For the second straight season, the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins are making a first-round exit from the Calder Cup playoffs.
The Charlotte Checkers sealed the sweep in the best-of-5 series with a 7-3 win in Wilkes-Barre on Thursday night. The Checkers won the first two games in Charlotte, 3-2 (overtime) and 4-1.
This is the first time Wilkes-Barre has been swept since the 2009-10 first-round matchup with the Albany River Rats, back when the first round was still best-of-7.
Wilkes-Barre has only missed the playoffs twice in their history — the inaugural 1999-2000 season, and the 2001-02 season. They are still searching for their first Calder Cup.
Tristan Jarry started all three games, posting a .894 save percentage and 3.34 goals against average. The leading goal-scorer for Wilkes-Barre was Anthony Angello, with two goals in the final game. Andrey Pedan, Daniel Sprong, Joseph Cramarossa, and Adam Johnson each scored a goal in the series.
As in the regular season, the special teams were a problem for Wilkes-Barre in the playoffs. The power play only saw a 14.3 percent success rate.
Two of the team's top defensemen, Kevin Czuczman and Jarred Tinordi, were injured in Game 2.
Thursday was Tom Kostopoulos' 100th and final Calder Cup playoff game. The captain retires after 19 seasons without a championship.
Expect a caravan of players to arrive in Pittsburgh in the coming days. Sprong, Jean-Sebastien Dea, Teddy Blueger, Jarry, and others will join the big club as Black Aces for the remainder of Pittsburgh's run.