CHICAGO, Ill. – The Binghamton Senators, as the crossover team in the playoffs, eliminated the last Atlantic Division team by shutting out the Portland Pirates 3-0 to advance to the Eastern Conference Finals. They will face either Wilkes-Barre/Scranton or Charlotte as the Penguins also won with a 1-0 shutout over the Checkers to bring them one game closer to tying the series at three. Over in the Western Conference, Hamilton and Houston both won bringing them one win away from advancing to conference finals.
Only one game is scheduled for Saturday night as the Binghamton Senators may face the Charlotte Checkers in the conference finals if they win against the Penguins. SECOND ROUND Atlantic Division Finals PORTLAND vs. BINGHAMTON Binghamton wins series 4 – 2
The Binghamton Senators advanced to the Eastern Conference Finals as goaltender Robin Lehner shutout the Portland Pirates by the score of 3-0 in Game 6. They will face either the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins or the Charlotte Checkers. The Senators were the seventh or crossover seed as they have defeated the last Atlantic Division team left in the playoffs.
Binghamton scored a goal in each period in every which way for the win. Right off the bat, twenty-five seconds into the game, center Jim O’Brien scores with assists coming from Jared Cowen and Kaspars Daugavins. In the second on the power play, Zack Smith scored with helpers coming from his wingers Ryan Keller and Mike Hoffman as 13:04. The Senators put the game away on the empty-netter in the third as Mark Borowiecki got the puck to Daugavins for the goal with 1:21 left to go.
Jhonas Enroth suffered the loss with 31 saves with Kehner perfect with 36 shots.
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 BINGHAMTON 6, Portland 1 Game 5 – Tue May 3 7:05 PM Portland 6, BINGHAMTON 2 Game 6 – Fri May 6 7:00 PM Binghamton 3, PORTLAND 0 East Division Finals W-B/SCRANTON vs. CHARLOTTE Charlotte leads series 3 – 2
The Charlotte Checkers suffered their second shutout in the series as the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins live for another day with a 1-0 defensive shutout. This is a reversal of the last game as the Checkers did the same to the Penguins.
With the win the Penguins are now one game behind with the possibility of tying the serous at three games on Saturday night.
Both goalies were excellent in the game as Checkers netminder Mike Murphy made only one mistake in the third period as Penguins left winger Chris Collins potted the goal at 8:54 in the third period. Bryan Lerg and Ryan Craig assisted on the goal. Murphy stopped 32 shots while Brad Thiessen earned his second shutout in the series saving 23 shots on goal.
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 CHARLOTTE 2, W-B/Scranton 1 OT Game 4 – Wed May 4 7:00 PM CHARLOTTE 1, W-B/Scranton 0 Game 5 – Fri May 6 7:00 PM W-B/Scranton 1, CHARLOTTE 0 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 3 – 2
It was again the Nigel Dawes and Drew MacIntyre show as the Hamilton Bulldogs are one game away from advancing to the Western Conference Finals after defeating the Manitoba Moose by the score of 5-1.
In a low shooting affair, MacIntyre let only one goal in from the 23 he faced and that came in the second as Marco Rosa scored his sixth of the playoff with assists from Nolan Baumgartner and Bill Sweatt, the goal was scored on the power play.
Left Wing Nigel Dawes bookended the Bulldogs five goals for his seven and eighth of the playoffs. The first came early on the power play at 1:09 of the first. In the second, Jimmy Bonneau scored his first of the post season with the lone assist going to Ryan White at 4:58.
The Bulldogs then went three in third, Ryan Russell and White scored to give Hamilton the three goal lead. Dawes finished the scoring with the empty net with 2:10 left in the game.
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 MANITOBA 5, Hamilton 4 Game 4 – Wed May 4 7:30 PM MANITOBA 2, Hamilton 1 OT2 Game 5 – Fri May 6 7:30 PM Hamilton 5, MANITOBA 1 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 Houston leads series 3 – 2
Haven’t we been here before? For the second game in a row, the Houston Aeros won it in overtime against the Milwaukee Admirals by the score of 3-2. It was much harder tonight, unlike the night before where Houston let Milwaukee get back into the game by giving up the two goals to tie the game. The Aeros placed themselves deep quick allowing two goals to the Admirals.
After a scoreless first, Ryan Thang scored 11:28 into the second with the single assist going to Kelsey Wilson. Steve Begin closed out the period with a short-handed goal with five seconds left in the period.
Things looked bleak for Houston with five minutes left but the heroics of Robbie Earl got the team going. Earl scored on the man-advantage at the 15:38 mark with helpers from Casey Wellman and Maxim Noreau. Center Chad Rau tied the game with only 1:21 left in the game and that is how regulation ended tied at two. And into the overtime we go and at 8:45, Earl got the game winner to give his Aeros a 3-2 game lead in the series.
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 5, HOUSTON 3 Game 4 – Thu May 5 7:05 PM HOUSTON 3, Milwaukee 2 OT Game 5 – Fri May 6 7:35 PM HOUSTON 3, Milwaukee 2, OT 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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