Recap: Checkers Top Penguins to Take 2-0 Series Lead

CHARLOTTE - The Charlotte Checkers took a 2-0 lead in their first-round Calder Cup Playoff series with a 4-1 victory over the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins in a pivotal Game 2.
Josiah Didier netted the game-winning goal in the third period, while Haydn Fleury chipped in with a pair of goals, as well.
Here are five takeaways from Game 2.

1. Two for Fleury
Fleury, who didn't score a goal in 67 games in his rookie season in the National Hockey League, found the back of the twine twice in Game 2 to earn first-star honors.
"Haydn didn't score in the NHL, and everyone has been kidding him," Checkers head coach Mike Vellucci said. "He comes down here and gets a couple of goals. He can join the rush. He's a great skater, and he has offensive ability."
His goals might not have exactly been highlight-worthy, either, but a goal's a goal, right?
His first came in the first period to even the score at one. Greg McKegg dished off to Fleury in the rush, and his initial shot bounced off the end boards. He tracked down the puck below the goal line and, from a tough angle, backhanded it to the net, where it bounced in off Tristan Jarry.

Late in regulation, Fleury cleared the puck from his own zone, banking it off the boards in the neutral zone and sending it into the empty net.
"They were pretty ones," Fleury joked.
2. Diddy
The Checkers broke a 1-1 deadlock with just 5:42 left in regulation on a textbook play off an offensive-zone faceoff win from Nicolas Roy. Julien Gauthier parked his big frame in front of the net, and Didier's wrister from the point beat Jarry to give the Checkers their first lead of the series and a decisive advantage.

"A great screen by Gauthier … and Roy was good on draws tonight," Vellucci said. "Dids had a nice shot there."
"It was a big faceoff [win] by Nicky and a good play by Kuokks. Good net-front presence by Goat getting there and being big in front of the net," Fleury said. "Dids is a pretty strong guy. He can get a lot on the puck. It was a good shot with good net-front presence."
3. Dawn of the Ned
Goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic missed the final seven games of the regular season with an injury, but he's been sharp in the first two games of this series. After the Penguins scored on the opening shift of the game, Nedeljkovic proceeded to stop everything else he saw and finished with 27 saves on 28 shots. This coming less than 24 hours after he stopped 25 of 27 in a Game 1 victory.
"He was huge. Last night after that second one went in - that's a pretty bad bounce - he rebounded well. He was solid for the rest of the game," Fleury said. "Just the way he can park a goal and leave it there - they scored one on the first shift tonight, and they don't get another one. He's been huge."
"That first goal was a weird goal. Bad bounce. I lost track of it," Nedeljkovic said. "Those things happen, and from there we shut it down."
Every element of the game ramps up in the postseason, but despite not seeing the crease in game action since late March, Nedeljkovic has appeared poised.
"It's playoff hockey. You're never not going to be ready to play," he said. "Games are always more intense and more amplified."
4. Settling In
The aforementioned first goal, scored by Joseph Cramarossa just 22 seconds into the game, obviously wasn't an ideal start for the Checkers, but they didn't flinch. As was the case on Friday night when the team trailed 2-0, there wasn't a sense of dread or panic.
"The first shift obviously wasn't a good one," Vellucci said. "Once we got going and got our legs under us, we played well."
"That was a good effort tonight sticking with it and sticking to our game," Fleury said. "It's a fun team to be a part of."
5. One Win Away
These two teams have played an incredibly tight and competitive first two games. I'd suspect the next one, two or three in this series to play out similar fashion.
"The effort was there. The execution was there. It was a tight battle game, right down to the end," Vellucci said. "I expect more big, close games like that."
This best-of-five series will now shift to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton for the balance. Up 2-0, the Checkers are just a win away from advancing.
"We held serve, to use a tennis term," Vellucci said. "Now we have to go get one in there."
"We had a good year at home … and it's continued now," Nedeljkovic said. "We still have to get it done on the road now."
Game 3 is set for Thursday night in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton at 7 p.m. If necessary, Games 4 and 5 would follow on Saturday at 7 p.m. and Sunday at 3 p.m., respectively.