CALDER CUP UPDATE: Game 4 is tonight (7:05 ET) with the Phantoms looking to wrap up their second Calder Cup championship, and first since 1998… With an assist on Wednesday, Jeff Carter now leads the AHL in goals (12), points (22) and shots on goal (82) during the 2005 Calder Cup Playoffs… Of Philadelphia’s five goals in the series against Chicago, Mike Richards and Patrick Sharp have scored two apiece… Antero Niittymaki has stopped 104 of the Wolves’ 106 shots (0.59, .981)… The Phantoms are 4-for-19 on the power play (21.1%) in the series… With Wednesday’s win, Philadelphia tied an AHL record with its 10th consecutive home win during a single postseason… The Phantoms are outscoring the opposition 38-13 in those 10 games at the Wachovia Center, and have extended their overall home playoff winning streak to 12 games. Chicago’s first three-game losing streak since January has the Western Conference champions on the brink of elimination, and staring down a feat accomplished only twice in AHL history – coming back from an 0-3 deficit to win a best-of-seven playoff series… The Wolves have found the net only twice against Philadelphia in the Finals, and have now gone more than 11 periods (223:11) without scoring a goal at even strength… Defenseman Joe Corvo has assisted on both Chicago goals… Kari Lehtonen has been stellar despite the three losses, posting a 1.49 goals-against average and .940 save percentage in the series… Cory Larose leads the Wolves with 12 points this postseason, but has just two assists in the last seven games… Derek MacKenzie and Travis Roche are tied for the AHL lead in plus/minus rating at plus-12… Chicago has not lost four straight games since Dec. 6-11, 2003. BY THE NUMBERS: 17,428 — Attendance at Copps Coliseum for Game 7 of the Calder Cup Finals on June 12, 2003, the largest postseason crowd in American Hockey League history. ON THIS DATE (June 10):
Mike Richards and Patrick Sharp scored 67 seconds apart and Antero Niittymaki made 29 saves to keep the Wolves at bay as Philadelphia took a stranglehold on the 2005 Calder Cup Finals with a 2-1 win on Wednesday night… J.P. Vigier picked up the only Chicago goal at 8:34 of the second period… All three goals in Game 3 came on the power play, meaning only one goal in the series – Sharp’s winner in double overtime of Game 2 – has been scored at even strength… Attendance at the Wachovia Center on Wednesday was 12,412.
2 — Times in AHL history that consecutive Calder Cup Finals have ended in sweeps: 1943 (Buffalo, 3-0) and 1944 (Buffalo, 4-0), and 1970 (Buffalo, 4-0) and 1971 (Springfield, 4-0).
1998 – Calder Cup Playoffs MVP Mike Maneluk records three assists as Philadelphia wins its first Calder Cup championship with a 6-1 win over Saint John at a sold-out Wachovia Spectrum (17,380) in Game 6.
