would tap it home into basically an empty net, as Checkers goalie Mike Murphy was caught going the other way.

The 2nd period was one of the worst periods of hockey I've seen from the Pens since early in the Norfolk series. They were having trouble clearing the zone and turning over the puck a lot without getting the puck deep into the offensive zone. A Brad Thiessen attempted clear was knocked down by Nicolas Blanchard and Nick Dodge tied the game 1-1 just three seconds after David Marshall's hooking penalty had expired. The Checkers out shot the Pens 11-5 in the middle frame.

The Penguins played much better in the third, out shooting the Checkers 7-2 in the period, but were unable to get one past Murphy. The game would go to overtime. Both teams had chances early in the extra session but the goalies were up to the task. The dagger in the Penguins side came 5:40 into overtime when Brett Sutter flung a puck on net down low and it bounced off Thiessen and found its way into the top of the net. Game over. Charlotte wins 2-1 and leads the series by the same score.