AHL Morning Skate: April 23, 2025

A3-Providence Bruins vs. A6-Springfield Thunderbirds
Game 1 – Tonight, 7:05 ET,

Game 1 – Wed., Apr. 23 – Springfield at Providence, 7:05
Game 2 – Fri., Apr. 25 – Providence at Springfield, 7:05
*Game 3 – Sun., Apr. 27 – Springfield at Providence, 3:05
*if necessary… All times Eastern

GAME NOTES
Providence and Springfield renew one of the AHL’s oldest rivalries with the cities’ 11th all-time meeting in the Calder Cup Playoffs... It’s a history that dates back to the inaugural year of the league, when the Springfield Indians defeated the Providence Reds, two games to one, in the 1937 playoffs... The most recent postseason meeting came in 2014, when the Bruins defeated the Springfield Falcons, three games to two... The Thunderbirds won the teams’ regular-season series in 2024-25, taking seven of the 12 meetings head-to-head... The Bruins were 23-8-4-1 at Amica Mutual Pavilion this season, including 14-2-2-1 since Christmas... Georgii Merkulov (15-39-54) led Providence in assists and points this season, while Vinni Lettieri (21-29-50), Tyler Pitlick (21-25-46) and Riley Tufte (21-21-42) shared the team lead in goals... First Team AHL All-Star goaltender Michael DiPietro (26-8-5, 2.05, .927) finished second in the league in wins, second in save percentage and third in goals-against average... First Team AHL All-Star forward Matthew Peca (31-32-63) paced the Thunderbirds in scoring this season, and led all scorers with 12 points (4-8-12) in the season series with the Bruins... Colten Ellis (22-14-3, 2.63, .922) was 5-1-0 with a .932 save percentage in six starts against the Bruins in 2024-25... Providence ended the regular season with a four-game winning streak; Springfield lost their last four and 12 of its last 16 down the stretch... Providence is making its 11th consecutive appearance in the Calder Cup Playoffs, but has lost six straight series.

A4-Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins vs. A5-Lehigh Valley Phantoms
Game 1 – Tonight, 7:05 ET,

Game 1 – Wed., Apr. 23 – Lehigh Valley at W-B/Scranton, 7:05
Game 2 – Fri., Apr. 25 – W-B/Scranton at Lehigh Valley, 7:05
*Game 3 – Sun., Apr. 27 – Lehigh Valley at W-B/Scranton, 6:05
*if necessary… All times Eastern

GAME NOTES
The Penguins and Phantoms kick off an intra-state showdown with Game 1 of their series in Wilkes-Barre tonight... It’s a rematch of the teams’ first-round meeting in 2024, won by Lehigh Valley two games to none, and the sixth postseason series all-time between the organizations... Wilkes-Barre/Scranton finished fourth in the Atlantic Division, but was just eight points behind first-place Hershey... The Penguins tied for second in the league with 244 goals scored (3.39 per game), their most prolific offensive showing since 2008-09 (3.43)... The Pens also ranked fourth on the power play (21.3 percent), with seven different skaters recording at least five power-play goals... AHL All-Rookie forward Ville Koivunen (21-35-56) was Wilkes-Barre/Scranton’s leading scorer in the regular season, finishing third among all AHL rookies... Avery Hayes (23-19-42) and Emil Bemström (23-25-48) shared the Penguins’ team lead in goals... Defenseman Owen Pickering (2-11-13) finished the regular season with a plus-18 rating, third-highest among rookies in the AHL... Olle Lycksell (19-25-44) was the Phantoms’ leading scorer, averaging better than a point per game over his 43 appearances... Jacob Gaucher (20-18-38) and rookie Alexis Gendron (20-8-28) led a group of 10 Phantoms who reached double digits in goals this season... The Penguins were 8-2-1-1 against the Phantoms (4-7-1-0) in 2024-25.

A1-Hershey Bears vs. TBD

A2-Charlotte Checkers vs. TBD

Game 1 - Charlotte at TBD
Game 2 - Charlotte at TBD
Game 3 - Wed., May 7 - TBD at Charlotte, 7:00
*Game 4 - Fri., May 9 - TBD at Charlotte, 7:00
*Game 5 - Sun., May 11 - TBD at Charlotte, 3:00
*if necessary… All times Eastern

N4-Toronto Marlies vs. N5-Cleveland Monsters
Game 1 – Thursday, 7:00 ET,

Game 1 – Thu., Apr. 24 – Toronto at Cleveland, 7:00
Game 2 – Sat., Apr. 26 – Cleveland at Toronto, 4:00
*Game 3 – Sun., Apr. 27 – Cleveland at Toronto, 4:00
*if necessary… All times Eastern

N1-Laval Rocket vs. TOR-CLE winner

N2-Rochester Americans vs. N3-Syracuse Crunch
Game 1 – Friday, 7:05 ET,

Game 1 – Fri., Apr. 25 – Syracuse at Rochester, 7:05
Game 2 – Sun., Apr. 27 – Syracuse at Rochester, 3:05
Game 3 – Thu., May 1 – Rochester at Syracuse, 7:00
Game 4 – Sat., May 3 – Rochester at Syracuse, 7:00
Game 5 – Fri., May 9 – Syracuse at Rochester, 7:05
*if necessary… All times Eastern

C4-Chicago Wolves vs. C5-Rockford IceHogs
Game 1 – Tonight, 8:00 ET,

Game 1 – Wed., Apr. 23 – Rockford at Chicago, 8:00
Game 2 – Fri., Apr. 25 – Chicago at Rockford, 8:00
*Game 3 – Sun., Apr. 27 – Chicago at Rockford, 5:00
*if necessary… All times Eastern

GAME NOTES
It’s another in-state battle as Chicago and Rockford face off in a Central Division first round series... Tonight’s Game 1 is the Wolves’ only chance to strike on home ice; because of building availability, the final two games of the series will be played in Rockford... Chicago won nine of 12 meetings from Rockford during the regular season, including a 5-0 victory in the finale on Saturday night... AHL All-Rookie forward Bradly Nadeau (32-26-58) scored 10 goals in his last 11 games for Chicago, becoming the fifth player in AHL history to have a 30-goal season before the age of 20... Nadeau also scored 11 goals in 12 games against the IceHogs... Nadeau, Justin Robidas (20-35-55) and Scott Morrow (13-26-39) gave the Wolves three rookies among their top four scorers... Cole Guttman (23-34-57) paced the IceHogs in goals, assists and points during the regular season... Drew Commesso was 18-15-4 with a 2.54 goals-against average, a .911 save percentage and four shutouts for Rockford this season... This is the fourth time that Chicago and Rockford have met in the Calder Cup Playoffs; the IceHogs won in 2018, while the Wolves won in 2008 and 2022 on their way to Calder Cup championships.

C1-Milwaukee Admirals vs. CHI-RFD winner
Game 1 – May 1, 8:00 ET,

Game 1 - Thu., May 1 - CHI-RFD winner at Milwaukee, 8:00
Game 2 - Sat., May 3 - CHI-RFD winner at Milwaukee, 7:00
Game 3 - TBD at CHI-RFD winner
*Game 4 - TBD at CHI-RFD winner
*Game 5 - TBD at Milwaukee
*if necessary… All times Eastern

C2-Texas Stars vs. C3-Grand Rapids Griffins
Game 1 – Tuesday, 7:00 ET,

Game 1 - Tue., Apr. 29 - Texas at Grand Rapids, 7:00
Game 2 - Mon., May 5 - Texas at Grand Rapids, 7:00
Game 3 - Fri., May 9 - Grand Rapids at Texas, 8:00
*Game 4 - Sat., May 10 - Grand Rapids at Texas, 8:00
*Game 5 - Mon., May 12 - Grand Rapids at Texas, 8:00
*if necessary… All times Eastern

P2-Abbotsford Canucks vs. P7-Tucson Roadrunners
Game 1 – Tonight, 10:00 ET,

Game 1 – Wed., Apr. 23 – Tucson at Abbotsford, 10:00
Game 2 – Thu., Apr. 24 – Tucson at Abbotsford, 10:00
*Game 3 – Sat., Apr. 26 – Tucson at Abbotsford, 10:00
*if necessary… All times Eastern

GAME NOTES
The Canucks host the Roadrunners in Game 1 of their first-round series at Abbotsford Centre tonight... Abbotsford finished the regular season on a 16-1-0-1 run, coming within two points of the top spot in the Pacific Division... The Canucks only had one skater in the top 100 in the league in scoring – Arshdeep Bains (11-32-43), who was tied for 86th – but they did have 11 players reach double digits in goals, led by Danila Klimovich with 25... Sammy Blais (14-26-40) had 5-15-20 over his final 20 regular-season games for Abbotsford... The Canucks did not allow a shorthanded goal in 2024-25, the first team to accomplish that in a full season since team SHG were first tracked in 1989... Kailer Yamamoto, a veteran of 315 games in the National Hockey League, led Tucson in scoring with 20-36-56 this season... Seventh-year pro Cameron Hebig (26-21-47) set career highs in goals, assists and points for the Roadrunners... Tucson won five of the teams’ eight meetings during the regular season, including three of four in Abbotsford.

P3-Ontario Reign vs. P6-San Jose Barracuda
Game 1 – Thursday, 10:00 ET,

Game 1 – Thu., Apr. 24 – San Jose vs. Ontario, 10:00 (at Los Angeles, Calif.)
Game 2 – Sat., Apr. 26 – San Jose vs. Ontario, 9:00 (at Los Angeles, Calif.)
*Game 3 – Mon., Apr. 28 – San Jose at Ontario, 10:00
*if necessary… All times Eastern

P4-Coachella Valley Firebirds vs. P5-Calgary Wranglers
Game 2 – Saturday, 9:00 ET,
(Coachella Valley leads series, 1-0)

Game 1 – Tue., Apr. 22 – COACHELLA VALLEY 4, Calgary 3 (3OT)
Game 2 – Sat., Apr. 26 – Calgary at Coachella Valley, 9:00
*Game 3 – Sun., Apr. 27 – Calgary at Coachella Valley, 8:00
*if necessary… All times Eastern

P1-Colorado Eagles vs. TBD

TBD vs. TBD

In last night’s Stanley Cup Playoff action, Jordan Martinook scored the game-winning goal shorthanded as Carolina rallied past New Jersey, 3-1... Adam Gaudette, the Willie Marshall Award winner as the AHL’s leading goal-scorer in 2023-24, scored his first career Stanley Cup Playoff goal in Ottawa’s 3-2 overtime loss at Toronto... Nate Schmidt scored twice to help Florida to a 6-2 victory over Tampa Bay... Matt Boldy recorded a goal and an assist in Minnesota’s 5-2 win at Vegas.