Calder Cup Update
Published on April 16, 2004 under American Hockey League (AHL) News Release
Derek Bekar's second goal of the game came on Bridgeport's first shot of overtime and gave the Sound Tigers a wild 5-4 win over Wilkes-Barre/Scranton in Game 1 last night. Bridgeport, which gave up four goals in a game at home just twice in the regular season, coughed up leads of 3-1 and 4-3 in the final 10 minutes before Bekar's winner at 11:11 of OT. Jeff Hamilton also scored twice for the Sound Tigers, and Dieter Kochan made 37 saves.
All four road teams have a 1-0 lead in the best-of-three qualifying round after last night's action. Portland, which scored a league-low 156 goals in the regular season, erupted for a 7-1 win in Providence in Game 1. Ivan Ciernik scored twice and Colin Forbes had four assists to lead the Pirates, who can wrap up their first playoff series victory since 1998 with an encore in Game 2 tonight (7:05 ET)... Toronto got a goal from Michael Henrich with 6:11 left in regulation and 34 saves from Tyler Moss to pull out a 3-1 win over Cleveland in the opener of the North Division qualifier... Tony Martensson and Chris Kunitz scored power play goals three minutes apart in the second period and Cincinnati knocked off Houston, 3-1... Blake Evans and Ernie Hartlieb scored in the first 3:45 of the game and Worcester held on from there to defeat Manchester, 2-1, in Game 1 of their Atlantic Division semifinal series.
Binghamton tries to defend its home ice tonight (7:05 ET), needing a win to avoid elimination at the hands of Norfolk. The Admirals posted a 3-0 win in Game 1 on Wednesday, and Michael Leighton has now stopped all 75 shots he has faced in his last two games at the Broome County Arena. After an 0-for-7 two nights ago, the Senators are 3-for-38 (7.9%) on the power play against Norfolk this season. The Admirals have won just two road games since Feb. 22 â both in Binghamton.
Rochester and Syracuse renew their heated rivalry in Game 1 of a North Division semifinal tonight (7:30 ET), their first postseason meeting since 1997. The home team won 11 of the 12 meetings between the clubs in the regular season, most recently a 4-1 Amerks win one week ago. Rochester's roster features six former Calder Cup champions in Jason Botterill, Rick Mrozik, Brian Chapman, David Cullen, Steve Lingren and Jason Dawe, not to mention head coach Randy Cunneyworth, a member of the Amerks' 1983 title squad.
Another fierce rivalry sees Grand Rapids take on Chicago in Game 1 of the West Division semis tonight (7:30 ET, 6:30 CT). This rite of spring saw the Wolves oust the Griffins en route to the Calder Cup in 2002, and then Grand Rapids sweep the defending champs out in 2003. Chicago lost four of its five visits to Van Andel Arena in the regular season, but closed out the season series with a home-and-home sweep two weekends ago.
American Hockey League Stories from April 16, 2004
- Admirals Announce Division Semifinal Schedule - Norfolk Admirals
- Fox Radio Covering Barons' Game #2 - Cleveland Barons
- Senators knocked out of playoffs, 3-0 - Binghamton Senators
- Wolves' late dramatics steal 4-3 overtime win - Chicago Wolves
- P-Bruins' season comes to an end - Providence Bruins
- Bulldogs playoff action to be heard live on 820 CHAM & 610 CKTB! - Hamilton Bulldogs
- Crunch Shave Prices with Special Ticket Promotion - Syracuse Crunch
- Calder Cup Update - AHL
- Barons Fall In Game One - Cleveland Barons
- Pens fall to Bridgeport, 5-4, in OT - Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins
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