Chirps from Center Ice

There is no greater drug in this world known to man than playoff hockey. None. The roller coaster of emotions this week with two teams which are dead even. The immovable force which is the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins defense versus the unstoppable object which is the Charlotte Checkers.

But the story of this series has been the goaltending. Brad Thiessen boasts a 1.19 GAA and a .954 save percentage and Mike Murphy boasts a 1.19 GAA and a .963 save percentage. These are just INSANE numbers. Totally just, video game like when you are playing the opponent on Easy (like I do, but I still lose sometimes)

That all aside, the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins force the series back to Wilkes-Barre for a Game 6 in a 1-0 nailbiting, thrill a minute in the third period win.

Brad Thiessen vs. Mike Murphy. No lineup changes for WBS. Expect Ben Street in game six or possibly game seven as he took the morning skate today.

First Period: Pens would dominate the period for the most part. Shots this period were 15-6 for the Pens. Not without some anxious moments for the Pens as Matsumoto would fan on an open net. Then, the Pens would have a defensive zone gaffe that Thiessen would bail them out on. Veilleux would fan on an open net and radio called it the shift of the series. Keven Veilleux missed a ton of opportunities with pucks bouncing on him.

Second Period: Pens would keep the pressure on. Mike Murphy is just an absolutely unreal, unreal goaltender this series. In fact – if this was a recap of the series it would be this:

http://twitter.com/#!/nafsnep/status/66659305084030976

Pens would have a couple of tries on the power play. The end of the second would see a lot of penalties. Pens would get chances. No dice. Shots to this point were 21-9 for the Pens.

Third Period: Tim Wallace has a chance in the slot on Murphy and what does he do? Swallows up the puck in the crease and force a whistle. Then, Jon Matsumoto would hook Nick Petersen and the Checkers would kill the 2:00 of it but one second later a Bryan Lerg point shot would get deflected in by Chris Collins and past Murphy. To this point, Murphy had about a 130:00 of a shutout going. It takes a dirty goal like this to beat him. Whatever it takes. Then, Brian Strait would get whistled for boarding almost instantaneously and the Pens would have to fight off the biggest flurry against I have seen all year. They would kill it but the Strait minor. Then a Checkers shot deflected THREE TIMES OFF OF THE POST and did not go in. Later, in the same shift the Checkers would do everything but score a goal past Thiessen. Here is the setup twitter side:

http://twitter.com/#!/nafsnep/status/66672495087988736

Then while what I described above…

http://twitter.com/#!/nafsnep/status/66673077135745024

Then,

http://twitter.com/#!/nafsnep/status/66673250423422977

and..

http://twitter.com/#!/nafsnep/status/66673366349791232

You really should follow me on Twitter, if you haven’t already.

Pens defense would hold off the Checkers. Charlotte would pull Murphy and not find the equalizer.

First time in league history that there were two games which ended 1-0 consecutively.

Three Stars: Chris Collins (game winning goal, +1) Mike Murphy (32 saves on 33 shots) and Brad Thiessen (23 save shutout)

Game 6 is tomorrow at 7:05 from Mohegan Sun Arena, get your tickets by calling 570-208-PENS (5367)

Pens will get a police escort to an airport where they will charter back to Wilkes-Barre where they should be home by midnight.

Are the Pens delaying the inevitable? Was this win all they had left? History will be made….

Elsewhere, the winner of this series will face the Binghamton Senators who defeated the Portland Pirates in 6 games by a 3-0 score tonight in Portland.

See you tomorrow night in Wilkes-Barre. Cardiac Penguins Forever!