AHL Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins

Murley's game-winner in overtime sends Pens to Calder Cup Finals

Published on May 30, 2004 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins News Release


Hartford, Ct.(Saturday, May 29, 2004) - Matt Murley scored the game-winning goal 13:21 into overtime to lift the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins to a thrilling 2-1 win over the Hartford Wolf Pack in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals before a crowd of 5,818 at the Hartford Civic Center.

The Penguins, who outshot the Wolf Pack, 10-3, in overtime, finally broke through and won the game when Murley tipped in Colby Armstrong's shot from the right circle past goalie Jason LaBarbera.

With the win, the Penguins will meet the Milwaukee Admirals in the 2004 Calder Cup Finals beginning on Tuesday at Milwaukee's Bradley Center. The Penguins also become just the second team in AHL history to win two Game Sevens on the road in the same postseason and the first to win both in overtime.

The game was scoreless until early in the third period when Eric Meloche scored a power play goal to give the Penguins a 1-0 lead. With 23 seconds left on Fedor Tyutin's holding penalty, Meloche knocked home a shot past goaltender Jason LaBarbera for his eighth goal of the playoffs at 8:06.

Hartford answered right back with a power play goal of its own as Cory Larose scored 1:25 into Brooks Orpik's hooking penalty. Larose took a pass from Chad Wiseman at the right post and lifted a back-hander over Andy Chiodo for his fourth goal of the playoffs at 9:55 to tie the game at 1-1.

Penguins' goaltender Andy Chiodo stopped 35 of 36 shots to improve his playoff record to 9-4, while Hartford's Jason LaBarbera made 39 saves in the loss.

Tickets for the Calder Cup Finals will go on sale Tuesday (June 1) at 10:00 a.m. at the Wachovia Arena Box Office, and at all Ticketmaster locations and telephone outlets.

The 2004 Calder Cup Finals will begin Tuesday night at the Bradley Center in Milwaukee at 8 p.m. and Game 2 will also be played there on Wednesday (June 2) at 8:00 p.m. before the series shifts to Wilkes-Barre for Games 3, 4, and 5. Game 3 is scheduled for Friday, June 4 (7:05 p.m.) and Game 4 will be played on Sunday, June 6 at 5:05 p.m. at Wachovia Arena at Casey Plaza. If necessary, Game 5 will be played on Monday (June 7) at 7:05 p.m. and Games 6 and 7 would be played back in Milwaukee on June 11 and 12.

Individual game ticket prices for the series are $37.00 (Yellow zone), $26.50 (Red zone), $23.50 (Gold zone) and $19.75 (Blue zone). Payment accepted at the Arena Box Office includes cash, American Express, Discover, MasterCard and Visa. The Wachovia Arena Box Office does not accept telephone orders or personal checks. There is no service fee for tickets purchased at the Wachovia Arena Box Office. Tickets can also be purchased over the phone by calling Ticketmaster at (570) 693-4100, (215) 336-2000 and (607) 722-7272 and on the internet at www.ticketmaster.com.

Listed below is the complete schedule of dates for the 2004 Calder Cup final between the Penguins and Admirals:

Calder Cup 2004 Final -- Series "O" (best-of-7)
W1-Milwaukee Admirals vs. E3-Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins
Game 1 - Tues., June 1 - Wilkes-Barre/Scranton at Milwaukee, 8:00 PM EST
Game 2 - Wed., June 2 - Wilkes-Barre/Scranton at Milwaukee, 8:00 PM EST
Game 3 - Fri., June 4 - Milwaukee at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, 7:05 PM EST
Game 4 - Sun., June 6 - Milwaukee at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, 5:05 PM EST
*Game 5 - Mon., June 7 - Milwaukee at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, 7:05 PM EST
*Game 6 - Fri., June 11 - Wilkes-Barre/Scranton at Milwaukee, 8:00 PM EST
*Game 7 - Sat., June 12 - Wilkes-Barre/Scranton at Milwaukee, 8:00 PM EST
* - If necessary

GAME NOTES

Scratches for the Penguins were Marc-Andre Fleury (healthy), Matt Hussey (injury), David Koci (healthy), Ondrej Nemec (healthy), Pauli Levokari (injury), Ross Lupaschuk (injury), Reid Simpson (injury) and Ryan Tobler (injury) ... The Penguins will be making their second appearance in the finals ... They lost to the Saint John Flames in 2001 ... The Penguins are 1-4 in the first game of back-to-back games in the playoffs and are 5-0 in the second game ... The Penguins have won their last three games on the road and have a record of 6-5 on the road in the playoffs ... The Penguins have played in a league record nine overtime games this postseason ... The Penguins are 5-4 in overtime in the playoffs, including a 4-3 mark on the road ... They have won their last two overtime games played ...The Penguins and Admirals did not meet during the regular season ... The Penguins are 1-1 lifetime against the Milwaukee Admirals ... The Penguins lost, 2-1, in their only visit ever to the Bradley Center (January 4, 2002) and defeated the Admirals, 8-5, at Wachovia Arena on January 13, 2002 ... Rookie defenseman Ryan Whitney returned to the lineup after missing the last three games and recorded one assist ... LW Matt Murley has seven points (5+2) in the last nine games ... RW Eric Meloche has recorded six points (4+2) in the last six games ... In 2001, the Penguins started the finals on the road ... Of the seven series clinching wins in team history, four have been recorded on the road (Philadelphia in 2001, Hershey in 2001 and Bridgeport and Hartford this year) ... The Penguins were 5-3 in the state of Connecticut in the playoffs and clinched both series wins in overtime on the road against the Sound Tigers and Wolf Pack.

Check out the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins Statistics

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American Hockey League Stories from May 30, 2004


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