THIESSEN BECOMES FIFTH PENS GOALTENDER TO POST PLAYOFF SHUTOUT

Brad Thiessen made 34 saves for his first career playoff shutout, while Ryan Craig tallied a goal and an assist to help the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins even the East Division Finals with a 3-0 victory over the Charlotte Checkers on Saturday night at Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza.

Special teams were the deciding factor on Thursday night, and the same held true in the first period of Game Two as it featured very little full-strength hockey.  But this time, both goaltenders Thiessen and Charlotte’s Mike Murphy stood up to the task and turned aside every shot.  The Checkers outshot the Penguins 16-12 in the opening frame.

After Murphy made a highlight-reel glove save on Andrew Hutchinson after the halfway point of the second, and after the Penguins killed off the Checkers’ fifth power play of the game, the hosts finally cashed in for the first goal.  Rookie Paul Thompson made a play on the right half wall by backhanding a saucer pass to the right point.  Corey Potter let a slap shot fly that bounced off of Murphy and into the slot, where Sterling jumped on the puck and fired it into the empty right half of the net at 15:17.

Early in the third period, after the Penguins killed off a Charlotte four-on-three advantage, Chris Collins picked up a puck near the top of the left circle and fired a shot through Craig’s legs and cleanly past a screened Murphy at 2:22 to give the Penguins a 2-0 lead.  Keven Veilleux earned the other assist.

Craig then iced the victory with an empty-net tally with 43 seconds remaining in the contest.

The Penguins ended the night 0-for-5 on the power play and 7-for-7 on the penalty kill.

Thiessen improved to 5-3 in the postseason, while Murphy dropped to 4-2 while making 28 saves.

The series will now shift to North Carolina for the next three games, with Game Three facing off on Monday, May 2 at 7:00 pm at Time Warner Cable Arena.  If necessary, Game Six will be played back at Mohegan Sun Arena on Saturday, May 7 at 7:05 pm.  Individual tickets are on sale at the Mohegan Sun Arena box office, through any TicketMaster outlet, online at ticketmaster.com, or by calling 1-800-745-3000.

Ticket packages for the 2011 Calder Cup Playoffs are also currently available through the Penguins’ ticket offices by calling (570) 208-PENS.

NOTES:  G Brad Thiessen became the fifth Penguins goaltender to record a clean sheet in the postseason, joining Andy Chiodo (4), Dany Sabourin (1), Rich Parent (1) and John Curry (1)… LW Tim Wallace appeared in his 50th career playoff game with the Penguins… The Penguins scratched defensemen Viktor Ekbom and Philip Samuelsson, forwards Andy Bathgate, Jesse Boulerice, Nick Petersen and Ryan Schnell, and goaltender Alexander Pechurskiy… The Checkers kept the same lineup from Thursday and scratched defensemen Ethan Graham, Rasmus Rissanen and Bobby Sanguinetti, forwards Mike McKenzie, Cedric McNicoll, Matthew Pistilli and Jared Staal, and goaltender Bobby Goepfert.