AHL Morning Skate: May 5, 2023

GAME NOTES
Hartford hosts Providence tonight with another chance to close out the series... The Bruins avoided elimination in Game 3 with a 6-3 victory, handing the Wolf Pack their first loss of the postseason... Justin Brazeau (2-1-3) scored twice and Jack Ahcan (1-1-2) tallied a goal and an assist to lead a Providence offense that had scored just once in the first two games of the series combined... In earning his first career playoff victory, Brandon Bussi (1-2, 2.03, .934) made 28 saves in Game 3, including a potentially season-saving stop on Lauri Pajuniemi with 4:21 to play and the B’s holding on to a one-goal lead... Pajuniemi (3-1-4) did have a goal for Hartford earlier in Game 3, Tim Gettinger (2-3-5) scored shorthanded and Zac Jones (2-3-5) recorded a goal and an assist... Providence is 2-for-8 on the power play in the series; Hartford is 1-for-9... The Bruins are 30-22 all-time when facing playoff elimination, including 6-2 against Hartford... The Wolf Pack have not lost consecutive home games since Feb. 10 and 17.

GAME NOTES
Toronto grabbed a 2-1 series lead with a 5-2 win on Wednesday night, pushing Utica to the brink of elimination heading into tonight’s Game 4... Ryan Chyzowski (2-0-2) scored his first two career Calder Cup Playoff goals, including the go-ahead tally 4:34 into the third period... Chyzowski’s father, Dave, played 212 games in the AHL, including stints up the Thruway from Utica with the Capital District Islanders (1990-93) and Adirondack Red Wings (1995-96)... Graham Slaggert (0-2-2) assisted on both of Chyzowski’s goals, and Kyle Clifford (2-2-4) tallied two points as well, including a penalty-shot goal in the second period... Erik Källgren stopped 24 shots to pick up the win in his Calder Cup Playoff debut... Aarne Talvitie (3-0-3) and Simon Nemec (1-3-4) scored for the Comets to tie the game heading into the third period... Each game of the series has seen a team surrender a multi-goal lead... Toronto is 3-for-9 on the power play through three games; Utica is 2-for-13 in the series and 2-for-17 (11.8 percent) in the postseason.

GAME NOTES
Consecutive overtime wins have put Manitoba one victory away from advancing as the Moose visit Milwaukee again for Game 4 of their series tonight... Wyatt Bongiovanni was the hero on Wednesday, scoring on a power play at 4:53 of overtime... It was the first playoff point for the rookie Bongiovanni, who scored five of his 13 regular-season goals against the Admirals... Alex Limoges (1-0-1) and Jeff Malott (1-0-1) also scored for Manitoba in Game 3, and Oskari Salminen (2-0, 1.93, .931) made 24 saves... Luke Evangelista (2-3-5) and Kevin Gravel (1-0-1) had the goals for Milwaukee, which erased 1-0 and 2-1 deficits in regulation... Yaroslav Askarov (1-2, 2.57, .921) turned aside 27 shots in Game 3... The Moose had been 0-for-9 on the power play in the series before Wednesday’s game-winner... The Admirals were 0-for-3 with the man advantage in Game 3 after going 3-for-6 over the first two games combined.

GAME NOTES
After extending the series with a 3-2 win in Game 3 on Wednesday, the Abbotsford Canucks look to repeat the feat when they host the Calgary Wranglers this evening... Each of the first three games of the series have been decided by a single goal, with the Canucks’ victory following a pair of overtime wins by the Wranglers... Kyle Rau (1-4-5) and Christian Wolanin (1-3-4) had a goal and an assist each for Abbotsford in Game 3, and Linus Karlsson (1-1-2) added a power-play marker... Spencer Martin (2-1, 1.57, .943) stopped 25 of 27 shots in the win... Both of the Wranglers’ goals in Game 3 came from defensemen, with Jeremie Poirier (1-1-2) and Nick DeSimone (1-4-5) finding the net... Dustin Wolf (2-1, 2.42, .917) made 27 saves in Game 3... Calgary has lost three games in regulation over the last two months (16-3-0-1), and all three have been at Abbotsford Centre.

GAME NOTES
It’s a do-or-die Game 5 between Coachella Valley and Colorado tonight as they wrap up a hard-fought Pacific Division semifinal series at Acrisure Arena... The Firebirds prevailed on Wednesday, 4-3, to stave off elimination for the second time this postseason... Alexander True (4-3-7) scored the winning goal, his second of the night, on a shorthanded breakaway with 2:32 left in regulation of Game 4... Kole Lind (4-6-10) added a goal and an assist, Ville Petman (2-2-4) notched a goal and Ryker Evans (1-8-9) tallied two assists for Coachella Valley... Making his seventh consecutive start of the playoffs for the Firebirds, Joey Daccord (4-3, 2.15, .933) finished with 28 saves... Charles Hudon (4-0-4) scored a pair of game-tying goals in Game 4 as Colorado came back from 2-0 and 3-2 down... The Eagles allowed only four shorthanded goals in 72 regular-season games, but have given up two in six playoff matches... There have been 188 winner-take-all games in Calder Cup Playoff history; home teams are 112-76 (.596).

Colorado Eagles captain Brad Hunt has been given a second crack at a playoff run.

The veteran defenseman returned to the Eagles this week after the parent Colorado Avalanche were eliminated in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs by Seattle. He played 47 regular-season games and one playoff contest for the Avalanche this season.

Hunt went into the lineup for Eagles coach Greg Cronin on Wednesday and picked up an assist in this first AHL game since Feb. 19. He logged 21 points (seven goals, 21 assists) in 24 regular-season games with the Eagles.

“I’m fortunate that I get another chance to win the Calder Cup now,” Hunt told the Eagles website. “These guys have done a fantastic job. I just want to come and help what they’ve built.”

“Tonight is all that we control.”

Those were Abbotsford Canucks defenseman Christian Wolanin’s words to the team’s website after Wednesday’s Game 3 victory.

They will apply tonight as well, as the Canucks again try to extend their season against Calgary.

The Canucks bounced back in Game 3 after suffering two overtime losses in Calgary, despite outplaying the regular-season champion Wranglers at points.

“It helps to have [head coach Jeremy Colliton], who is a pretty even-keeled guy,” Wolanin said. “Our captain Chase [Wouters] is the same kind of personality. When the leaders in the locker room are like that, it’s easy to follow their lead.”

Wolanin won the Eddie Shore Award as the AHL’s top defenseman with 55 points (six goals, 49 assists) in 49 games before spending the final two months of the season on NHL recall with Vancouver. After going without a goal in his first four playoff games, he scored on Wednesday night.

“I look at wins and losses,” Wolanin stressed. “The statistics — the only ones we care about at this time of the year are wins and losses.”

― Patrick Williams