OT’s, Game 7’s highlight first round

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. … It took 15 overtime games and three Game 7’s, but the field of 16 is down to eight as the first round of the 2006 Calder Cup Playoffs concluded on Sunday evening.

By the time the division semifinals ended, seven of the top eight seeds had prevailed, with Manitoba pulling off the only “upset” of the first round. The Moose, who finished two points behind Syracuse in the North Division standings, took care of the Crunch in six games, capping off the series with a 3-2 overtime win on Sunday. All eight division finalists recorded at least 100 points in the regular season.

Manitoba was one of two teams to rally from 0-2 down to win its first-round series. The other was Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, which posted a 5-4 win over Bridgeport in one of three Game 7’s played over the weekend. The Penguins became just the fifth team in AHL history to lose the first two games of a best-of-seven series at home and come back to win. Amazingly, the Pens have now overcome 0-2 deficits in the first round in each of the last three postseasons.

Chris Holt and Jake Moreland were thrust into the Game 7 spotlight with a combined five career AHL victories between them, but both put in standout efforts to pilot their teams into the second round. Holt made 26 saves in place of an injured Al Montoya to lead Hartford to a 2-1 win over Manchester on Saturday night, while Moreland stopped 32 shots subbing for an injured Brian Finley as Milwaukee ousted Iowa on Sunday, 4-1.

There were 15 overtime games, including two double-OT’s and one triple-OT, played among the eight division semifinals, tied for the most ever in a single Calder Cup Playoff round. By contrast, there were nine OT games during the entire 2005 postseason.

DIVISION SEMIFINAL NOTES … Two years after setting an AHL record with five overtime games in one seven-game series, Wilkes-Barre and Bridgeport played the first series in Calder Cup Playoff history to feature seven one-goal games… Twenty-nine of the 46 games (63.0 percent) played in the first round were decided by a single goal, up from 44.5 percent of the games in the 2005-06 regular season… In 2005, five of the eight first-round playoff series were won by the lower seed… Milwaukee’s Darren Haydar led all scorers with 12 points (4g, 8a) in the first round, giving him 50 points for his Calder Cup Playoff career… Admirals teammate Simon Gamache tied Portland’s Zenon Konopka for the lead with six goals… With Wade Flaherty in net, Manitoba allowed just 10 goals to Syracuse, tied for the fewest ever in a six-game series… Following Jimmy Howard’s recall to Detroit, Drew MacIntyre stopped 74 of 77 shots as Grand Rapids closed out Toronto in Games 4 and 5… Seven of the eight remaining head coaches are in their first full season behind their respective team’s bench… Bad news for Hershey and Houston: since 2000, 10 of the 11 AHL teams who have swept a best-of-seven series have gone on to lose in the next round.

Complete 2006 Calder Cup Playoff schedule and results

Interactive 2006 playoff brackets

All times Eastern… *if necessary

Atlantic Division Final – Series “I”

Game 1 – Tue., May 2 – at Hartford, 7:00
Game 2 – Thu., May 4 – at Hartford, 7:00
Game 3 – Sat., May 6 – at Portland, 7:05
Game 4 – Sun., May 7 – at Portland, 7:05
*Game 5 – Thu., May 11 – at Portland, 7:05
*Game 6 – Sun., May 14 – at Portland, 7:05
*Game 7 – Wed., May 17 – at Hartford, 7:00

SERIES NOTEBOOK:
Portland and Hartford met once before in the postseason, with the Wolf Pack prevailing in five games in 2004… The Pirates’ overtime losses in Games 4 and 5 to Providence were their first back-to-back defeats since Feb. 4-8… Going back to the regular season, Portland forward Zenon Konopka has recorded a point in 18 straight games (12g, 16a)… Hartford’s top two scorers in the season series with the Pirates were forward Jarkko Immonen (9g, 5a) and defenseman Thomas Pock (2g, 11a), both of whom are on their way back after beginning the postseason with the N.Y. Rangers… Immonen scored five goals in the Pack’s 6-0 win in Portland on Feb. 4… Dustin Penner, currently on NHL recall to Anaheim, scored four goals in the Pirates’ 7-4 win at Hartford on Nov. 9… Portland head coach Kevin Dineen played 10 seasons with the NHL’s Hartford Whalers; his number 11 hangs from the Hartford Civic Center rafters… The Wolf Pack are playing without home-ice advantage for the first time in their last 14 series, and just the second time ever.

East Division Final – Series “J”

Game 1 – Thu., May 4 – at Wilkes-Barre, 7:05
Game 2 – Sat., May 6 – at Wilkes-Barre, 7:05
Game 3 – Sun., May 7 – at Hershey, 5:00
Game 4 – Tue., May 9 – at Hershey, 7:00
*Game 5 – Fri., May 12 – at Wilkes-Barre, 7:05
*Game 6 – Sun., May 14 – at Hershey, 7:30
*Game 7 – Tue., May 16 – at Wilkes-Barre, 7:05

SERIES NOTEBOOK:
In-state rivals Wilkes-Barre/Scranton and Hershey meet in the playoffs for the first time since the Penguins’ four-game sweep in the 2001 conference finals… In its last eight postseason series (starting with the conference quarters in ’03), Wilkes-Barre is 2-14 (.125) in Games 1 and 2, and 20-10 (.667) in Games 3 through 7… Hershey finished first in the division in goals scored (262), but managed just 1.8 per game vs. Wilkes-Barre’s league-leading defense… Rookie Ryan Stone had seven points and a plus-6 rating in the Penguins’ last five games in the first round… Tomas Fleischmann recorded two goals and five assists in the Bears’ first-round sweep of Norfolk… Frederic Cassivi has improved to 11-3 in 14 career playoff decisions for Hershey.

North Division Final – Series “K”

Game 1 – Fri., May 5 – at Grand Rapids, 7:00
Game 2 – Sat., May 6 – at Grand Rapids, 7:00
Game 3 – Tue., May 9 – at Manitoba, 8:30
Game 4 – Thu., May 11 – at Manitoba, 8:30
*Game 5 – Sat., May 13 – at Manitoba, 8:30
*Game 6 – Mon., May 15 – at Grand Rapids, 7:00
*Game 7 – Tue., May 16 – at Grand Rapids, 7:00

SERIES NOTEBOOK:
Grand Rapids and Manitoba met eight times in 2005-06, with five of those games decided past regulation… The Griffins led the league in power-play efficiency in the regular season, but were just 3-for-43 (7.0 percent) vs. the Moose… Jiri Hudler paced Grand Rapids with seven points in the first round against Toronto… League MVP Donald MacLean and All-Rookie goalie Jimmy Howard begin the week with Detroit, where the parent Red Wings face a 3-2 series deficit to Edmonton… After dropping Games 1 and 2, the Moose won four straight to eliminate Syracuse, their sixth winning streak of the season of at least four games… Josh Green, who led the Moose with nine goals and 14 points in the 2005 postseason, tied for the team lead with six points in the first round… Manitoba is 9-2 in playoff games at the MTS Centre since the arena opened in 2004.

West Division Final – Series “L”

Game 1 – Thu., May 4 – at Milwaukee, 8:00
Game 2 – Sat., May 6 – at Milwaukee, 8:00
Game 3 – Sun., May 7 – at Houston, 7:05
Game 4 – Tue., May 9 – at Houston, 8:35
*Game 5 – Wed., May 10 – at Houston, 8:35
*Game 6 – TBA – at Milwaukee
*Game 7 – TBA – at Milwaukee

2005-06 Regular Season Series
	Milwaukee	Houston
Record	4-4-0-0 (8 pts.)	4-3-0-1 (9 pts.)
at MIL	2-2-0-0	2-2-0-0
at HOU	2-2-0-0	2-1-0-1
Goals	23	23
Power play	6/53 (11.3%)	9/65 (13.8%)