AHL Morning Skate: June 17, 2025

A2-Charlotte Checkers vs. P2-Abbotsford Canucks
Game 3 – Tonight, 10:00 ET,
(Series tied, 1-1)

Game 1 – Fri., June 13 – Abbotsford 4, CHARLOTTE 3 (2OT) | Recap/Highlights
Game 2 – Sun., June 15 – CHARLOTTE 3, Abbotsford 2 (OT) | Recap/Highlights
Game 3 – Tue., June 17 – Charlotte at Abbotsford, 10:00
Game 4 – Thu., June 19 – Charlotte at Abbotsford, 10:00
Game 5 – Sat., June 21 – Charlotte at Abbotsford, 9:00
*Game 6 – Mon., June 23 – Abbotsford at Charlotte, 7:00
*Game 7 – Wed., June 25 – Abbotsford at Charlotte, 7:00
*if necessary… All times Eastern

GAME 3 NOTES
The Calder Cup Finals make their first appearance ever in western Canada tonight as Abbotsford hosts Charlotte in Game 3 of the best-of-seven championship series... The Canucks gained a split of the first two games back in North Carolina, but the Checkers grabbed the momentum with a 3-2 overtime victory on Sunday afternoon... Defenseman Mike Benning (5-4-9) scored a power-play goal 4:02 into the extra period in Game 2 to give Charlotte the win... The rest of Sunday’s scoring all came in the first period, as John Leonard (7-4-11) and Wilmer Skoog (4-3-7) scored for the Checkers and Sammy Blais (4-12-16) and Linus Karlsson (10-8-18) responded for the Canucks... Karlsson’s goal, his league-leading 10th of the postseason, was his first point in four games... Blais has 1-4-5 in his last three games for Abbotsford... Charlotte, which led 1-0 and 2-1 in Game 2, has trailed for just three minutes and 25 seconds out of more than 154 minutes played in the series so far... Artūrs Šilovs (13-6, 1.99, .930) followed his 51-save performance in Game 1 with 39 stops in Game 2 as the Checkers finished with a 42-13 advantage in shots on goal, including 26-6 after the first intermission... Kaapo Kähkönen (11-3, 1.84, .918) has faced fewer than 20 shots in a game five times in his 14 starts this postseason... The Checkers head west with a 5-0 road record during the playoffs and 10 consecutive road wins since a 4-0 loss in Providence on Apr. 4... Charlotte was 3-for-48 on the power play (6.3 percent) during the postseason before going 2-for-5 in Game 2... The Canucks have killed off all 30 of their opponents’ power plays at Abbotsford Centre during the playoffs... This is the first Calder Cup Finals series since 2015 (Manchester vs. Utica) to see the first two games both go to overtime… Shots on goal through the first two games are 96-43 for Charlotte... When a Calder Cup Finals series is tied at 1-1, the Game 3 winner has gone on to capture the title 27 of 38 times (71.1 percent).

Canucks head coach Manny Malhotra was pretty blunt after Game 2 on Sunday, a 3-2 overtime loss that left the series at 1-1.

First on Malhotra’s list was his team putting Charlotte on the power play five times.

“It comes down to the things we discussed before the game in terms of making sure we stay out of the box, our discipline,” Malhotra said. “Took far too many undisciplined penalties to be able to be successful.”

Malhotra has also emphasized strong starts with his players, and he did not see enough of that for the second consecutive game against the Checkers.

“The way we lost doesn’t sit well. We didn’t start the game on time once again,” Malhotra continued. “Give them credit. They come out with a ton of pace, and they make it difficult for you. We’re going to have to find a way to be more assertive early in games to make sure we’re not playing on our heels.”

One of the significant effects of those slow starts is the workload that it places on goaltender Artūrs Šilovs, who has faced 96 shots already in the series. After a 51-save showing in Game 1, he had to handle 16 shots – several of them grade A opportunities – in the first period Sunday afternoon.

Will Lockwood’s name does not show up on the scoresheet for the overtime goal in Game 2, but his work helped to set it up nonetheless.

With the Checkers trying to shut down an Abbotsford power play 16 seconds into overtime, Lockwood and defenseman Mike Benning teamed up to wrestle a loose puck out of the defensive zone. They worked it into the Abbotsford zone, got a stoppage of play, and the Checkers then drew a power play of their own that set up Benning’s eventual winner. Lockwood’s diligent, unheralded work impressed head coach Geordie Kinnear.

“(He’s) full of energy,” Kinnear said of Lockwood. “An elite athlete. If you look at the player that played a lot of minutes, never really lost a step at all, it would be him. But it’s because of the hard work he puts in. He just loves the game, loves to compete. He’s a very fit athlete, so he’s able to do that.”

For the second game in a row, the Checkers had to go with five defensemen after Tobias Bjornfot exited the contest injured.

“We played shorthanded pretty much for half the game,” Kinnear said. “So we’re going to have to reassess some of the lines and lineup. I’ll address that to see how the guys are.”

No matter who is in the lineup for Game 3, Kinnear expects the same from his players.

“There’s no adjustment,” he said. “If you look at it throughout the year, these guys have done it all year. They know what the recipe is. We just have to make sure we go and execute.”

Both teams made lineup changes for Game 2.

Abbotsford brought in forward Ty Glover for Dino Kambeitz. For Charlotte, forward C.J. Smith and defenseman Dennis Cesana were out, replaced by Brett Chorske and Marek Alscher.

― with files from Patrick Williams

Brad Marchand scored twice to lift Florida to a 5-2 win in Edmonton in Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Final on Saturday night... The Panthers lead the series, three games to two, heading into this evening’s Game 6... Eetu Luostarinen recorded a goal and an assist for the Panthers.