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AHL Morning Skate: 5.8.19

Take a game-day spin around the AHL ice with latest news and notes from the 2019 Calder Cup Playoffs in today’s AHL Morning Skate.

Playoff Brackets | Today’s Scoreboard | League Stats | Series Infographics


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Game 4 – Tonight, 7:00 ET, AHLTV
(CHA leads series, 3-0)

Charlotte is a win away from the conference finals heading into tonight’s Game 4 of the Atlantic Division Finals in Hershey… Stelio Mattheos (2-0-2) scored the go-ahead goal with 2:08 left in regulation last night as the Checkers beat the Bears, 3-1, to take a commanding 3-0 series lead… Mattheos’ goal, his second of the series, came at the end of a flurry after Charlotte had gone more than 20 minutes of game time without a shot on goal… Aleksi Saarela (3-4-7) scored twice for the Checkers in Game 3, tying the game early in the second period and sealing the victory with an empty-netter late in regulation… Alex Nedeljkovic (5-1, 2.00, .919) made 17 saves, facing just seven shots over the final two periods… Morgan Geekie (5-3-8) extended his scoring streak to seven games with an assist, and Andrew Poturalski (5-7-12) returned to the Charlotte lineup after missing Game 2 and recorded an assist as well, his league-best 12th point of the postseason… Nathan Walker (1-4-5) scored the Bears’ goal late in the opening period of Game 3, giving Hershey its first lead of the series… Vitek Vanecek (1-3, 2.25, .935) made 20 saves in the loss… Hershey was 0-for-6 on the power play last night, dropping to 2-for-31 (6.5 percent) for the playoffs… Hershey has already won an elimination game this postseason, defeating Bridgeport in their winner-take-all Game 5 in the first round… The Bears have not been knocked out on home ice in a sweep since 2002, a loss to Houston in the last game ever at Hersheypark Arena… Hershey is 9-2 when facing elimination at home since moving into Giant Center… Charlotte is 4-5 all-time in games with a chance to close out a series… Of the 138 teams in AHL history to hold a 3-0 lead in a best-of-seven series, 90 have completed the sweep (65.2 percent).

Atlantic Division Finals – Series “I” (best-of-7)
A1-Charlotte Checkers vs. A3-Hershey Bears
Game 1 – Fri., May 3 – CHARLOTTE 4, Hershey 1 | Recap/Highlights
Game 2 – Sat., May 4 – CHARLOTTE 7, Hershey 3 | Recap/Highlights
Game 3 – Tue., May 7 – Charlotte 3, HERSHEY 1 | Recap/Highlights
Game 4 – Wed., May 8 – Charlotte at Hershey, 7:00
*Game 5 – Fri., May 10 – Charlotte at Hershey, 7:00
*Game 6 – Sun., May 12 – Hershey at Charlotte, 5:00
*Game 7 – Tue., May 14 – Hershey at Charlotte, 7:00
*if necessary… All times Eastern


 vs. 
(TOR wins series, 4-0)

North Division Finals – Series “J” (best-of-7)
N3-Toronto Marlies vs. N4-Cleveland Monsters
Game 1 – Wed., May 1 – TORONTO 5, Cleveland 2 | Recap/Highlights
Game 2 – Fri., May 3 – TORONTO 4, Cleveland 3 (OT) | Recap/Highlights
Game 3 – Sun., May 5 – Toronto 2, CLEVELAND 0 | Recap/Highlights
Game 4 – Tue., May 7 – Toronto 6, CLEVELAND 2 | Recap/Highlights



Game 4 – Tonight, 8:00 ET, AHLTV
(CHI leads series, 2-1)

Iowa hosts Chicago in Game 4 of the Central Division Finals tonight after the Wild got in the win column on Sunday afternoon… Andrew Hammond (4-4, 2.01, .925) made 26 saves for his second shutout of the postseason to backstop Iowa to a 2-0 victory, trimming the Wolves’ series lead to two games to one… Luke Kunin (6-2-8) scored what proved to be the winning goal in Game 3, his third goal of the series… Matt Read (3-5-8) chipped in an empty-net goal plus an assist for Iowa… Oscar Dansk (4-2, 2.23, .915) stopped 18 of 19 shots but saw his — and the Wolves’ — four-game winning streak come to an end… Chicago’s Daniel Carr (0-4-4) continues to lead all scorers in the series with four points… The Wild were perfect on four penalty kills in Game 3 and have now gone 31-for-32 (96.9 percent) in eight playoff games… Iowa has outscored its opponents 15-1 in three games on home ice this postseason… Chicago was 2-0-0-0 following a shutout loss during the regular season, and is 2-0 in games after a loss in the playoffs.

Central Division Finals – Series “K” (best-of-7)
C1-Chicago Wolves vs. C3-Iowa Wild
Game 1 – Wed., May 1 – CHICAGO 3, Iowa 2 (OT) | Recap/Highlights
Game 2 – Thu., May 2 – CHICAGO 4, Iowa 3 | Recap/Highlights
Game 3 – Sun., May 5 – IOWA 2, Chicago 0 | Recap/Highlights
Game 4 – Wed., May 8 – Chicago at Iowa, 8:00
Game 5 – Fri., May 10 – Chicago at Iowa, 8:00
*Game 6 – Mon., May 13 – Iowa at Chicago, 8:00
*Game 7 – Wed., May 15 – Iowa at Chicago, 8:00
*if necessary… All times Eastern



Game 3 – Tonight, 10:00 ET, AHLTV
(SD leads series, 2-0)

The Pacific Division Finals move down I-5 to San Diego as the Gulls host Bakersfield in Game 3 tonight… San Diego grabbed a 2-0 series lead with a pair of road wins over the weekend, improving to 4-0 away from home this postseason… The Condors, who owned the top-ranked offense in the AHL during the regular season, have been held to three goals in nine-plus periods to begin the series, including one over the last 139:58 of play… Adam Cracknell (3-3-6), who did not play in the Game 1 quadruple-overtime marathon, picked up a goal and two assists in the Gulls’ 4-1 win in Game 2 on Saturday… Isac Lundestrom, Anaheim’s first-round pick in last year’s draft (23rd overall), also had three points in Game 2, including his first North American pro goal… Max Comtois (2-0-2) notched his second consecutive game-winning goal in Game 2… Kevin Boyle, in his first appearance since allowing three goals on six shots in Game 1 of the opening round vs. San Jose, stopped 19 of 20 shots before leaving Saturday’s game with an apparent injury midway through the third period… Jeff Glass (4-1, 1.79, .935) stopped all eight shots he faced the rest of the way… In the Bakersfield cage, Shane Starrett (3-2, 1.99, .919) got his first night off since the regular-season finale at Stockton on Apr. 14; Dylan Wells finished with 35 saves in his stead… Ethan Bear (1-2-3) scored the Condors’ goal in Game 2; six of Bakersfield’s 17 goals this postseason have come from defensemen.

Pacific Division Finals – Series “L” (best-of-7)
P1-Bakersfield Condors vs. P3-San Diego Gulls
Game 1 – Fri., May 3 – San Diego 3, BAKERSFIELD 2 (4OT) | Recap/Highlights
Game 2 – Sat., May 4 – San Diego 4, BAKERSFIELD 1 | Recap/Highlights
Game 3 – Wed., May 8 – Bakersfield at San Diego, 10:00
Game 4 – Fri., May 10 – Bakersfield at San Diego, 10:00
*Game 5 – Sat., May 11 – San Diego at Bakersfield, 10:00
*Game 6 – Mon., May 13 – Bakersfield at San Diego, 10:00
*Game 7 – Wed., May 15 – San Diego at Bakersfield, 10:00
*if necessary… All times Eastern


Alumni Watch
In last night’s Stanley Cup Playoff action, Pat Maroon, a four-time 20-goal scorer and veteran of 353 AHL games, scored 5:50 into the second overtime to give St. Louis a 2-1 win over Dallas in Game 7 of their second-round series… 2018 AHL All-Star Jordan Binnington, who was 11-4-0 (2.08, .927) in 16 AHL appearances with San Antonio this season, made 29 saves in the win for the Blues… 2012 AHL All-Star Ben Bishop made 52 saves for the Stars, the fifth-most ever in an NHL Game 7.


Watch the Calder Cup Playoffs on AHLTV
Don’t miss a second on the road to the 2019 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 $24.99 for the entire postseason, or just $7.99 for a day pass. Visit theahl.com/AHLTV for details.