GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — The Manitoba Moose swept a seven-game series for the first time in franchise history and in the process, captured the North Division title Wednesday night, knocking off the Grand Rapids Griffins, 3-2, in front of 2,019 at Van Andel Arena. It was Manitoba’s seventh straight postseason victory and goaltender Cory Schneider continued his dominant play, turning aside 30 shots, half during a furious third-period rally. Grand Rapids struck first while killing off a penalty at 14:33 of the first period, when Garrett Stafford sent a drop pass to defenseman Jakub Kindl, who wired the puck through a crowd of players into the top of the net. But the Griffins quickly ran into penalty trouble. On a 5-on-3, ex-Griffin Mark Cullen sent a back-door pass to Jason Krog, who lifted a shot from the left circle past Grand Rapids netminder Jimmy Howard at 15:48. The Moose took the lead early in the second period, when Guillaume Desbiens one-timed a pass from the right circle past Howard just 1:19 into the frame. Manitoba built on the lead nearly five minutes later on the power play, when Cullen’s shot from the right circle found the back of the net. The Griffins totally dominated the third period and scored on their 12th shot, when Jamie Tardif crashed the net and potted a rebound of a Brett Peterson sharp-angle shot with seven minutes remaining. But Schneider denied Grand Rapids the rest of the way to help carry his team to the third round, only allowing five goals on 106 shots throughout the four games. With their AHL seasons over, five Griffins will join the parent Detroit Red Wings for the Stanley Cup playoffs. The players are Kindl, Howard and forwards Justin Abdelkader, Aaron Downey and Ville Leino.
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