AHL Morning Skate: April 26, 2024

A3-W-B/Scranton Penguins vs. A6-Lehigh Valley Phantoms
Game 2 – Tonight, 7:05 ET,
(Lehigh Valley leads series, 1-0)

Game 1 – Wed., Apr. 24 – Lehigh Valley 2, W-B/SCRANTON 1 | Recap
Game 2 – Fri., Apr. 26 – W-B/Scranton at Lehigh Valley, 7:05
*Game 3 – Sun., Apr. 28 – Lehigh Valley at W-B/Scranton, 5:05
*if necessary… All times Eastern

GAME NOTES
Lehigh Valley heads home with a chance to finish off its first-round series against Wilkes-Barre/Scranton tonight... Adam Brooks and Rhett Gardner scored and Cal Petersen stopped 21 shots in the Phantoms’ 2-1 win in Wednesday’s opener, just the second regulation win in 13 tries for Lehigh Valley against the Penguins this season... Brooks, who won a Calder Cup with Toronto in 2018, has four points in four playoff games with the Phantoms over the last two postseason... Petersen’s win was his first in the playoffs since Apr. 20, 2018, when he was a rookie with Ontario... Ville Koivunen, in his Penguins debut, scored the only goal of Game 1 for Wilkes-Barre/Scranton; the 20-year-old Finnish forward was acquired from Carolina in the Jake Guentzel trade last month... Joel Blomqvist made 30 saves for the Penguins in his first career Calder Cup Playoff start... Wilkes-Barre/Scranton is 25-18 all-time when facing elimination from the postseason.

A4-Charlotte Checkers vs. A5-Hartford Wolf Pack
Game 2 – Saturday, 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

A1-Hershey Bears vs. TBD

A2-Providence Bruins vs. TBD

N4-Belleville Senators vs. N5-Toronto Marlies
Game 2 – Tonight, 7:00 ET,
(Belleville leads series, 1-0)

Game 1 – Wed., Apr. 24 – BELLEVILLE 3, Toronto 1 | Recap
Game 2 – Fri., Apr. 26 – Belleville at Toronto, 7:00
*Game 3 – Sun., Apr. 28 – Toronto at Belleville, 3:00
*if necessary… All times Eastern

GAME NOTES
Two days after securing the first postseason win in franchise history, Belleville can wrap up its first series victory as Toronto hosts Game 2 of the best-of-three series tonight at Coca-Cola Coliseum... The Senators outshot the Marlies 38-18 in Wednesday’s 3-1 victory, their ninth win in the last 10 games going back to the regular season... Zack Ostapchuk (1-1-2), Tyler Kleven (1-0-1) and Josh Currie (1-1-2) provided the scoring for Belleville in Game 1, while Mads Sogaard recorded 17 saves to earn the win in his AHL playoff debut... Sogaard has stopped 59 of 61 shots (.967) in his two starts against the Marlies this season... Marshall Rifai scored Toronto’s lone goal in Game 1, his first tally since Feb. 9... Dennis Hildeby made 35 saves in the loss, one shy of his season high (Apr. 6 vs. Utica)... Both teams went 0-for-2 on the power play in Game 1.

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

Game 1 – Fri., Apr. 26 – Syracuse at Rochester, 7:05
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

GAME NOTES
The first division semifinal gets underway as Rochester hosts Syracuse in the sixth all-time playoff series between the teams... The Amerks rallied from two games down to eliminate the Crunch in five last spring, on their way to a berth in the Eastern Conference Finals... Syracuse won seven of the teams’ 12 meetings during the 2023-24 regular season, but finished one point behind Rochester (and first-place Cleveland) in the tight North Division... The Amerks enter the playoffs on a 13-2-1-1 roll since Mar. 10, with Isak Rosen (7-10-17) and Jiri Kulich (10-6-16) leading the offense over that span... Devon Levi (16-6-4, 2.42, .927) started seven of Rochester’s last eight regular-season games and finished the season ranked second in the AHL in save percentage... All-Star forward Gage Goncalves led the Crunch in assists (45) and points (58) during the regular season, while Cole Koepke scored a team-high 20 goals... Hugo Alnefelt (14-8-4, 2.76, .893) was 3-0-1 with a 2.21 GAA against Rochester in 2023-24... The Crunch won five of their six visits to Blue Cross Arena in the regular season.

N1-Cleveland Monsters vs. BEL-TOR winner

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 – Saturday, 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

P2-Tucson Roadrunners vs. P7-Calgary Wranglers
Game 2 – Tonight, 10:00 ET,
(Calgary leads series, 1-0)

Game 1 – Wed., Apr. 24 – Calgary 2, TUCSON 0 | Recap
Game 2 – Fri., Apr. 26 – Calgary at Tucson, 10:00
*Game 3 – Sun., Apr. 28 – Calgary at Tucson, 10:00
*if necessary… All times Eastern

GAME NOTES
The Tucson Roadrunners look to keep their season alive as they host Calgary in Game 2 tonight... The Wranglers got 46 saves from Dustin Wolf in a 2-0 win on Wednesday night, the fifth shutout in 23 career playoff starts for the two-time Baz Bastien Award winner... Cole Schwindt scored 6:14 into the second period to break a scoreless tie, and Matt Coronato capped the scoring with an empty-netter in the final minute of regulation... Adam Klapka recorded an assist, his ninth point in five games against Tucson this season... Matt Villalta stopped 33 of 34 shots for the Roadrunners, who were playing their first home playoff game in six years... Conor Geekie, the 11th overall pick in the 2022 NHL Draft, made his pro debut for Tucson in Game 1... Dylan Guenther and Josh Doan, both just back from the parent Arizona Coyotes, each recorded seven shots on goal on Wednesday.

P4-Colorado Eagles vs. P5-Abbotsford Canucks
Game 2 – Tonight, 9:05 ET,
(Abbotsford leads series, 1-0)

Game 1 – Wed., Apr. 24 – Abbotsford 4, COLORADO 2 | Recap
Game 2 – Fri., Apr. 26 – Abbotsford at Colorado, 9:05
*Game 3 – Sun., Apr. 28 – Abbotsford at Colorado, 5:05
*if necessary… All times Eastern

GAME NOTES
Behind a goal and an assist from former Eagle Sheldon Dries, the Abbotsford Canucks took a 4-2 win in Game 1 and can complete a sweep of Colorado at Blue Arena tonight... Dries, who spent three seasons with the Eagles from 2018-21, scored a team-best 29 goals for the Canucks during the regular season and now has 13 goals in 29 career Calder Cup Playoff games... Arshdeep Bains and Linus Karlsson also scored for Abbotsford in Game 1... Zach Sawchenko made 27 saves to earn the win in his pro playoff debut; the fifth-year pro, who made only six appearances in the regular season, got the start with Artūrs Šilovs and Nikita Tolopilo both on recall to Vancouver... Cal Burke and Ivan Ivan scored for the Eagles... Ivan Prosvetov, just back from the parent Avalanche, stopped 14 of 17 shots in net... Colorado was 1-for-4 on the power play in Game 1 after going 1-for-27 in eight meetings with Abbotsford during the regular season.

P3-Ontario Reign vs. P6-Bakersfield Condors
Game 2 – Saturday, 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

C1-Coachella Valley Firebirds vs. TBD

TBD vs. TBD

It would have been perfectly understandable if the Manitoba Moose had gotten to Remi Poirier a bit, had given him something uncomfortable to think about before the Calder Cup Playoffs started.

To begin with, the teams found themselves dealing with a scheduling quirk, as the Moose were in Cedar Park for a two-game series last weekend to close out the regular season, already knowing that they were going to meet in the Central Division First Round series. In all, that could have meant as many as five games in nine nights on Texas ice.

Poirier made sure that there would not be a fifth game, however, by ending the series last night with a 41-save shutout. It was a stark contrast to last Friday, when the Moose beat Poirier eight times on 35 shots in an 8-3 rout. It was a rough end to the 22-year-old’s first full season as an AHL regular; he ended up going 17-16-4 with a 3.19 goals-against average and .904 save percentage.

Poirier and the Stars had to regroup quickly, and they did. Texas came through Game 1 on Tuesday with a 6-3 win as Poirier handled 21 of 24 shots. In Game 2, the Moose came out firing, sending 14 first-period shots at Poirier.

He shut them down, the Stars got two power-play goals from Fredrik Karlström, and they are now set to meet the Milwaukee Admirals in the Central Division Semifinals.

“We know last weekend was not great,” Poirier told texasstars.com after finishing off Manitoba. “But it’s a brand-new season. I think it was great for me. Get the confidence back after last weekend. I think that’s a well-earned game.”

If this is Dustin Wolf’s final spin through the AHL, he made sure it got off to a strong start.

On recall to the Calgary Flames since March 12, Wolf returned to the Wranglers for the final weekend of the regular season, then turned in a masterpiece Wednesday in the opener of their playoff series in Tucson. Up against a Roadrunners lineup featuring a deep cast of forwards, Wolf stopped all 46 shots that he faced for his fifth career AHL playoff shutout in a 2-0 victory.

Wolf’s standout work has come to be expected, but certainly not taken for granted.

“It’s probably the best I’ve ever seen Dustin play for us,” Wranglers head coach Trent Cull said to calgarywranglers.com after Game 1. “It’s almost hard to believe some of the saves he was making there.

“I thought there was a lot of compete, a lot of battle... Really happy with a lot of guys’ performances.”

Wolf has always taken on a heavy workload, and he did so during his five weeks with the Flames. He made 10 starts down the stretch and won his final four games. And although the Wranglers are the seventh seed in the Pacific, theirs is a roster that has ample postseason experience, including a division finals duel with Coachella Valley last season and a trip to the conference finals while playing in Stockton in 2022.

Wolf welcomed the chance to go after the Calder Cup again – and perhaps end his AHL career on a high note.

“It felt good to come back here,” the third-year pro told the team website. “This is the playoffs, the best time of the year.”

― with files from Patrick Williams

Watch the Calder Cup Playoffs on AHLTV
Don’t miss a second on the road to the 2024 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 to watch every game for the entire postseason, or just $8.99 for a day pass. Visit AHLTV.com for details.