CHICAGO, Ill. – Two early Western Conference matchups today as Hamilton fell behind one goal early just to come back and score four in a row as they coasted to a 4-2 victory against the Manitoba Moose for the second game in a row. The Bulldogs now lead the series 2-0. In the West Division Finals, the Houston Aeros shook off the rust of a long layoff and a poor first game to shutout the Milwaukee Admirals 2-0 to tie their series at one.
On Monday the Eastern Conference is featured again as Portland plays in Binghamton for their Game 4 matchup and the Penguins and Checkers will see who will take the lead in their series as the travel to Charlotte. SECOND ROUND Atlantic Division Finals PORTLAND vs. BINGHAMTON Binghamton leads series 2 – 1
The Binghamton Senators have so far played the most games in these Calder Cup Playoffs with ten with their opponents in the Portland Pirates right behind with nine. These two teams match up so well against each other and so far this series reflects that. The only thing different in this series so far is how well the road team plays as they have won each of the three game played. Special teams play is important in this game, but as in the regular season, the Pirates have played pretty poor on that front. They have not scored on the man-advantage in six chances but have also allowed three goals on twelve penalty kill opportunities.
Game 1 – Wed Apr 27 7:00 PM Binghamton 3, PORTLAND 2 Game 2 – Thu Apr 28 7:00 PM Binghamton 5, PORTLAND 3 Game 3 – Sat Apr 30 7:05 PM Portland 3, BINGHAMTON 2 Game 4 – Mon May 2 7:05 PM Portland at Binghamton Game 5 – Tue May 3 7:05 PM Portland at Binghamton Game 6 – Fri May 6 7:00 PM * Binghamton at Portland Game 7 – Sat May 7 7:00 PM * Binghamton at Portland East Division Finals W-B/SCRANTON vs. CHARLOTTE series tied 1 – 1
The Penguins somehow figured out how to slow down the highly offensive minded Charlotte Checkers in shutting them down in Game 2 of the East Division Finals. So far the team that has shot the least has won making the quality of the shot more important than the quantity.
Game 1 – Thu Apr 28 7:05 PM Charlotte 3, W-B/SCRANTON 2 Game 2 – Sat Apr 30 7:05 PM W-B/SCRANTON 3, Charlotte 0 Game 3 – Mon May 2 7:00 PM W-B/Scranton at Charlotte Game 4 – Wed May 4 7:00 PM W-B/Scranton at Charlotte Game 5 – Fri May 6 7:00 PM W-B/Scranton at Charlotte Game 6 – Sat May 7 7:05 PM * Charlotte at W-B/Scranton Game 7 – Mon May 9 7:05 PM * Charlotte at W-B/Scranton North Division Finals HAMILTON vs. MANITOBA Hamilton leads series 2 – 0
The story remains the same as the Hamilton Bulldogs take Game 2 of their North Division Finals by the score of 4-2 almost mirroring the same offensive output as the last game.
The Manitoba Moose got on the board early again as they scored first in the initial period as right wing Kevin Clark scored at the 2:43 mark to begin the game with assists from Chris Tanev and Jordan Schroeder. But like the first game the Bulldogs came back from behind to score four straight goals. Defenseman Mathieu Carle tied the game on the man-advantage at 9:08 of the period.
The Bulldogs scored the only goal in the second as center Ryan Russell score with 5:16 left in the period. Center Gabriel Dumont then scored back to back in the third with the first at 4:22 that was the eventual game-winner. In the last minute of play, Eddie Lack pulled for the extra attacker, Kyle Klubertanz assisted on the empty-netter for Dumont. Manitoba got one goal with 30 seconds left from defenseman Chris Tanev but it was too little too late.
Lack faced a total of 30 shots for the loss as Drew MacIntyre is now 6-2 in the playoffs stopping 24 of 26 shots. His goals-against average is an amazing 1.64.
The series now travels west to Manitoba for the second and third games of the series and a fourth if necessary.
Game 1 – Thu Apr 28 7:30 PM HAMILTON 4, Manitoba 1 Game 2 – Sun May 1 4:00 PM HAMILTON 4, Manitoba 2 Game 3 – Tue May 3 7:30 PM Hamilton at Manitoba Game 4 – Wed May 4 7:30 PM Hamilton at Manitoba Game 5 – Fri May 6 7:30 PM * Hamilton at Manitoba Game 6 – Sun May 8 7:30 PM * Manitoba at Hamilton Game 7 – Mon May 9 7:30 PM * Manitoba at Hamilton West Division Finals MILWAUKEE vs. HOUSTON series tied 1 – 1
Like the Tin-Man in the Wizard of Oz, the Houston Aeros played with some heart and shook off some rust and played like a well-oiled machine as they shutout the Milwaukee Admirals to even the West Division Finals at one game apiece.
With no scoring for half the game, center Warren Peter struck the board on the power play at 11:47 through the period. Casey Wellman and Robbie Earl provided the assists. Houston then ended the scoring in the third as Colton Gillies scored early just under four minutes into the third.
This was a highly defensive game as the shots totals were in the low twenties for each team. Matt Hackett redeemed himself in earning the shutout but most importantly the win. The series will now go to Houston for a three game set.
Game 1 – Fri Apr 29 7:00 PM MILWAUKEE 3, Houston 1 Game 2 – Sun May 1 5:00 PM Houston 2, MILWAUKEE 0 Game 3 – Tue May 3 7:05 PM Milwaukee at Houston Game 4 – Thu May 5 7:05 PM Milwaukee at Houston Game 5 – Fri May 6 7:35 PM Milwaukee at Houston Game 6 – Sun May 8 5:00 PM * Houston at Milwaukee Game 7 – Tue May 10 7:00 PM * Houston at Milwaukee FIRST ROUND Atlantic Division Semifinals PORTLAND vs. CONNECTICUT Portland wins series 4 – 2 Atlantic Division Semifinals MANCHESTER vs. BINGHAMTON Binghamton wins series 4 – 3 East Division Semifinals W-B/SCRANTON vs. NORFOLK W-B/Scranton wins series 4 – 2 East Division Semifinals HERSHEY vs. CHARLOTTE Charlotte wins series 4 – 2 North Division Semifinals HAMILTON vs. OKLAHOMA CITY Hamilton wins series 4 – 2 North Division Semifinals LAKE ERIE vs. MANITOBA Manitoba wins series 4 – 3 West Division Semifinals MILWAUKEE vs. TEXAS Milwaukee wins series 4 – 2 West Division Semifinals HOUSTON vs. PEORIA Houston wins series 4 – 0 (* if necessary)
Contact the writer at matt.chin@prohockeynews.com
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