WESTERN CONFERENCE

 Game 1: May 20 Philadelphia 3, Rochester 2 (OT)
 Game 2: May 22 Philadelphia 5, Rochester 2
 Game 3: May 26 at Rochester
 Game 4: May 28 at Rochester
*Game 5: May 30 at Rochester
*Game 6: June 1 at Philadelphia
*Game 7: TBD at Rochester

(Prediction: Rochester in seven.)

Game One

Jason Zent by Meredith Martini

The only time in Game One that Philadelphia had the lead was in the final score. Twice Darren Van Oene scored for Rochester, then the Phantoms countered, first from Andy Delmore and then from Jason Zent. But the teams wound up going to overtime, a very brief overtime that lasted all of 88 seconds until Chris Joseph (Mr. Game-winner himself) launched a long shot that dropped under Martin Biron's glove to end the game. Biron stopped 41 shots overall, while Brian Boucher faced only 24. Van Oene's goals were his first professional playoff goals.

Game Two

Well, the Rochester Americans looked like I felt. Pooped. The Amerks came out so flat, the Phantoms cruised in with a 3-0 lead after just one period. They added a couple more in the second period before settling back to enjoy the Amerks' failed attempts to get back in the game. Martin Biron was wildly inconsistent in the first, stopping some tough shots but allowing Mikhail Chernov a goal from the red line. After Brian Wesenberg undressed him for the fourth Phantoms goal, Biron was yanked in favor of Tom Draper - who hadn't played since March. Draper was quite good considering the rust on him, allowing one goal on 16 shots.

The Amerks ran into a whole new problem after leaving Philadelphia - the slings and arrows of still being in the playoffs while the parent team is also still in the playoffs. Due to Dominik Hasek's groin injury, Biron was recalled upon returning to Rochester. While it's possible Biron may wind up commuting between Buffalo and Rochester until one team or the other is eliminated, Rochester coach Brian McCutcheon was at last word intending to use Draper for the time being whether or not Biron was available.

EASTERN CONFERENCE

 Game 1: May 19 Providence 6, Fredericton 3
 Game 2: May 21 Providence 6, Fredericton 3   
 Game 3: May 23 Providence 5, Fredericton 3
 Game 4: May 25 at Fredericton
*Game 5: May 27 at Fredericton
*Game 6: May 29 at Providence
*Game 7: May 31 at Providence

(Prediction: Providence in five.)

Game One

See, Providence is this big offensive monster chugging down the pike and chomping down on anything in its way. And so it's not at all surprising that after spotting the Habs two early goals, the Bruins then went on a tear, scoring five unanswered goals with three of those coming in a span of less than three minutes in the second period. The P-Bruins outshot the Canadiens 44-19 and their six goals came from six different goalscorers; two of the goals were set up by Eric Nickulas, who rejoined the team from the big Bruins earlier in the day. Miroslav Guren set up all of the Canadiens' goals.

Game Two

Landon Wilson by Meredith Martini

Same score, except this time the Bruins didn't even allow Fredericton a sniff. Providence stormed out with two goals in the first and at one point led 6-1 before getting a little lackadaisical in the third period. Which was fortunate for Jose Theodore, who faced 48 Bruins shots even without the Bruins particularly trying in the third. Landon Wilson two goals, both on the power play, and Randy Robitaille set up both of those as well as scoring his own goal. The actual game-winner went to Jeremy Brown.

Game Three

The only change here was that Fredericton, compliments of a large contingent of draft choices coming to the team from juniors, made a game of it. The earliest of the additions, Jason Ward, started the game off with an early goal for the Gabs and would score again later on. But Providence had the lead by the end of the first and managed to stay just ahead of the Canadiens for the rest of the game, picking up three points from Jeremy Brown and a shorthanded goal from Cameron Mann. The Habs went with Mathieu Garon in goal, who stopped 31 of 35 shots while his counterpart, John Grahame, didn't have as much to do with just 24 shots coming his way.

Things:

The Washington Capitals aren't waiting around for a minute on their re-working of the Portland Pirates. The Caps lifted assistant coach Glen Hanlon from Vancouver and named him the head coach for Portland next season...

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