AHL Morning Skate: 6.8.22

A2-Springfield Thunderbirds vs. N3-Laval Rocket
Game 3 – Tonight, 7:00 ET,
(Series tied, 1-1)

Game 1 – Sat., June 4 – SPRINGFIELD 2, Laval 1 (OT) | Recap
Game 2 – Sun., June 5 – Laval 4, SPRINGFIELD 2 | Recap
Game 3 – Wed., June 8 – Springfield at Laval, 7:00
Game 4 – Fri., June 10 – Springfield at Laval, 7:00
Game 5 – Sat., June 11 – Springfield at Laval, 7:00
*Game 6 – Mon., June 13 – Laval at Springfield, 7:05
*Game 7 – Wed., June 15 – Laval at Springfield, 7:05
*if necessary… All times Eastern

GAME NOTES
Tied at a game apiece, the Eastern Conference Finals head north to Laval where the Rocket are set host the Springfield Thunderbirds in Game 3 tonight... Laval rebounded from an overtime loss in the series opener on Friday to claim a 4-2 win in Game 2 on Saturday... Jesse Ylönen (3-3-6) tallied a goal and two assists for the Rocket in Game 2... Brandon Gignac (4-3-7) extended his scoring streak to five games with a goal... Rafaël Harvey-Pinard (1-5-6) ended an 11-game drought with his first goal since Apr. 27... Danick Martel (7-3-10) notched an assist, his team-leading 10th point of the playoffs... Cayden Primeau (7-2, 1.91, .939) made 33 saves in Game 2, allowing two goals or fewer for the seventh time in nine starts during these playoffs... Mackenzie MacEachern (5-2-7) and Klim Kostin (3-3-6) scored for the Thunderbirds in Game 2, as Springfield saw its perfect 7-0 start to the postseason come to an end; Springfield had won 11 consecutive games overall dating back to the regular season... Charlie Lindgren (2-1, 3.71, .899), making his first appearance since Game 3 of the division semifinals against Wilkes-Barre/Scranton on May 15, finished with 22 saves on Saturday... Springfield has gotten a point from 11 different skaters in the series, but none has more than one... After recording 13 points in his first five games of the postseason, Sam Anas (4-9-13) is scoreless in his last three... The Thunderbirds are 0-for-7 on the power play in the series; the Rocket are 0-for-4... Springfield has outscored its opponents by a 20-4 margin in the third period and overtime this postseason, despite being outshot 113-90... The Thunderbirds have never lost a game at Place Bell (4-0-0-0).

C1-Chicago Wolves vs. P1-Stockton Heat
Game 3 – Tonight, 9:30 ET,
(Chicago leads series, 2-0)

Game 1 – Fri., June 3 – CHICAGO 5, Stockton 4 (OT) | Recap
Game 2 – Mon., June 6 – CHICAGO 3, Stockton 2 | Recap
Game 3 – Wed., June 8 – Chicago at Stockton, 9:30
Game 4 – Fri., June 10 – Chicago at Stockton, 10:00
*Game 5 – Sat., June 11 – Chicago at Stockton, 9:00
*Game 6 – Tue., June 14 – Stockton at Chicago, 8:00
*Game 7 – Wed., June 15 – Stockton at Chicago, 8:00
*if necessary… All times Eastern

GAME NOTES
They find themselves down 0-2 in the series, but the Stockton Heat are back on home ice for Game 3 of the Western Conference Finals against Chicago tonight... The Wolves won a pair of tightly contests battles to open the series, taking Game 1 in overtime before claiming Game 2 on Josh Leivo’s tiebreaking goal with 17.2 seconds left in regulation... Leivo (9-8-17) has recorded a point in each of Chicago’s nine games this postseason, and has 44 points (17-27-44) in 44 Calder Cup Playoff games in his career... Jack Drury (6-6-12) and Noel Gunler (1-0-1) also scored for the Wolves in their Game 2 victory on Monday, and Pyotr Kochetkov (1-0, 2.02, .943) made 33 saves in his first start of the AHL postseason after appearing in four Stanley Cup Playoff games for Carolina... Eetu Tuulola (3-1-4) scored shorthanded for the Heat, their second man-down goal of the playoffs after scoring a league-leading 15 shorties in the regular season... Justin Kirkland (6-3-9) also had a goal in Game 2, extending his scoring streak to seven games... Dustin Wolf (6-3, 2.29, .926) made 18 saves in the loss... Stockton outshot Chicago, 35-21, in Game 2, with all 18 Heat skaters recording at least one shot on goal... Chicago was 1-for-4 on the power play in Game 2 and is now 4-for-7 in the series... The Wolves are up 2-0 in a best-of-seven series for the 10th time in their AHL history; they have won each of the previous nine... The Heat are trying to avoid their first three-game winless streak since April 2021; they are 20-4-1-0 this season following a loss... Stockton is 28-5-5-0 at home this season; Chicago is 27-10-2-2 on the road.

Thunderbirds head coach Drew Bannister has another lineup option for tonight.

The St. Louis Blues have assigned first-round pick Zachary Bolduc to Springfield in time for Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Finals in Laval.

The 19-year-old forward, the 17th overall selection in the 2021 National Hockey League Draft, just completed his junior season with Quebec, where he tied for second in the QMJHL with 55 goals and tied for eighth with 99 points in 65 regular-season games. He then tacked on 12 points (eight goals, four assists) in 12 playoff games to help the Remparts advance to the league semifinals.

Bolduc is the third addition to the Thunderbirds roster this series, after goaltender Charlie Lindgren and defenseman Calle Rosen returned from St. Louis after the Blues’ elimination from the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

― Patrick Williams