AHL Morning Skate: April 27, 2025

A3-Providence Bruins vs. A6-Springfield Thunderbirds
Game 3 – Today, 3:05 ET,
(Series tied, 1-1)

Game 1 – Wed., Apr. 23 – Springfield 2, PROVIDENCE 1 | Recap
Game 2 – Fri., Apr. 25 – Providence 1, SPRINGFIELD 0 (OT) | Recap
Game 3 – Sun., Apr. 27 – Springfield at Providence, 3:05
*if necessary… All times Eastern

GAME NOTES
The first round of the 2025 Calder Cup Playoffs wraps up this afternoon with a decisive Game 3 between the Bruins and the Thunderbirds... Providence fought off elimination on Friday with a 1-0 win as Vinni Lettieri broke the stalemate with 1:14 gone in overtime... It was the 16th game in Calder Cup Playoff history to be scoreless through 60 minutes... Lettieri is coming off his fifth 20-goal campaign in the AHL and a career-high 50 points in the regular season... Michael DiPietro (1-1, 1.00, .949) made 24 saves for the Bruins to earn his first career postseason victory... The 2024-25 Baz Bastien Award winner has not allowed a goal over his last 109:43 of play, since Matt Luff scored midway through the first period of Game 1... Colten Ellis (1-1, 0.99, .969) turned aside 24 of 25 shots in Game 2 after a 39-save effort in Game 1... The Bruins are 1-for-7 on the power play in the series and a perfect 7-for-7 on the penalty kill, including three successful kills in the third period of Game 2... Friday marked Providence’s first OT win in the Calder Cup Playoffs since May 21, 2017 vs. Syracuse, ending a five-game losing streak... It was also the Bruins’ first road OT win in the postseason in exactly 11 years – since Apr. 25, 2014 (also at Springfield) – following eight consecutive losses... Providence had also lost 12 consecutive one-goal decisions in the playoffs before Game 2... The Thunderbirds have totaled 12 goals in their last nine games, not scoring more than twice in any of them... Today marks the Bruins’ first winner-take-all playoff game since their Game 7 victory at Hershey in the 2017 division finals... The Thunderbirds have played one such game in their history, defeating Laval in Game 7 to advance to the 2022 Calder Cup Finals... Providence remained without head coach Ryan Mougenel, who has been away from the team due to a family matter since Apr. 9... A Bruins win today would set up a division semifinal matchup with Charlotte; a Thunderbirds victory would send them to face Hershey... The lower seed has won five of the seven first-round playoff series in the Atlantic Division since this format began in 2022.

A4-Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins vs. A5-Lehigh Valley Phantoms
(Lehigh Valley wins series, 2-0)

Game 1 – Wed., Apr. 23 – Lehigh Valley 5, W-B/SCRANTON 2 | Recap
Game 2 – Fri., Apr. 25 – LEHIGH VALLEY 3, W-B/Scranton 2 | Recap

N4-Toronto Marlies vs. N5-Cleveland Monsters
(Cleveland wins series, 2-0)

Game 1 – Thu., Apr. 24 – CLEVELAND 4, Toronto 3 (OT) | Recap
Game 2 – Sat., Apr. 26 – Cleveland 4, TORONTO 3 (2OT) | Recap

N1-Laval Rocket vs. N5-Cleveland Monsters
Game 1 – Wednesday or Thursday, 7:00 ET,

Game 1 – Wed., Apr. 30 or Thu., May 1 – Laval at Cleveland, 7:00
Game 2 – Fri., May 2 – Laval at Cleveland, 7:00
Game 3 – Sun., May 4 – Cleveland at Laval, 3:00
*Game 4 – Tue., May 6 – Cleveland at Laval, 7:00
*Game 5 – Fri., May 9 – Cleveland at Laval, 7:00
*if necessary… All times Eastern

N2-Rochester Americans vs. N3-Syracuse Crunch
Game 2– Today, 3:05 ET,
(Rochester leads series, 1-0)

Game 1 – Fri., Apr. 25 – ROCHESTER 3, Syracuse 2 | Recap
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

GAME NOTES
A three-goal rally on Friday night gave Rochester the series lead heading into this afternoon’s Game 2 of the North Division semifinals with Syracuse at Blue Cross Arena at the War Memorial... Amerks defenseman Kale Clague scored the tiebreaking goal 3:55 into the third period of Game 1 to send Rochester to a 3-2 victory after they had spotted the Crunch a 2-0 lead... For Clague, a seventh-year pro, it was his first career playoff goal in just his second career postseason contest; he also had a game-high five shots on goal... Brendan Warren and Riley Fiddler-Schultz also scored for the Amerks, getting goals 2:48 apart early in the second period to tie the game... After a scoreless first period, Conor Sheary and Dylan Duke gave Syracuse the lead with goals in the opening 3:29 of the middle frame... For Sheary, a two-time Stanley Cup champion with the Pittsburgh Penguins, it was his 19th career postseason goal as a professional... Duke scored his first career playoff goal following a 20-goal rookie season... Devon Levi stopped 25 of 27 shots to earn the win in net for Rochester, while Brandon Halverson made 27 saves for Syracuse... Jiří Kulich returned to the Rochester lineup for the first time since Nov. 13; Kulich registered 15 goals and 24 points in 62 NHL games with Buffalo this season... Daniel Walcott played his 39th playoff game for the Crunch on Friday, putting him one behind Matt Taormina (40) for the franchise record... This afternoon’s game is the 30th playoff meeting all-time – and 357th meeting overall – between the Amerks and Crunch.

C4-Chicago Wolves vs. C5-Rockford IceHogs
(Rockford wins series, 2-0)

Game 1 – Wed., Apr. 23 – Rockford 2, CHICAGO 1 (OT) | Recap
Game 2 – Fri., Apr. 25 – ROCKFORD 5, Chicago 0 | Recap

C1-Milwaukee Admirals vs. C5-Rockford IceHogs
Game 1 – Thursday, 8:00 ET,

Game 1 – Thu., May 1 – Rockford at Milwaukee, 8:00
Game 2 – Sat., May 3 – Rockford at Milwaukee, 7:00
Game 3 – Wed., May 7 – Milwaukee at Rockford, 8:00
*Game 4 – Fri., May 9 – Milwaukee at Rockford, 8:00
*Game 5 – Sun., May 11 – Rockford at Milwaukee, 5:00
*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
(Abbotsford wins series, 2-1)

Game 1 – Wed., Apr. 23 – ABBOTSFORD 4, Tucson 3 | Recap
Game 2 – Thu., Apr. 24 – Tucson 4, ABBOTSFORD 1 | Recap
Game 3 – Sat., Apr. 26 – ABBOTSFORD 5, Tucson 0 | Recap

P3-Ontario Reign vs. P6-San Jose Barracuda
(San Jose wins series, 2-0)

Game 1 – Thu., Apr. 24 – San Jose 2, ONTARIO 0 | Recap
Game 2 – Sat., Apr. 26 – San Jose 2, ONTARIO 1 | Recap

P4-Coachella Valley Firebirds vs. P5-Calgary Wranglers
(Coachella Valley wins series, 2-0)

Game 1 – Tue., Apr. 22 – COACHELLA VALLEY 4, Calgary 3 (3OT) | Recap
Game 2 – Sat., Apr. 26 – COACHELLA VALLEY 2, Calgary 0 | Recap

P1-Colorado Eagles vs. P6-San Jose Barracuda
Game 1 – Friday, 10:00 ET,

Game 1 – Fri., May 2 – Colorado at San Jose, 10:00
Game 2 – Sun., May 4 – Colorado at San Jose, 9:00
Game 3 – Tue., May 6 – San Jose at Colorado, 9:05
*Game 4 – Wed., May 7 – San Jose at Colorado, 9:05
*Game 5 – Sun., May 11 – San Jose at Colorado, 5:05
*if necessary… All times Eastern

P2-Abbotsford Canucks vs. P4-Coachella Valley Firebirds
Game 1 – Thursday, 10:00 ET,

Game 1 – Thu., May 1 – Abbotsford at Coachella Valley, 10:00
Game 2 – Sat., May 3 – Abbotsford at Coachella Valley, 9:00
Game 3 – Wed., May 7 – Coachella Valley at Abbotsford, 10:00
*Game 4 – Fri., May 9 – Coachella Valley at Abbotsford, 10:00
*Game 5 – Sun., May 11 – Coachella Valley at Abbotsford, 10:00
*if necessary… All times Eastern

Vinni Lettieri supplied the Game 2 overtime goal that saved the Providence Bruins’ season Friday night. Then he spent time post-game handing out compliments to his teammates.

Michael DiPietro, the Aldege “Baz” Bastien Memorial Award as the AHL’s outstanding goaltender this season, came for praise from the P-Bruins forward. So did captain Patrick Brown. And the two players who helped to set up the game-winning goal, Matthew Poitras and Riley Tufte.

“Well, first off, Dips (DiPietro) was unbelievable,” Lettieri told reporters after the game. “He kept us in it the whole night. He’s goalie of the year for a reason.”

Providence had more than DiPietro stopping shots, too. With a little more than 10 minutes to go in regulation, Springfield had pinned the Bruins in deep. On an extended net-front scramble with DiPietro sprawled on the ice, Brown stepped in front of Nikita Alexandrov’s point-blank shot on an open net and took the puck to the face, likely saving a goal and maybe the Bruins’ season.

Brown left the ice bloodied, but returned to finish the period after some quick repairs.

“He sacrificed his body… that’s Brownie for you,” Letteri said. “He’s a warrior.”

Down to the Syracuse Crunch after surrendering a pair of quick second-period strikes, the Rochester Americans had a problem. Having to solve Brandon Halverson and the Crunch’s league-leading defense made that task that much more complicated.

But the Amerks kept their composure. Brendan Warren answered 57 seconds after Syracuse’s second goal, and Riley Fiddler-Schultz provided the equalizer 2:48 later.

After going on to a 3-2 victory, Warren could point to regular-season situations that had prepared them for such a challenge. Rochester went 9-4-1-0 in the regular season when tied after the second period.

“I loved our composure on the bench,” Warren said after the game. “I don't think anyone panicked. Nobody started pointing fingers. No negativity... we believed the whole time that we were going to win.

“We gain a belief that the guy next to you is going to do his job, and we’re going to fight back together and get the job done.”

― with files from Patrick Williams

In yesterday’s Stanley Cup Playoff action, two weeks after returning to the ice with the AHL’s Colorado Eagles, Gabriel Landeskog notched his first NHL goal in three years and added an assist as the Avalanche defeated Dallas, 4-0... 2019 Calder Cup champion Nicolas Roy scored a third-period goal and set up Ivan Barbashev’s winner at 17:26 of overtime to give Vegas a 4-3 victory over Minnesota... Jake Guentzel tallied a goal and two assists and 2024 AHL All-Star Gage Goncalves added two helpers as Tampa Bay defeated Florida, 5-1... Two-time AHL All-Star Linus Ullmark made 31 saves in Ottawa’s 4-3 overtime victory over Toronto.