Baby Penguins Banter: Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Eliminated from Calder Cup Playoffs

The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins’ playoff run, which started with high expectations for the franchise’s first Calder Cup, came to an end last night. The Charlotte Checkers won Game 6 4-3 to take the series 4-2 and send the Penguins home early.

Here is a look back at how the series unfolded:

Game 1: Checkers 3, Penguins 2

 Zac Dalpe put Charlotte on the board at 15:10 in the first period, and the Checkers never relinquished the lead to get an early upper hand.

Geoff Walker evened the score 4:29 into the second, but Jon Matsumoto scored a power-play goal 2:49 later to put the Checkers up by one. Matsumoto added his second of the game, again on the power play, at 5:03 of the third period.

Brett Sterling scored on the man advantage at the 6:26 mark, but the Penguins never found the equalizer.

Game 2: Penguins 3, Checkers 0

 The Penguins responded to the previous loss and tied the series with a shutout victory.

After a scoreless first period, Sterling scored his second goal in two games to give the Penguins a 1-0 lead heading into the locker room.

Chris Collins tallied his first goal of the playoffs at 2:22, and the score stayed 2-0 until Ryan Craig added an empty net goal at 19:17.

Brad Thiessen got his first shutout of the playoffs with 34 saves.

Game 3: Checkers 2, Penguins 1 (OT)

 Collins gave the Penguins a 1-0 lead at 13:23 of the first period, but that was the most offense WBS would generate in this games.

Nick Dodge scored at 9:45 of the second period to tie the game, and the score remained tied, forcing the Penguins’ first overtime game of the playoffs.

Brett Sutter scored at 5:40 of overtime to give Charlotte a 2-1 series lead.

Game 4: Checkers 1, Penguins 0

 The Penguins and the Checkers played through two scoreless periods thanks to strong goal-tending from both Thiessen and Mike Murphy.

But in the third, Chris Terry scored a power-play goal at the 2:01 mark to give Charlotte all the scoring they would need to take a commanding 3-1 series lead.

Murphy made 44 saves for the shutout, while Thiessen made 31 saves of his own.

Game 5: Penguins 1, Checkers 0

 Game 5 played out much like Game 4, as the Pens and Checkers once again fought through two periods of no scoring.

This time, though, Collins was the one who came through, scoring the lone goal of the game at 8:54.

Thiessen earned his second shutout of the playoffs with 23 saves, and the Penguins stayed alive to force Game 6 back in Wilkes-Barre.

Game 6: Checkers 4, Penguins 3

 After another scoreless first period, the Penguins struck twice in the second period.

Craig opened the scoring at 7:13 of the middle frame, and Corey Potter added a power-play tally at 9:45 to give the Penguins a 2-0 lead after two.

Charlotte started the third period on a power play, but Joe Vitale scored shorthanded at 1:13 to give the Penguins a 3-0 lead, and it looked like they were going to force a deciding seventh game.

Then it all fell apart.

Terry began the Checkers’ comeback at 7:24 of the third period, and Sutter added a goal at 10:10 to pull within one.

Just 30 seconds later, Terry tallied his second of the game to tie things up. At 16:42, Dalpe put the final nail in the coffin to give Charlotte a 4-3 victory and a ticket to the Eastern Conference Finals, where they will play the Binghamton Senators.

The Penguins’ season, capped with the first regular-season title in franchise history, an East Division title and individual awards for Thiessen and head coach John Hynes, was over.

What Went Wrong?

 For starters, the Penguins were lacking the offensive firepower necessary to overcome the Checkers.

Yes, they had Sterling, a previous Calder Cup winner with the Chicago Wolves. But he could not find the same success he had in the regular season, finishing with just three goals.

Furthermore, there was no Dustin Jeffrey, Nick Johnson or Eric Tangradi to pick up some of the goal-scoring slack. They were on Pittsburgh’s roster at the AHL Clear Day deadline and ruled ineligible for the Calder Cup playoffs.

The power play was also a glaring concern. It ranked 10th out of 16 playoff teams with a 13.6 percent success rate. In their Game 4 and Game 6 losses, they were 1-for-11 combined. That will not win you games any day of the week.

Finally, it seems like the Penguins just got too complacent last night. They really should not have stopped working once they were up 3-0, as there was still nearly 19 minutes remaining in the game. A collapse of that kind from a team who had accomplished so much is completely unacceptable.

Final Thoughts

 This one hurts.

While you want to be proud of all of the regular-season accomplishments, it’s hard to think they mean a lot after the Baby Pens failed to win the ultimate prize.

Furthermore, there are just no excuses. Yes, there was no Jeffrey or Tangradi or Johnson, but these players have been gone for months. We piled up wins without them, and we adjusted to their absence. That can’t be used as a reason to explain falling apart in the playoffs.

Time will tell if the Penguins will be remembered for winning the regular season and the East Division title or for letting down their fans and themselves in a game they could have, and should have, won.

But in the end, I have to give credit to Charlotte. They came into this round after eliminating the Hershey Bears, who were the 2009 and 2010 Calder Cup champions. In Game 5 of that series, Charlotte erased a 3-0 Hershey lead to win 5-3. That victory no doubt gave them the confidence and momentum they were seeking.

With that said, I would like to thank those of you who followed the Baby Pens this season, even if it was just a small number of you. I had fun bringing news about the Pittsburgh Penguins’ top AHL affiliate to Bleacher Report, and I hope you enjoyed what I had to say.

I will write this column in the offseason as I see fit. I will probably not come out with another edition until free agency starts or if we get some other major news about the team, but I hope you will follow me once again.