Hello Pens fans, and welcome to Manchester, New Hampshire, where YOUR Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins will face off with the Manchester Monarchs in Game One of the Eastern Conference Semifinal tonight at 7pm.
The Pens posted a 3-0 sweep of they Syracuse Crunch in the first round of the Calder Cup Playoffs, advancing to the second round for the fifth consecutive season.
The Monarchs, meanwhile, jumped out to a 2-0 lead on the Portland Pirates, only to see the eighth seed win the next two games, before Manchester took Game Five, 5-3, to move on to the next round.
This is the first and last time these two clubs will meet in the Calder Cup Playoffs, as the Los Angeles Kings will move their AHL affiliate to Ontario, California next season.
Manchester had an extremely balanced attack during the regular season, featuring two of the top three scorers in the AHL (Brian O'Neill - 22+58=80 - first; Jordan Weal - 20+49=69 - third), and a stout defense that allowed just 176 goal on the season. That's second only to the Pens (163).
Game Ones have not been nice to the Penguins over the years, a the team has gone just 15-19 in the first game of a playoff series, and just 8-11 on the road. However, the Pens have won each of their past two Game Ones (ECF at St. John's last season; ECQF vs. Syracuse this season), and are 4-1 in their past five first games.
The Penguins carry a three-game playoff winning streak into tonight's contest. The team record for consecutive playoff wins is six games, set from May 1, 2001 through May 17, 2001. The Pens won Game Six of the Western Conference Semifinal vs. Philadelphia, swept the Hershey Bears in four games, and defeated the Saint John Flames in Game One of the Calder Cup Final.
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