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Admirals hold off Bears in Game 1

MILWAUKEE, Wis. (caldercup.com) … Scottie Upshall and Darren Haydar scored first-period goals and Pekka Rinne finished with 36 saves as Milwaukee opened the 2006 Calder Cup Finals with a 2-1 win over the Hershey Bears at the Bradley Center on Friday night.

Game 2 is Saturday, with face-off scheduled for 8:00 p.m. ET.

In the first meeting between these clubs since the 2002-03 season, the Admirals got the early jump when Upshall got his fourth goal of the postseason 3:32 into the game. Rich Peverley pulled Bears goalie Frederic Cassivi out of position, then banked the puck off the post and onto Upshall’s stick.

Darren Haydar added his league-leading 15th playoff goal at 16:50, blasting a shot from the point on a Milwaukee power play. Haydar’s 15 goals are tied for the second-most ever in a single AHL postseason.

Rinne made the lead stand up, shutting out Hershey until Lawrence Nycholat ended a 31-game playoff drought with 3:06 left in regulation. The first-year Finnish netminder improved his postseason record to 9-0 as Milwaukee extended its winning streak 10 games, two shy of the AHL record for a single postseason.

Cassivi stopped 34 shots for the Bears, who have dropped four of their last six games since starting the playoffs at 10-0.

Game 1 – Fri., June 2 – MILWAUKEE 2, Hershey 1
Game 2 – Sat., June 3 – at Milwaukee, 8:00 ET
Game 3 – Sat., June 10 – at Hershey, 7:00 ET
Game 4 – Sun., June 11 – at Hershey, 6:00 ET
*Game 5 – Tue., June 13 – at Hershey, 7:00 ET
*Game 6 – Thu., June 15 – at Milwaukee, 8:00 ET
*Game 7 – Sat., June 17 – at Milwaukee, 8:00 ET