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AHL Playoffs: Second Round Recap by Tricia McMillan, AHL Correspondent WESTERN CONFERENCE Empire Division
#1 Rochester Americans v. #3 Hamilton Bulldogs
(I predicted: Rochester in six.) Right on the money. Game One Yes, the Amerks were rusty after their long layoff. No, it didn't take them long to revert to form. Maybe one minute. The somewhat stiff Americans granted Craig Millar a goal just 50 seconds into the game and then it was all Rochester from there on out. The Amerks tied the game later that period and picked up the game-winner from Cory Sarich as Martin Biron was almost perfect and Steve Passmore, well, he wasn't. The main feature of the game was the two - count 'em, two - penalty shots called, one for each team. Hamilton's Jim Dowd took a turn at Biron late in the second period, but rang his shot off the crossbar. Dean Melanson didn't get that close in the third, missing the net entirely. To the best anyone can figure out, it is the first time two penalty shots occurred in the same game in the AHL. Game Two Hamilton picked up a pair of goals from super-pest Chris Ferraro, but the Amerks took a first-period lead that they never gave up. Mike Hurlbut scored a power-play goal in the first period and the Amerks didn't look back as they swept their two home games. Dean Sylvester was the only other multiple-point man for either team.
Game Three Both teams turned to the rough stuff in Game Three and eventually it cost Rochester - although ironically they were the ones on the power play at the time. Jim Dowd picked up an unassisted, short-handed goal in the first overtime to give the Bulldogs their first win of the series. Rochester's Mike Harder scored for the Amerks, but was later ejected for slashing a Bulldog. Martin Biron faced 50 shots in the slugfest. Game Four Chris Ferraro was involved in all of Hamilton's goals, scoring the first and setting up the other two as the Bulldogs blew a lead and won the game anyway on a third-period goal from Fredrik Lindquist. Hamilton scored twice in the first ten minutes but the Amerks came back to tie it up on a shortie from Dean Sylvester before Lindquist did his thing to even the series at two games apiece. Game Five Dean Sylvester had it both ways, scoring goals on the power play and short-handed, with the short-handed goal standing up as the game-winner. Martin Biron stopped 33 shots, half of them in the third period when it finally dawned on the Bulldogs they were down 2-0. Jim Dowd managed a goal in the third but the Amerks held on with Domenic Pittis' first goal of the series with 19 seconds left. Sylvester has now scored seven goals in eight playoff games, best in the AHL. Game Six How do you stop Dean Sylvester? Don't ask Hamilton, because they never did figure that one out. Sylvester scored the first goal of the game, short-handed no less, and later recorded the go-ahead goal as the Amerks finished off the Bulldogs. Martin Biron also repeated his performance from Game Five, stopping 34 shots to stupefy Hamilton. The Bulldogs picked up a shortie from David Matsos but that was their lone moment of hope for the evening as Craig Fisher picked up his first goal of the playoffs - the game-winner. Mid-Atlantic Division #1 Philadelphia Phantoms v. #2 Kentucky Thoroughblades Game 1: May 5 Kentucky 6, Philadelphia 3 Game 2: May 7 Philadelphia 5, Kentucky 2 Game 3: May 9 Kentucky 2, Philadelphia 1 (OT) Game 4: May 11 Philadelphia 4, Kentucky 3 (OT) Game 5: May 13 Kentucky 3, Philadelphia 2 Game 6: May 15 Philadelphia 5, Kentucky 2 Game 7: May 16 Philadelphia 9, Kentucky 3 (I predicted: Philadelphia in seven.) Perfect again. When you're hot, you're hot. Game One Conversely, the Phantoms needed at least sixty minutes to shake off the rust from their layoff, because they still played stiff at the end of their game. The Phantoms granted Mike Craig a pair of goals and also handed Jarrod Skalde three points as they never really showed up for this game. Craig scored a goal just 85 seconds in and while Richard Park tied the game shortly thereafter, the T-Blades would have the lead the rest of the game. Kentucky scored twice on a two-man advantage, while Philadelphia did succeed in doing what they do best - they got a short-handed goal from Sean O'Brien. The game did cost Kentucky, however - Eric Veilleux's season came to an end when he tore an MCL in the game, and Shawn Heins exited after aggravating a leg injury. The T-Blades also did without Andy Sutton, who had yet to show up after the Sharks were eliminated. Game Two
Kentucky bounded out to an early lead courtesy of Matt Bradley, then they sat back and watched the Phantoms rack up four goals in short order. Mark Eaton set up two and Mark Greig had two points, but it was the hot blue-line veteran Chris Joseph with the game-winner. John Nabokov failed to finish the game, pulled in favor of Sean Gauthier. Game Three Ya gotta watch those deflections off your defenders. Both of Kentucky's goals were inadvertently knocked in by Phantoms players, including one just 20 seconds into the game that was credited to the T-Blades' Peter Allen but was actually put in by Dave MacIsaac. MacIsaac made up for it by scoring the tying goal for Philadelphia. The second deflection for Kentucky was granted to Mike Craig after he shot the puck off Phantoms Mark Eaton not long into the extra frame. Game Four As John Spoltore is to Providence, so is veteran Chris Joseph to Philadelphia - a game-winning scoring machine. Joseph scored his second game-winning goal of the series 7:54 into overtime as the Phantoms evened up the series. The Phantoms had taken a 3-1 lead in the second period, but the T-Blades got one back that period and then got the tying goal from Shawn Burr with 27 seconds left in regulation to force extra play. Game Five The T-Blades needed everything they could get out of home ice and got it, with Mike Craig scoring the winning goal in the third period as Kentucky eked out the series' latest one goal win. Craig's goal was the third in five minutes, as Shawn Burr scored 18 seconds into the third and the Phantoms' Mark Eaton needed less than a minute to tie the game back up. It was Craig's second game-winning goal of the series. Game Six The wandering Chris Albert played for teams in the IHL and the AHL before landing in Philadelphia, possessing but one goal. He scored the opening goal for the Phantoms and added another later in the game to triple his goal output. Brian Wesenberg also scored two, including one scored when Sean Gauthier fell down while trying the clear the puck. John Nabokov was yanked in the third period as the Phantoms ensured this series would go the maximum. Kentucky also lost a key player for the second time in the series when defenseman Andy Sutton broke his wrist. Game Seven When Kentucky goes down, they go down hard. For the second year in a row the T-Blades were massacred in their final game, this time by the Phantoms who decided, better late than never, to defend their title. Jim Montgomery and Richard Park had two goals each, and Park added three assists for a five-point night. Montgomery had four points himself, and Chris Joseph also chipped in three assists. John Nabokov's night wasn't nearly as good, as he lasted just 13 shots into the game when he let four of them past him. EASTERN CONFERENCE New England Division #1 Providence Bruins v. #2 Hartford WolfPack Game 1: May 5 Providence 5, Hartford 4 (2OT) Game 2: May 7 Providence 5, Hartford 3 Game 3: May 8 Providence 5, Hartford 4 Game 4: May 10 Providence 2, Hartford 1 (I predicted: Providence in five.) Right team and close. Disappointed Hartford didn't even have one game in them. Game One If nothing else, Providence knows where to find some good ECHL players. Louisiana's John Spoltore joined the Bruins for the playoffs and scored a pair of goals in this game, including the double overtime game-winner. That gives him five points in three AHL playoff games. Yikes. The teams wound up in double OT the usual way: with John Grahame pulled for an extra attacker, Providence tied the game on an Antti Laaksonen goal with ten seconds remaining in regulation. Mind you, Providence had already blown a 3-0 lead they held just ten minutes into the game. As has held true for all matchups between these teams this season, one team takes a large lead and blows it. Ken Gernander and Derek Armstrong had goals 11 seconds apart in the third to tie and take the lead in the game. Brandon Smith had a three-point game for the P-Bruins. Game Two
It was fun the first time, so he did it again. Callup John Spoltore scored the game-winning goal for the Bruins and added a couple of assists just for more fun as Providence did unto the WolfPack again. Then again, Spoltore was good for over 1.5 points a game in the ECHL. Hartford, as per their wont, took an early lead when Brad Smyth scored two goals 23 seconds apart, but then Providence tied things up with goals 17 seconds apart. And then away went the P-Bruins, who fired 55 shots at JF Labbe. Game Three Another day, another game-winning goal. Ho hum. John Spoltore (what, someone else?) scored for the second time in the game in overtime to position Providence for the sweep. His first goal had also given the Bruins the lead but Kevin Brown tied the game to create the extra session. Chris O'Sullivan had three assists for the WolfPack, who lost Jason Doig to a penalty box hissy fit early in the game. Game Four Newsflash: John Spoltore didn't score. Yes, the Providence Bruins succeeded in finished a sweep of Hartford without the scoring assistance of Mr. Spoltore. Instead, Jeremy Brown did the honors with a third-period goal set up by Randy Robitaille, who scored the other goal for the Bruins. Michael York scored the lone goal for Hartford. Now, the Bruins will get to experience rust. Atlantic Division #2 Fredericton Canadiens v. #4 Saint John Flames Game 1: May 5 Fredericton 5, Saint John 2 Game 2: May 7 Fredericton 6, Saint John 4 Game 3: May 9 Fredericton 7, Saint John 3 Game 4: May 12 Fredericton 5, Saint John 2 (I predicted: Saint John in seven.) Ouch. Way off and highly disappointed, not so much in the Flames' failure to put up a fight as the unpleasant prospect of another round of Michel Therrien. Game One Round one of the goaltending battle went to Jose Theodore, as he stopped 36 shots and Fredericton took the first blood in the Battle of New Brunswick. Sylvain Blouin got the game-winner just 26 seconds into the third period as Theodore stopped 33 shots in the first two periods and then got to sit back and watch the third. Hnat Domenichelli, Scott King and Jonathan Delisle were all good for multiple points. Game Two The AHL never made a writeup or a box score available for this game. And both the Fredericton and Saint John newspapers don't publish during the weekend. And neither paper provided a late writeup. So we know the final score, and based upon inferences in the Fredericton paper, JF Jomphe was kicked out of the game in the opening minutes and junior addition Eric Chouinard had a three-point night. And that's it. Game Three
Obviously neither of these teams has ever heard of defense, or at least they have no idea how to play it. Fredericton used a four-goal second period to take command of the game, getting two goals each from Eric Houde and J.F. Jomphe. Both goaltenders were pulled from the game, although JS Giguere saw the bench a lot earlier than Jose Theodore did. Of course, the junk was prevalent. The police were called in to protect Fredericton's scratches from excessively obnoxious Saint John fans (who probably learned their technique in Philadelphia last year). And a set-to erupted between the benches when the Canadiens' spitmaster started in on the Flames' Eric Charron with what were apparently some truly over the line personal comments, even worse than the Deyell comments. Charron came back after the game with some very choice (and within bounds) criticisms of his tormentor. Game Four Dammit, the creep won. The Fredericton Canadiens finished off a sweep of the Saint John Flames and didn't even need Theodore to do it, as he sat out with a sore groin. Mathieu Garon stopped 42 shots as the teams had dueling zeros through the first period, then Fredericton got a goal from Miroslav Guren and never gave up the lead afterwards. The last two goals were empty-netters. When the net was occupied for Saint John, it was occupied by Dany Sabourin - a fifth-round pick from last season who had just finished his juniors season and was supposed to be watching and learning, not playing in an elimination game. He played decently nonetheless. Never thought I'd be saying this, but...GO PROVIDENCE. And prevent the travesty of Michel Therrien in the Calder Cup finals. Hey, who wouldn't rather see Peter Laviolette in the last round? Let's go, Bruins!
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