AHL Morning Skate: May 21, 2023

Photo: Andy Nietupski

A2-Hershey Bears vs. A5-Hartford Wolf Pack
(Hershey wins series, 3-0)

Game 1 – Thu., May 11 – HERSHEY 3, Hartford 2 (OT) | Recap
Game 2 – Sat., May 13 – HERSHEY 4, Hartford 2 | Recap
Game 3 – Wed., May 17 – Hershey 3, HARTFORD 1 | Recap

N1-Toronto Marlies vs. N3-Rochester Americans
(Rochester wins series, 3-0)

Game 1 – Thu., May 11 – Rochester 4, TORONTO 3 | Recap
Game 2 – Sat., May 13 – Rochester 7, TORONTO 4 | Recap
Game 3 – Wed., May 17 – ROCHESTER 8, Toronto 4 | Recap

A2-Hershey Bears vs. N3-Rochester Americans
Game 1 – Tuesday, 7:00 ET,

Game 1 – Tue., May 23 – Rochester at Hershey, 7:00
Game 2 – Thu., May 25 – Rochester at Hershey, 7:00
Game 3 – Sat., May 27 – Hershey at Rochester, 7:05
Game 4 – Mon., May 29 – Hershey at Rochester, 6:05
*Game 5 – Wed., May 31 – Rochester at Hershey, 7:00
*Game 6 – Fri., June 2 – Hershey at Rochester, 7:05
*Game 7 – Mon., June 5 – Rochester at Hershey, 7:00
*if necessary... All times Eastern

C1-Texas Stars vs. C2-Milwaukee Admirals
Game 5 – Tonight, 8:00 ET,
(Series tied, 2-2)

Game 1 – Fri., May 12 – MILWAUKEE 2, Texas 1 | Recap
Game 2 – Sat., May 13 – Texas 5, MILWAUKEE 3 | Recap
Game 3 – Wed., May 17 – Milwaukee 4, TEXAS 3 | Recap
Game 4 – Fri., May 19 – TEXAS 4, Milwaukee 3 (2OT) | Recap
Game 5 – Sun., May 21 – Milwaukee at Texas, 8:00
*if necessary... All times Eastern

GAME NOTES
The division final round of the 2023 Calder Cup Playoffs wraps up tonight with the series finale between the Texas Stars and Milwaukee Admirals at the H-E-B Center in Cedar Park... The Stars pushed the series to the limit with a 4-3 victory on Friday night, with Oskar Back (2-3-5) netting the winning goal at 15:10 of the second overtime period to end the second-longest game in both teams’ histories... Alex Petrovic (3-2-5) scored a goal for the third consecutive game for Texas... Curtis McKenzie (3-2-5) and Nick Caamano (3-2-5) scored 24 seconds apart late in the second period of Game 4 to turn a 2-1 deficit into a 3-2 Stars lead; early in the third period of Game 3, Texas, down 2-1, scored twice in 26 seconds to take the lead... Luke Evangelista (4-7-11) scored a goal for the Admirals in Game 4, giving him 2-4-6 in the series... Jordan Gross (2-9-11) picked up three assists in Friday’s loss... Matt Murray (5-2, 2.39, .921) made 42 saves in Game 4 for Texas; Yaroslav Askarov (5-4, 2.48, .903) stopped 29 shots for the Ads and fell to 0-3 in overtime this postseason... Milwaukee has erased a third-period deficit in each of the last three games... The Stars are 2-for-9 on the power play in the series; the Admirals are 3-for-13... Milwaukee has outshot Texas in each of the first four games, by a total margin of 144-107... The road team has scored first in each of the first four games of the series... Texas is 3-1 all-time in winner-take-all games; Milwaukee is 5-5, including a Game 5 win over Manitoba in the division semifinals on May 6... Tonight’s winner heads to Coachella Valley to open the Western Conference Finals later this week.

P1-Calgary Wranglers vs. P2-Coachella Valley Firebirds
(Coachella Valley wins series, 3-2)

Game 1 – Thu., May 11 – Coachella Valley 6, CALGARY 3 | Recap
Game 2 – Fri., May 12 – CALGARY 3, Coachella Valley 2 | Recap
Game 3 – Mon., May 15 – COACHELLA VALLEY 3, Calgary 2 (3OT) | Recap
Game 4 – Wed., May 17 – Calgary 1, COACHELLA VALLEY 0 | Recap
Game 5 – Fri., May 19 – COACHELLA VALLEY 6, Calgary 5 (OT) | Recap

“Now we’ve got a winner-take-all game. Maybe it’s just the way it’s supposed to be.”

Milwaukee Admirals head coach Karl Taylor shared those words via the team website after a double-overtime loss in Game 4 on Friday. Now all that the Admirals can do is shrug off that setback and ready themselves for another chance tonight, an opportunity they earned by taking an early 2-1 lead in the series.

The Admirals have shown that they can adjust to the give-and-take of playoff hockey. They lost a 2-0 lead in Game 2 after Texas scored three straight goals, the last two in a 24-second span late in the second period, before regrouping and forcing overtime with a strong third period.

They also trailed 3-2 in Game 3 after allowing goals 26 seconds apart to begin the third period. But they held tight, tied the game, and then won it with 1:01 to go on an Isaac Ratcliffe goal.

This is a team comfortable playing in one-goal situations late in a Calder Cup Playoff game.

“You’ve just got to stay even-keeled and stay in the moment, and not get too high and too low,” forward Michael McCarron shared via the team website after notching his first playoff goal Friday. “If you just stay composed and stay consistent in what you do, believe in your system, I think it sets you up for success.”

The nerves are out of the way for the Texas Stars.

“There [were] a little bit of nerves early on in our game,” head coach Neil Graham said via the team website after their Game 4 victory to fend off elimination.

The series has been razor-thin, with all four games being tied at some point in the third period. Three games have ended with one-goal margins, while Game 2 was a 5-3 Texas victory sealed with an empty-netter.

“It was our first time in an elimination moment,” Graham said of Game 4, “but once we settled in, we started playing with some pace, started playing a little more free, and then we played a pretty good hockey game.”

― Patrick Williams

#AHLGrads
In the Stanley Cup Playoffs last night, 2022 Calder Cup champion Jalen Chatfield scored his first career Stanley Cup Playoff goal for Carolina, but the Hurricanes fell, 2-1 in overtime, to Florida in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference final... On Friday night, William Karlsson scored twice and Brett Howden netted the winner in OT as Vegas defeated Dallas, 4-3, in Game 1 of the Western Conference final... Roope Hintz picked up a goal and two assists for the Stars.

Yesterday at the 2023 IIHF World Championship, Rockford IceHogs forward Rocco Grimaldi recorded a goal and an assist to help the United States to a 3-0 win over Denmark... Kasperi Kapanen and Antti Suomela scored for Finland in a 3-1 victory over Austria... 2022-23 AHL scoring champion Michael Carcone scored in Canada’s 3-2 loss to Switzerland... Fabian Zetterlund scored two goals and Jonatan Berggren added one as Sweden blanked France, 4-0... 2011 Calder Cup champion Kaspars Daugavins recorded a goal and two assists, two-time AHL All-Star Rudolfs Balcers had three helpers and Arturs Silovs made 16 saves in Latvia's 7-0 win over Kazakhstan.

Watch the Calder Cup Playoffs on AHLTV
Don’t miss a second on the road to the 2023 Calder Cup championship. AHLTV features live streaming of every AHL game in high definition on desktop, laptop, tablet and mobile devices, as well as OTT platforms such as Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, and Android TV. A subscription is just $29.99 for the entire postseason, or just $8.99 for a day pass. Visit AHLTV.com for details.