GRAND RAPIDS, Mich – Manitoba and Grand Rapids are familiar playoff foes, having met twice over the past three seasons. Each match-up required all seven games to decide. The Moose captured the 2007 North Division semifinals while the Griffins won the 2006 North Division finals. The teams split their four regular season meetings in 2008-2009, with each winning once in the other team’s building. Grand Rapids leads the all-time series in the regular season, 39-22-1-0-7, and the teams are each 7-7 all-time facing each other in the playoffs. Each team has veteran experience in spades. Griffins right wing Darren McCarty has four Stanley Cup rings while Moose right wing Mike Keane has three. Manitoba center Jason Krog finished first in AHL post-season scoring last year for the Calder Cup-winning Chicago Wolves. Grand Rapids right wing Darren Haydar, who leads the AHL in all-time playoff goals and points, finished third, also playing on the Wolves. Much of the focus in the series will be on whether Manitoba goaltender Cory Schneider can stop the Griffins’ high-flying offense, which leads the playoffs in goals per game. Schneider won the AHL’s top netminding award this season after finishing with a 2.04 goals against average and a .928 save percentage. The third-seeded Griffins are in the unaccustomed role of underdogs and had never won a playoff series as the lower seed before knocking off the Hamilton Bulldogs, 4-2, in the North Division semifinals. Manitoba finished first overall in the regular season, then advanced for the division final for the fourth time in the past five seasons by eliminating the Toronto Marlies in six games. Krog led all Moose scorers in the first round with two goals and six assists. Jason Jaffray had five goals and Schneider posted a 1.98 goals against average and a .925 save percentage.
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