CALDER CUP UPDATE:
They’ll try again in Toronto after a power outage at the Exhibition grounds left Ricoh Coliseum in the dark and forced the postponement of Game 4 between the Marlies and Grand Rapids… The teams will head up Lake Shore Boulevard and hit the ice at the Air Canada Centre tonight (7:30 ET), with the host Marlies still trying to even the best-of-seven series… This will be the second Calder Cup Playoff game ever at the ACC; St. John’s beat Providence, 3-1, in Game 1 of a qualifying series on Apr. 10, 2002… Donald MacLean, who scored two goals in that game as a member of the Maple Leafs, leads Grand Rapids with three goals in this series… Aleksander Suglobov continues to pace the Marlies with four goals and two assists in three games.
Manchester can advance to the second round for the first time in team history with a win at home over Hartford in Game 6 tonight (7:05 ET)… The Monarchs are 3-9 all-time on home ice in postseason play, and are 0-2 overall with a chance to win a series, having dropped the last two games to the Wolf Pack in their 2002 conference quarterfinal showdown… Alexandre Daigle leads the AHL with 10 postseason points, including two goals and two assists in Tuesday’s 8-6 Manchester win… Brandon Dubinsky, a second-round draft pick in 2004 who made his pro debut in Game 2 last week, has four goals and two assists in his last two games for Hartford.
Portland returns home for another shot at wrapping up its series with Providence in Game 5 tonight (7:05 ET)… The Bruins staved off elimination on Tuesday with a 5-4 overtime win, led by Nathan Robinson with two goals and three assists… Robinson has eight points in the last two games of the series after being held scoreless in the first two… Providence was a perfect 11-for-11 on the penalty kill in Game 4 after the Pirates had scored eight power-play goals on 26 chances in the first three games… Of the 97 previous best-of-seven series that have started with one team up 3-0, only 10 have gotten as far as even a Game 6.
Milwaukee has a 3-1 lead in its first-round playoff series for the second postseason in a row, with Game 5 set for tonight at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines (7:05 CT)… Last year, the Admirals lost three straight and were knocked out by Cincinnati; this year, Iowa hopes to pull off the comeback… Admirals forward Darren Haydar has found the scoresheet in each of the first four games, tallying two goals and six assists… Loui Eriksson has four points in the series for the Stars, and now has 27 points in his last 21 games… Milwaukee, which has won nine of its last 12 road playoff games, has scored exactly three goals in each game of this series.
In last night’s Calder Cup action, Houston became the second team to advance to the division finals, completing a four-game sweep of Peoria with a 5-3 victory at Carver Arena last night… Bridgeport made it five in a row for the road team, rallying from two goals down for a 3-2 overtime win in Wilkes-Barre and a 3-2 series lead… Manitoba scored five power-play goals and combined with Syracuse for 306 minutes in penalties in a 6-2 victory at the MTS Centre, evening their North Division semifinal series at two wins apiece.
Complete Calder Cup Playoff schedules and results
ALUMNI WATCH:
In Wednesday’s Stanley Cup Playoff action, 2005 AHL All-Star Eric Staal scored 3:38 into overtime to give Carolina a 2-1 win in Montreal… Former AHL All-Stars Zach Parise (2005) and Patrik Elias (1997) scored in New Jersey’s 3-0 win over the N.Y. Rangers… 1999 AHL All-Star Robert Esche made 26 saves to help Philadelphia to a 4-2 win over Buffalo… One-time Hershey Bears forward Alex Tanguay scored his second goal of the game 69 seconds into overtime as Colorado beat Dallas, 4-3.
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.
