AHL Morning Skate: April 30, 2025

A1-Hershey Bears vs. A5-Lehigh Valley Phantoms
Game 1 – Tonight, 7:00 ET,

Game 1 – Wed., Apr. 30 – Lehigh Valley at Hershey, 7:00
Game 2 – Fri., May 2 – Lehigh Valley at Hershey, 7:00
Game 3 – Sun., May 4 – Hershey at Lehigh Valley, 5:05
*Game 4 – Fri., May 9 – Hershey at Lehigh Valley, 7:05
*Game 5 – Sun., May 11 – Lehigh Valley at Hershey, 5:00
*if necessary… All times Eastern

GAME NOTES
The Hershey Bears begin their bid for a third straight Calder Cup championship when they host Lehigh Valley in Game 1 of their best-of-five series tonight... The Phantoms come in having upset Wilkes-Barre/Scranton in the first round, two games to none, and they have won five straight games going back to the regular season – including wins over Hershey on Apr. 12 and Apr. 19... Helge Grans scored the series-clinching goal late in the third period of Game 2 on Friday night, his first goal in 11 career Calder Cup Playoff games... Jett Luchanko, Philadelphia’s first-round pick in the 2024 NHL Draft, had four assists in the two games against the Penguins... Parker Gahagen (2-0, 2.02, .937) stopped 59 of 63 shots in the series for Lehigh Valley... Hershey comes in without its leading scorer from the regular season, as Second Team AHL All-Star defenseman Ethan Bear (10-36-46) remains on recall to the Washington Capitals... Ivan Miroshnichenko (23-19-42) led the Bears in goals in 2024-25, including three in six games against Lehigh Valley... Hendrix Lapierre recorded 7-25-32 in 32 games with Hershey after beginning the season in Washington; Lapierre won the Jack A. Butterfield Trophy as the MVP of last year’s playoffs after putting up 7-15-22 in 20 contests... Bears head coach Todd Nelson enters the 2025 postseason with 70 career Calder Cup Playoff wins, third all-time behind John Paddock (77) and Bun Cook (75)... This is the seventh postseason meeting all-time between these franchises, and the third since the Phantoms moved to Lehigh Valley... The teams met 10 times in the regular season, with each going 5-4-1-0 and winning three of five in the opponent’s rink.

A2-Charlotte Checkers vs. A3-Providence Bruins
Game 1 – Friday, 7:05 ET,

Game 1 – Fri., May 2 – Charlotte at Providence, 7:05
Game 2 – Sun., May 4 – Charlotte at Providence, 7:05
Game 3 – Wed., May 7 – Providence at Charlotte, 7:00
*Game 4 – Fri., May 9 – Providence at Charlotte, 7:00
*Game 5 – Sun., May 11 – Providence at Charlotte, 3:00
*if necessary… All times Eastern

N2-Rochester Americans vs. N3-Syracuse Crunch
Game 3 – Thursday, 7:00 ET,
(Rochester leads series, 2-0)

Game 1 – Fri., Apr. 25 – ROCHESTER 3, Syracuse 2 | Recap
Game 2 – Sun., Apr. 27 – ROCHESTER 4, Syracuse 0 | Recap
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

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

Game 1 – Wed., Apr. 30 – 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

GAME NOTES
The regular-season champion Laval Rocket get their playoffs underway tonight as they visit Cleveland in the opener of a North Division semifinals series... The Rocket recorded 48 wins and 101 points in 2024-25 to earn the Macgregor Kilpatrick Trophy... Cleveland comes in after a two-game sweep of Toronto in the first round, winning both games in overtime... James Malatesta scored with 55.0 seconds left in the second overtime period on Saturday afternoon to clinch the series... It marked the fourth time over the last two postseasons that the Monsters have played consecutive OT games... Defensemen Denton Mateychuk (2-2-4) and Madison Bowey (0-3-3) led Cleveland in scoring last round... Jet Greaves (2-0, 2.13, .914) did not face Laval during the 2024-25 regular season as the teams split their four meetings... The Rocket had six 20-goal scorers in the regular season, led by Laurent Dauphin (26-30-56)... Laval rookie Florian Xhekaj (24-11-35) was the first player since Kevin Kaminski of the 1992-93 Halifax Citadels to lead the AHL in penalty minutes while also scoring 20 or more goals... The Rocket tied for the league lead in goals allowed (2.47 per game) during the regular season, and gave up just five goals in four games against the Monsters.

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 2 – Monday, 7:00 ET,
(Texas leads series, 1-0)

Game 1 – Tue., Apr. 29 – Texas 4, GRAND RAPIDS 0 | Recap
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

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

After going to overtime in back-to-back games against the Toronto Marlies, the Cleveland Monsters welcomed some rest.

The Monsters closed out their best-of-three first-round series with a double-overtime win at Coca-Cola Coliseum on Saturday afternoon. Had the series gone to a third game, it would have necessitated the Monsters playing Sunday afternoon as well. With the Laval Rocket up next, any extra time off is a bonus.

“You could see the energy from both teams going down,” Monsters head coach Trent Vogelhuber said after the series-clinching win.

Heading into the next round against the regular-season champion Rocket, Vogelhuber knows his team will be ready.

“It’s a great challenge, a great opportunity for us. Two really good environments for playoff hockey. I can’t wait.”

The Lehigh Valley Phantoms have the task of trying to knock off the back-to-back defending Calder Cup champion Hershey Bears.

But the Phantoms will do so coming from a position of respect even inside of a heated in-state rivalry between long-time adversaries.

“I know one thing with Hershey,” Phantoms head coach Ian Laperriere said this week. “They compete. They all play the same way. They all play to win. Especially at this time of the year, they make winning plays.

“That’s a team I look up to. I like the way he (Hershey head coach Todd Nelson) coaches his team and I’ve got a lot of respect for that coach and that team.”

Laperriere also pointed to Hershey’s well-established ability to play a patient, composed game and then jump on an opposing mistake. Managing the puck properly will be a key message to his players.

“Our players respect their players, too, just the way they play,” Laperriere continued, “and to beat them, we’re going to have to be disciplined and manage the puck like they will.”

― with files from Patrick Williams

In yesterday’s Stanley Cup Playoff action, 2022 Calder Cup champion Pyotr Kochetkov made 31 saves to backstop Carolina to a 5-4 win over New Jersey in double-overtime, clinching the series four games to one... Two-time AHL All-Star Linus Ullmark made 29 saves as Ottawa shut out Toronto, 4-0... Brett Howden scored at 4:05 of overtime to give Vegas a 3-2 win over Minnesota and a 3-2 series lead... Mattias Janmark scored the go-ahead goal with 12:48 to play and 2018 Calder Cup champion Calvin Pickard made 21 saves for his third consecutive win as Edmonton defeated Los Angeles, 3-1.