THE Wilkes/Barre-Scranton penguins defeated the Charlotte Checkers 6-4 Wednesdaythanks to Boris Katchouk scoring four goals.
It was the first time in the 26-year-old’s professional career that he had scored more than two goals in a competition.
At 12:41 of the first period, Katchouk opened the scoring with a penalty shot. The Checkers responded with just two goals midway through the third, taking a 2-1 lead into the third period.
The Penguins tied it up at 3:43 on Tristan Broz’s goal before Katchouk restored their one-goal lead at 5:23.
However, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton wasn’t done scoring yet. Bokondji Imama put his team up by two at 6:38, followed by Katchouk’s hat-trick goal on the power play at 8:43.
Related: Penguins Ponomarev scores first professional hat trick in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton win
Charlotte made things interesting with goals at 17:02 and 18:31, but Katchouk fired an empty-net goal for his fourth goal of the night, securing the 6-4 victory at 19:32.
As the first star of the game, Katchouk posted a perfect shooting percentage, going 4 for 4, finishing his night at plus-2.
Thanks to his magical evening, Katchouk is now tied with Broz and Ville Koivunen in team goals, with 11 goals and 15 points in 19 games.
The former Tampa Bay Lightning second-round pick (44th overall) only played 176 NHL games and scored 15 goals and 36 points.
This is Katchouk’s first season with the Penguins organization, and he is a veteran of 192 games in the AHL with 50 goals and 110 points.
He is just three goals away from matching his best season in the minors, achieved as a member of the Syracuse Crunch in 2019-20.
With this victory, the Penguins improved their record to 13-6-1-0 and remain in second place in the Atlantic Division, ten points behind the Hershey Bears.
