AHL Morning Skate: April 27, 2024

A4-Charlotte Checkers vs. A5-Hartford Wolf Pack
Game 2 – Today, 4:00 ET,
(Charlotte leads series, 1-0)

Game 1 – Thu., Apr. 25 – CHARLOTTE 3, Hartford 1 | Recap
Game 2 – Sat., Apr. 27 – Hartford at Charlotte, 4:00
*Game 3 – Sun., Apr. 28 – Hartford at Charlotte, 4:00
*if necessary… All times Eastern

GAME NOTES
Charlotte hosts Hartford this afternoon with a chance to secure a spot in the division semifinals after Thursday’s 3-1 win in Game 1... Will Lockwood beat former Wolf Pack teammate Dylan Garand for a shorthanded goal with just 3:14 to go in regulation in the opener, breaking a 1-1 tie and sending the Checkers on to the 1-0 lead in the best-of-three series... Lockwood played 17 regular-season games and nine postseason contests for Hartford last season... Charlotte captain Zac Dalpe scored a power-play goal in the first period, his 19th goal in 45 career Calder Cup Playoff contests... Spencer Knight stopped 22 of 23 shots to earn the win in net for the Checkers, his sixth victory in seven decisions against the Wolf Pack this season... Former Checker Riley Nash scored the only goal for Hartford 8:15 into Game 1... Charlotte has now allowed a total of 11 goals in nine meetings with the Wolf Pack this season, including three goals in five games at Bojangles Coliseum... Garand stopped 38 of 40 shots for Hartford, and has a .938 save percentage in nine starts over the last two postseasons.

A3-W-B/Scranton Penguins vs. A6-Lehigh Valley Phantoms
(Lehigh Valley wins series, 2-0)

Game 1 – Wed., Apr. 24 – Lehigh Valley 2, W-B/SCRANTON 1 | Recap
Game 2 – Fri., Apr. 26 – LEHIGH VALLEY 5, W-B/Scranton 4 (OT) | Recap

A1-Hershey Bears vs. A6-Lehigh Valley Phantoms
Game 1 – Wed., May 1 – Lehigh Valley at Hershey, 7:00
Game 2 – Sat., May 4 – Lehigh Valley at Hershey, 7:00
Game 3 – Wed., May 8 – Hershey at Lehigh Valley, 7:05
*Game 4 – Sat., May 11 – Hershey at Lehigh Valley, 7:05
*Game 5 – Sun., May 12 – Lehigh Valley at Hershey, 7:00
*if necessary... All times Eastern

A2-Providence Bruins vs. CLT-HFD winner

N4-Belleville Senators vs. N5-Toronto Marlies
Game 3 – Sunday, 3:00 ET,
(Series tied, 1-1)

Game 1 – Wed., Apr. 24 – BELLEVILLE 3, Toronto 1 | Recap
Game 2 – Fri., Apr. 26 – TORONTO 4, Belleville 3 (OT) | Recap
Game 3 – Sun., Apr. 28 – Toronto at Belleville, 3:00
*if necessary… All times Eastern

N1-Cleveland Monsters vs. BEL-TOR winner

N2-Rochester Americans vs. N3-Syracuse Crunch
Game 2 – Sunday, 3:05 ET,
(Rochester leads series, 1-0)

Game 1 – Fri., Apr. 26 – ROCHESTER 3, Syracuse 2 | Recap
Game 2 – Sun., Apr. 28 – Syracuse at Rochester, 3:05
Game 3 – Thu., May 2 – Rochester at Syracuse, 7:00
*Game 4 – Sat., May 4 – Rochester at Syracuse, 7:00
*Game 5 – Fri., May 10 – Syracuse at Rochester, 7:05
*if necessary… All times Eastern

C4-Texas Stars vs. C5-Manitoba Moose
(Texas wins series, 2-0)

Game 1 – Tue., Apr. 23 – TEXAS 6, Manitoba 3 | Recap
Game 2 – Thu., Apr. 25 – TEXAS 2, Manitoba 0 | Recap

C1-Milwaukee Admirals vs. C4-Texas Stars
Game 1 – Thursday, 8:00 ET,

Game 1 – Thu., May 2 – Milwaukee at Texas, 8:00
Game 2 – Sat., May 4 – Milwaukee at Texas, 8:00
Game 3 –Wed., May 8 – Texas at Milwaukee, 8:00
*Game 4 – Fri., May 10 – Texas at Milwaukee, 8:00
*Game 5 – Sun., May 12 – Texas at Milwaukee, 6:00
*if necessary… All times Eastern

C2-Grand Rapids Griffins vs. C3-Rockford IceHogs
Game 1 – Tonight, 8:00 ET,

Game 1 – Sat., Apr. 27 – Grand Rapids at Rockford, 8:00
Game 2 – Wed., May 1 – Rockford at Grand Rapids, 7:00
Game 3 – Fri., May 3 – Rockford at Grand Rapids, 7:00
*Game 4 – Sun., May 5 – Grand Rapids at Rockford, 5:00
*Game 5 – Fri., May 10 – Rockford at Grand Rapids, 7:00
*if necessary… All times Eastern

GAME NOTES
Grand Rapids and Rockford kick off their Central Division semifinal series tonight with Game 1 at the BMO Center in downtown Rockford... The Griffins and IceHogs were separated by just one point in the final standings, and they split their 12-game season series with Rockford outscoring Grand Rapids by a single goal (28-27)... The clubs also boasted two of the league’s top goaltenders over the second half of the season: After the All-Star break, Sebastian Cossa was 12-2-6 with a 2.14 goals-against average, a .919 save percentage and two shutouts for the Griffins, while Jaxson Stauber went 13-1-0 (2.14, .921) for the IceHogs... Jonatan Berggren led Grand Rapids with 24 goals in the regular-season, but did not find the net over his last seven regular-season outings... Rockford’s offense was led by Brett Seney, who ranked first on the team in goals (23), assists (40) and points (63)... Rem Pitlick totaled 14-19-33 in 27 games after joining the IceHogs after a Jan. 6 trade from Pittsburgh... This is the teams’ first postseason meeting since 2015, when the Griffins prevailed, four games to one, to advance to the Western Conference Finals.

P2-Tucson Roadrunners vs. P7-Calgary Wranglers
(Calgary wins series, 2-0)

Game 1 – Wed., Apr. 24 – Calgary 2, TUCSON 0 | Recap
Game 2 – Fri., Apr. 26 – Calgary 4, TUCSON 3 | Recap

P4-Colorado Eagles vs. P5-Abbotsford Canucks
Game 3 – Sunday, 5:05 ET,
(Series tied, 1-1)

Game 1 – Wed., Apr. 24 – Abbotsford 4, COLORADO 2 | Recap
Game 2 – Fri., Apr. 26 – COLORADO 5, Abbotsford 4 (OT) | Recap
Game 3 – Sun., Apr. 28 – Abbotsford at Colorado, 5:05
*if necessary… All times Eastern

P3-Ontario Reign vs. P6-Bakersfield Condors
Game 2 – Tonight, 10:00 ET,
(Ontario leads series, 1-0)

Game 1 – Wed., Apr. 24 – ONTARIO 5, Bakersfield 1 | Recap
Game 2 – Sat., Apr. 27 – Ontario at Bakersfield, 10:00
*Game 3 – Sun., Apr. 28 – Bakersfield at Ontario, 8:00
*if necessary… All times Eastern

GAME NOTES
Ontario rolled to a 5-1 win over Bakersfield in Game 1 on Wednesday, but the Condors are home tonight looking to return the favor and send their Pacific Division first-round series back down I-5 for a deciding game tomorrow... To stave off elimination, Bakersfield will need to put the brakes on a Reign train that has 20 wins in its last 25 games since Feb. 23... Ontario scored four times in the second period of Game 1, including power-play goals by Tyler Madden and Akil Thomas and a shorthanded tally by Joe Hicketts... Madden scored again in the third period; his only previous two-goal effort this season came on Oct. 21, also against the Condors... The Reign went 2-for-7 on the power play in Game 1 after ranking second in the league during the regular season at 21.8 percent... Erik Portillo made 30 saves to earn the win in his professional playoff debut, holding Bakersfield to just a 6-on-4 power-play goal by Lane Pederson in the third period... Seth Griffith, who assisted on Pederson’s goal, now has 13-29-42 in 48 career AHL postseason games... Jack Campbell, a Calder Cup champion with Texas in 2014, made 30 saves for the Condors in Game 1.

C1-Coachella Valley Firebirds vs. P7-Calgary Wranglers
Game 1 – Friday, 9:00 ET,

Game 1 – Fri., May 3 – Coachella Valley at Calgary, 9:00
Game 2 – Sun., May 5 – Coachella Valley at Calgary, 6:00
Game 3 – Wed., May 8 – Calgary at Coachella Valley, 10:00
*Game 4 – Fri., May 10 – Calgary at Coachella Valley, 10:00
*Game 5 – Sun., May 12 – Calgary at Coachella Valley, 6:00
*if necessary... All times Eastern

ONT-BAK winner vs. COL-ABB winner

“It took more than 60 minutes,” Joe Blandisi told marlies.ca after Game 2 last night.

Sixty minutes and 50 seconds, to be specific.

The Marlies scratched out a 4-3 win as Dylan Gambrell’s overtime tally finally put away the visiting Belleville Senators, forcing a deciding Game 3 on Sunday at CAA Arena for the right to face Cleveland in the North Division semifinals.

It was a grind-it-out win for the Marlies, who lost a 3-1 lead on two power-play goals from Belleville’s Garrett Pilon – the second one coming with 20 seconds left in regulation after Blandisi had missed an empty-net chance moments before.

The night had its frustrations, and it could have been a season-ending night. But the Marlies stuck with it.

“Everybody’s able to bail each other out,” Blandisi continued. “That’s why I love playing for this team. There’s so much good character in that dressing room, and we’ve got each other’s backs. I knew right away, just the positive talk that was happening in the dressing room after the (third) period. Nobody was hard on me… Those are the positive reinforcements you need, and they go a long way in a team dressing room.”

It was Blandisi who set up Gambrell’s winner in the first minute of overtime.

“He played an outstanding game,” Marlies head coach John Gruden said. “If he doesn’t play that outstanding game, we’re not in that position to begin with. We believed in him. He’s a leader of our group, and for him to come out the way he did in that first shift in overtime... He created all that. It couldn’t have happened to a better guy.”

Now the Marlies have a chance at a winner-take-all game in the AHL’s version of the Battle of Ontario.

“It’s going to take 20 men,” Blandisi said.

“It might take more than 60 minutes, and we know that.”

The Coachella Valley Firebirds gained an opponent for their Pacific Division Semifinal series last night – as well as a top prospect.

Coachella Valley will face the Calgary Wranglers, and joining the Firebirds will be forward Eduard Šalé. Taken 23rd overall by the Seattle Kraken in last June’s NHL Draft, Šalé has been assigned after the completion of his season with Kitchener of the Ontario Hockey League.

Seattle also sent defenseman Ryker Evans back to the Firebirds for the postseason. After a promotion from Coachella Valley, he ended up playing 36 games for the Kraken and contributed nine points (one goal, eight assists). Last season’s Calder Cup finalist has also picked up four other players from the growing cache of Seattle prospects in forwards Andrei Loshko and Carson Rehkopf along with defensemen Kaden Hammell and Caden Price.

Coachella Valley and Calgary begin their series next Friday at Scotiabank Saddledome.

― with files from Patrick Williams

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