MacIntyre stones Barons in Game 2

Drew MacIntyre made 38 saves – stopping all 27 shots he faced over the final two periods – and Hamilton grabbed a 2-0 lead in its North Division semifinal series with a 2-1 win over Oklahoma City at Copps Coliseum on Saturday afternoon.

The best-of-seven series shifts to Oklahoma for Games 3, 4 and (if necessary) 5.

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The Barons owned a 39-23 advantage in shots on goal for the game, including 27-10 in the second and third periods, but MacIntyre made several big stops to preserve his 18th career Calder Cup Playoff victory and improve to 13-4 all-time in the first round.

Brad Moran got the Barons on the board first at 17:18 of the first period, converting a feed from Colin McDonald for the 20th goal of his AHL playoff career. But Hamilton struck quickly on either side of the first intermission, with Andreas Engqvist tying the score with 2.9 seconds left in the first and Nigel Dawes one-timing the eventual game-winner home on a power play at 1:03 of the second period.

After playing the final two periods of Game 1 in relief, Martin Gerber got the start for the Barons in Game 2 and finished with 21 saves.

MacIntyre, who was 12-6-2 with a 1.89 goals-against average and a .938 save percentage in 21 regular-season appearances after joining the Bulldogs in a Feb. 28 trade from the Atlanta organization, has stopped 62 of 65 shots in the series.