CALDER CUP UPDATE:
The North Division final gets underway tonight when Grand Rapids hosts Manitoba in Game 1 tonight (7:00 ET)… The Griffins took care of Toronto in five games in the first round, while the Moose defeated Syracuse in six after losing the first two games… Grand Rapids’ Jimmy Howard had a 3.24 GAA and .890 save percentage in three games vs. Toronto; back-up Drew MacIntyre won Games 4 and 5 (1.28, .961) while Howard was on recall to Detroit… Jiri Hudler led the Griffins with seven points in the first round… Craig Darby is on a five-game scoring streak for the Moose (1g, 4a)… Jesse Schultz and Josh Green each had six points in Manitoba’s four wins after being held scoreless in the two losses… The Griffins and Moose met eight times in the regular season, with five of those games decided past regulation.
Jordin Tootoo scored with 13.9 seconds left in regulation to give Milwaukee a thrilling 5-4 win over Houston in Game 1 of the West Division Final last night… Tootoo’s goal, his second in as many games since rejoining the Admirals from Nashville, capped a late-game outburst that saw four goals scored in the final 4:37… Darren Haydar scored twice, giving him 14 points in eight postseason games… Joel Ward (2g, 1a), Josh Olson (1g, 2a) and Bryan Lundbohm (3a) recorded three points apiece for the Aeros, who had swept Peoria in the division semifinals.
Chad Wiseman slipped a shot just over the goal line with 3:22 gone in overtime as Hartford posted an important 3-2 win over Portland in Game 2 of their Atlantic Division final last night… The series is now even at one game apiece… Alexandre Giroux and Jarkko Immonen recorded a goal and an assist each for the Wolf Pack… Ryan Shannon scored his fourth goal of the series for the Pirates… Portland forward Zenon Konopka’s assist gave him a point in 20 straight games… Hartford improved to 9-9 all-time in Calder Cup Playoff overtime games; Portland fell to 4-11, including 0-3 this spring.
Colin Forbes scored twice and Eric Fehr tallied the decisive goal with 8:39 left in regulation as Hershey held on for a 5-4 win over Wilkes-Barre/Scranton in last night’s Game 1 of the East Division Finals… Fehr and Boyd Kane finished with a goal and an assist each for Hershey, and Kris Beech and Brooks Laich had two assists apiece… Maxime Talbot scored two goals for the Penguins and teamed with Ryan Stone to tally shorthanded goals 52 seconds apart… Stone added two assists as well, giving him 10 points in Wilkes-Barre’s last six games… It was the Penguins’ eighth straight one-goal game this postseason.
Complete Calder Cup Playoff schedules and results
BY THE NUMBERS:
6-2 — Hartford’s all-time record in Calder Cup Playoff Game 2’s after having lost Game 1… Four of those six wins have come in overtime, including last night’s 3-2 victory over Portland.
ON THIS DATE (May 5):
2000 – Mika Noronen sets an AHL record with his sixth shutout of the postseason as Rochester blanks Hamilton, 3-0, to win their conference semifinal series, four games to two… 1999 – Both Hamilton’s Jim Dowd and Rochester’s Dean Melanson miss penalty shot attempts during the Amerks’ 3-1 win over the Bulldogs in Game 1 of their conference semifinal… 1993 – On the fifth day of the fifth month, Bill McDougall scores five goals, an AHL playoff record, as Cape Breton finishes a four-game sweep with an 8-2 win over St. John’s.
AHL ON B2 NETWORKS:
B2 Networks brings all the action of the 2006 Calder Cup Playoffs to your computer with live video webcasts of every game… Click here for details.
