Notes from an exciting weekend of action in the AHL’s Calder Cup 2004 conference final series:
Milwaukee moved one step closer to a trip to the Calder Cup 2004 Final with back-to-back wins over Rochester at the HSBC Arena in Buffalo over the weekend… Darren Haydar and Timofei Shishkanov scored 68 seconds apart midway through Game 4 as the Admirals turned a two-goal deficit into a 3-2 victory.
Total attendance for the two games in Buffalo was 15,319.
Shishkanov’s game-winning goal was his first tally in 10 games for Milwaukee… Haydar’s goal was his team-leading eighth of the postseason.
Wade Flaherty stopped 75 of 78 shots in the two games, and has now won nine of his last 11 starts.
After tallying 11 points in his previous five outings, Rochester’s Domenic Pittis was held scoreless in Games 3 and 4.
Three weeks ago, the Amerks became the 12th team in AHL history to win a best-of-seven series after trailing 3-1, beating Syracuse in the division semifinals… No team has ever accomplished that feat twice in the same postseason.
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton pulled out a 5-4 win in Hartford on Sunday to even the Eastern Conference final at two wins apiece.
Kris Beech scored two goals and assisted on another, and the Penguins converted on three of six power play opportunities.
Sebastien Caron got the call for Wilkes-Barre in Game 4, his first start since Game 2 of the division finals against Philadelphia on May 7.
Matt Murley has finished off each of the Penguins’ last three victories with an empty-net goal.
The Wolf Pack scored two shorthanded goals in Saturday’s 3-2 victory, giving them five man-down scores in 13 playoff games… Philadelphia owns the AHL playoff record with six SHG during its 1998 championship run.
All four games played on Saturday and Sunday were decided by one goal… The Game 4 loss was Hartford’s first one-goal setback since a 1-0 loss to Portland on Mar. 20… Records in one-goal games this postseason: Hartford (6-1), Milwaukee (6-3), Wilkes-Barre (5-5), Rochester (1-6)… The most one-goal games played in a single postseason was Houston’s 15 during the Calder Cup 2003 Playoffs.
QUOTABLE:
“Obviously I shouldn’t write anything on the board.” — Hartford head coach Ryan McGill, after Wilkes-Barre/Scranton scored three power play goals in Sunday’s 5-4 win. Before the game, McGill’s one-word message on the chalkboard in the Wolf Pack locker room was Discipline.
ON THIS DATE:
May 24, 2002 — Bob Nardella scores with 2.7 seconds left in regulation and Andreas Karlsson scores 13:58 into overtime as Chicago defeats Bridgeport, 5-4, in Game 1 of the Calder Cup Final. May 24, 2000 — J.F. Labbe makes 26 saves as Hartford beats Rochester in the first 1-0 Calder Cup Final game in 19 years. May 24, 1998 — Martin St. Louis records a goal and an assist and Tyler Moss makes 32 saves in relief of Jean-Sebastien Giguere as Saint John scores seven times off Dan Cloutier and posts a 7-3 win over Hartford to advance to the Calder Cup Final. May 24, 1991 — Michel Picard‘s goal six minutes into the third period stands up as the game-winner as Springfield defeats Rochester, 5-3, to win its second consecutive Calder Cup. Eastern Conference schedule
Western Conference schedule
Previous Calder Cup Notebooks:
Sunday, May 23
Saturday, May 22
Friday, May 21
Thursday, May 20
Wednesday, May 19
