MILWAUKEE, Wis. (caldercup.com) … Scottie Upshall and Darren Haydar scored first-period goals and Pekka Rinne finished with 36 saves as Milwaukee opened the 2006 Calder Cup Finals with a 2-1 win over the Hershey Bears at the Bradley Center on Friday night.
Game 2 is Saturday, with face-off scheduled for 8:00 p.m. ET.
In the first meeting between these clubs since the 2002-03 season, the Admirals got the early jump when Upshall got his fourth goal of the postseason 3:32 into the game. Rich Peverley pulled Bears goalie Frederic Cassivi out of position, then banked the puck off the post and onto Upshall’s stick.
Darren Haydar added his league-leading 15th playoff goal at 16:50, blasting a shot from the point on a Milwaukee power play. Haydar’s 15 goals are tied for the second-most ever in a single AHL postseason.
Rinne made the lead stand up, shutting out Hershey until Lawrence Nycholat ended a 31-game playoff drought with 3:06 left in regulation. The first-year Finnish netminder improved his postseason record to 9-0 as Milwaukee extended its winning streak 10 games, two shy of the AHL record for a single postseason.
Cassivi stopped 34 shots for the Bears, who have dropped four of their last six games since starting the playoffs at 10-0.
Game 2 – Sat., June 3 –
Game 3 – Sat., June 10 –
Game 4 – Sun., June 11 –
*Game 5 – Tue., June 13 –
*Game 6 – Thu., June 15 –
*Game 7 – Sat., June 17 –
