AHL Morning Skate: May 2, 2024

A1-Hershey Bears vs. A6-Lehigh Valley Phantoms
Game 2 – Saturday, 7:00 ET,
(Hershey leads series, 1-0)

Game 1 – Wed., May 1 – HERSHEY 2, Lehigh Valley 1 | Recap
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. A5-Hartford Wolf Pack
Game 2 – Friday, 7:05 ET,
(Hartford leads series, 1-0)

Game 1 – Wed., May 1 – Hartford 4, PROVIDENCE 3 | Recap
Game 2 – Fri., May 3 – Hartford at Providence, 7:05
Game 3 – Wed., May 8 – Providence at Hartford, 7:00
*Game 4 – Fri., May 10 – Providence at Hartford, 7:00
*Game 5 – Sun., May 12 – Hartford at Providence, 3:05
*if necessary… All times Eastern

N1-Cleveland Monsters vs. N4-Belleville Senators
Game 2 – Friday, 7:00 ET,
(Belleville leads series, 1-0)

Game 1 – Wed., May 1 – BELLEVILLE 2, Cleveland 1 | Recap
Game 2 – Fri., May 3 – Cleveland at Belleville, 7:00
Game 3 – Wed., May 8 – Belleville at Cleveland, 7:00
*Game 4 – Fri., May 10 – Belleville at Cleveland, 7:00
*Game 5 – Sun., May 12 – Belleville at Cleveland, 3:00
*if necessary… All times Eastern

N2-Rochester Americans vs. N3-Syracuse Crunch
Game 3 – Tonight, 7:00 ET,
(Series tied, 1-1)

Game 1 – Fri., Apr. 26 – ROCHESTER 3, Syracuse 2 | Recap
Game 2 – Sun., Apr. 28 – Syracuse 4, ROCHESTER 3 (OT) | Recap
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

GAME NOTES
Rochester and Syracuse move their North Division semifinal series east along the New York State Thruway for Game 3 at Upstate Medical University Arena tonight... The Crunch earned a split of the first two games in Rochester by grabbing a 4-3 overtime decision in Game 2 on Sunday... Gabriel Fortier deflected home Declan Carlile’s shot off an offensive-zone faceoff win 10:56 into OT for his first goal in 13 career Calder Cup Playoff games... Jordy Bellerive, Gage Goncalves and Sean Day also scored for Syracuse in Game 2, and Philippe Myers recorded two assists... Mason Jobst tallied two points for Rochester, and scored the tying goal with 3:54 left in regulation... Syracuse finished Game 2 with a 34-27 advantage in shots on goal, including 20-6 in the third period and overtime... The Amerks are 2-for-2 on the power play in the series after going 0-for-10 over their final three regular-season games... Rochester has jumped out to 2-0 leads in each of the first two games of the series, with Syracuse tying it at 2-2 both times... The road team has won 10 of the 14 meetings this season between the Amerks and Crunch... In Calder Cup Playoff history, when a best-of-five series has been tied at 1-1, the Game 3 winner has gone on to take the series 76.5 percent of the time (65 of 85).

C1-Milwaukee Admirals vs. C4-Texas Stars
Game 2 – 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

GAME NOTES
The Milwaukee Admirals begin their chase for the Calder Cup with a Game 1 visit to the Texas Stars to open the Central Division semifinals tonight... The Admirals won their seventh division title in 2023-24 on the strength of a 19-game winning streak from Jan. 5 to Feb. 24 as well as a 9-3-1-1 run to close out the season... Egor Afanasyev (27-27-54) led Milwaukee in goals and points during the regular season, capped by back-to-back two-goal games over the final week... Yaroslav Askarov (30-13-1, 2.39, .911) tied for second in the league in wins, ranked fifth in goals-against average and came in second with six shutouts... Texas swept Manitoba in the first round, with Mavrik Bourque (2-2-4) and rookie Christan Kyrou (1-3-4) recording four points each in the two games... Bourque, the AHL’s regular-season MVP, was recalled by Dallas after the series... Remi Poirier stopped 62 of 65 Moose shots in the first round, good for a .954 save percentage... The Admirals defeated the Stars in last year’s playoffs en route to an appearance in the Western Conference Finals, winning two of three games in Cedar Park... Milwaukee also won five of eight meetings between the teams during the 2023-24 regular season... Admirals winger Tye Felhaber, who played 86 games for Texas over his first three pro seasons (2019-22), recorded 2-4-6 in six games against his former team.

C2-Grand Rapids Griffins vs. C3-Rockford IceHogs
Game 3 – Friday, 7:00 ET,
(Series tied, 1-1)

Game 1 – Sat., Apr. 27 – Grand Rapids 3, ROCKFORD 2 (OT) | Recap
Game 2 – Wed., May 1 – Rockford 5, GRAND RAPIDS 1 | Recap
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

P1-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

P3-Ontario Reign vs. P5-Abbotsford Canucks
Game 2 – Sunday, 6:00 ET,
(Ontario leads series, 1-0)

Game 1 – Wed., May 1 – ONTARIO 3, Abbotsford 1 | Recap
Game 2 – Sun., May 5 – Abbotsford at Ontario, 6:00
Game 3 – Wed., May 8 – Ontario at Abbotsford, 10:00
*Game 4 – Fri., May 10 – Ontario at Abbotsford, 10:00
*Game 5 – Sun., May 12 – Ontario at Abbotsford, 7:00
*if necessary… All times Eastern

With the Tampa Bay Lightning’s season ending earlier this week, some roster moves will aim to help the Syracuse Crunch try to get a step ahead of the Rochester Americans.

Syracuse hosts Game 3 of the teams’ best-of-five North Division semifinal series tonight. The Crunch evened the series last Sunday with a 4-3 overtime win in Game 2.

Tampa Bay has assigned goaltender Matt Tomkins and defensemen Emil Lilleberg and Max Crozier back to Syracuse; all three made their NHL debuts with the Lightning this season.

Tomkins, a seventh-year pro, went 15-12-2 in 29 games with the Crunch while posting a 2.53 goals-against average and a .904 save percentage in 2023-24. The 23-year-old Lilleberg had 13 points (two goals, 11 assists) in 33 games for Syracuse while also appearing in 37 regular-season games and all five Stanley Cup Playoff contests for Tampa. Crozier, 24, registered 21 points (four goals, 17 assists) in 49 games as a rookie with the Crunch, and also dressed for three Stanley Cup Playoff games after notching two assists in 13 regular-season outings with the Lightning.

The Texas Stars have added a first-round pick to their lineup as they open their best-of-five Central Division semifinal series at home tonight against Milwaukee, as Lian Bichsel has been reassigned to Texas from Rögle BK of the Swedish Hockey League.

The 19-year-old Bichsel, who is 6-foot-6 and 225 pounds, started the season in the AHL, picking up a goal and six assists in 16 games for the Stars.

The Swiss-born defenseman went 18th overall to Dallas in the 2022 NHL Draft.

― with files from Patrick Williams

In Wednesday’s Stanley Cup Playoff action, Leon Draisaitl scored twice, 2020 AHL All-Star Evan Bouchard tallied three assists and Edmonton defeated Los Angeles, 4-3, to win their series in five games... Jason Robertson scored the winning goal as Dallas edged Vegas, 3-2, to take a 3-2 series lead.

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