Kari Lehtonen made 26 saves as Chicago shut down Manitoba’s potent offense to the tune of a 3-0 win in Game 2 of the Western Conference final on Staurday night.
Steve Maltais and Joe Corvo recorded a goal and an assist each for the Wolves, who take a 2-0 series lead to Winnipeg for Game 3 on Monday.
Lehtonen’s shutout, his second of the postseason, upped his record to 23-4-0 since the AHL All-Star break in February.
Maltais snapped a scoreless tie with his 35th career Calder Cup Playoff goal. He later assisted on Travis Roche‘s marker for the 84th point of his AHL postseason career, good for eighth place on the all-time list.
Wade Flaherty stopped 30 of 32 shots in defeat for the Moose, who were shut out for the first time since a 1-0 loss in Chicago on Mar. 12.
PHILADELPHIA 3, PROVIDENCE 0
Antero Niittymaki recorded his second shutout of the 2005 postseason on Saturday night.
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Antero Niittymaki stopped 33 shots for his second shutout of the postseason, leading Philadelphia to a 3-0 win over Providence on Saturday night and a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven Eastern Conference final series.
The teams head north to Providence for Game 3 on Monday.
Rookies Jeff Carter, R.J. Umberger and Mike Richards scored the Phantoms’ goals, as Philadelphia improved to 8-0 at the Wachovia Center during the 2005 Calder Cup Playoffs. They have outscored their opponents 32-11 on home ice.
Carter opened the scoring at the 7:02 mark of the first period with his 10th goal of the postseason, burying a feed from Ryan Ready.
The Bruins controlled play in the second period, owning a 14-3 edge in shots, but could not get the equalizer. Umberger then slipped a shot through the pads of Hannu Toivonen 29 seconds into the third to make it 2-0.
Richards’ goal was his 11th point in seven games as a pro and his second empty-netter in as many nights.