HERSHEY, Pa. (caldercup.com) … A sold-out Giant Center welcomed the hometown Bears to the ice for the first time since their Game 7 overtime victory in the conference finals, but Milwaukee stifled the potent Hershey offense and took a 2-1 series lead with a 2-0 victory in Game 3 on Saturday night.
Darren Haydar and Simon Gamache each had a goal and an assist for the Admirals, who have won 11 of their last 12 games.
The Bears will try to pull back even when the teams play Game 4 at the Giant Center on Sunday evening.
Haydar buried a rebound just as a 5-on-3 power play was expiring with 8:10 left in the first period, his 16th goal of the playoffs. Only Cape Breton’s Bill McDougall (26 in 1993) has scored more times in a single postseason.
It stood up as Haydar’s sixth game-winning goal of the 2006 Calder Cup Playoffs, a new AHL record for a single postseason, and the fourth-year pro and 2003 AHL rookie of the year also extended his scoring streak to 13 games (14g, 11a).
Gamache then finished off an odd-man chance with seven minutes left in the second, his 12th of the playoffs.
Pekka Rinne needed 21 saves to earn his third postseason shutout. Milwaukee owned a 34-21 edge in shots for the game, including 30-12 over the first two periods.
Frederic Cassivi stopped 32 shots, but lost for the fifth time in eight starts after beginning the playoffs at 10-0.
Attendance was 10,840, the highest ever for a Bears game in Hershey. A capacity crowd is expected again on Sunday.
Game 2 – Sat., June 3 –
Game 3 – Sat., June 10 – Milwaukee 2, HERSHEY 0
Game 4 – Sun., June 11 –
Game 5 – Tue., June 13 –
*Game 6 – Thu., June 15 –
*Game 7 – Sat., June 17 –