Hockey roundup: Wings' farm team to open playoffs on the road against Moose

The Grand Rapids Griffins will open the American Hockey League (AHL) playoffs with a pair of games against the Manitoba Moose at the Canada Life Centre in Winnipeg. The Central Division best-of-five semifinal opens Saturday and resumes Sunday with both games starting at 3 p. m.

The Griffins, the Detroit Red Wings' top farm team which finished with a franchise-best 51-16-4-1 record in the regular season, were 6-1-1 against the Moose, the top AHL affiliate of the Winnipeg Jets. The series returns to Grand Rapids for three games, including Game 3 on May 6, Game 4 on May 8, if necessary, and Game 5 on May 9, if necessary. All games at Van Andel Arena start at 7 p.

m. Lightning, Canadiens enter pivotal Game 5 The Tampa Bay Lightning have returned home tied 2-2 in their Eastern Conference first-round matchup with the Montreal Canadiens, and according to coach Jon Cooper, it may not be that way if not for the play of Max Crozier. Game 5 takes place in Tampa on Wednesday night after a two-day break following Sunday's 3-2 Lightning victory in Montreal in front of a boisterous bunch of Habs fans, both inside the NHL's largest arena and outside watching on a giant screen broadcast.

If one glaring point is gleaned through four contests between the Atlantic Division foes, it is that this best-of-seven series has been the tightest of the first round's eight matchups, about as evenly played as is mathematically possible. In addition to splitting the four matches, each side has produced 11 goals and three of the four meetings have required extra time. On the power play thus far, Montreal, which finished 10th during the regular season, has connected on 5 of 19 chances (26.