AHL Morning Skate: June 19, 2025

A2-Charlotte Checkers vs. P2-Abbotsford Canucks
Game 4 – Tonight, 10:00 ET
, SiriusXM NHL Network Radio
(Abbotsford leads series, 2-1)

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 – ABBOTSFORD 6, Charlotte 1 | Recap/Highlights
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 4 NOTES
Abbotsford scored five times in the final 16 minutes of Game 3 on Tuesday night and took a 2-1 series lead with a 6-1 victory over Charlotte... Linus Karlsson (11-11-22) broke a 1-1 tie with 3:58 gone in the third period before the Canucks tacked on four goals in a span of 5:51... Arshdeep Bains (5-14-19) scored twice and added two assists, and Karlsson chipped in three assists in addition to his league-leading 11th playoff goal... Bains and Karlsson became the first skaters to record four points in a Calder Cup Finals game since Chicago’s Andrew Poturalski (1g, 3a) and Stefan Noesen (4a) in Game 2 against Springfield in 2022... Sammy Blais (5-12-17), Phil Di Giuseppe (6-5-11) and Tristen Nielsen (5-3-8) also scored for Abbotsford in Game 3... Artūrs Šilovs (14-6, 1.94, .932) stopped 28 shots, and now has a .944 save percentage in the series (seven goals against on 125 shots)... Oliver Okuliar (4-2-6) opened the scoring for Charlotte on Tuesday, the 11th time in 15 playoff contests that the Checkers have scored the game’s first goal... The Canucks scored on both of their power plays in Game 3 and are now 5-for-12 in the series against a Charlotte club that had allowed four goals in 41 times shorthanded prior to the Finals... Abbotsford also killed off all three Checkers power plays in Game 3; they have not allowed a power-play goal in 33 chances on home ice this postseason... Following their five-goal outburst in Game 3, the Canucks are now outscoring their opponents 25-8 in the third period this postseason... Tuesday’s loss ended a stretch of 10 consecutive road victories for Charlotte, dating back to early April... The Checkers allowed six goals in a game only twice all regular season, in a 7-6 win at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton on opening night (Oct. 12) and a 6-4 loss to the Penguins on Dec. 11... Attendance for Game 3 was 7,052 – the second-largest crowd ever for an AHL game at Abbotsford Centre.

The Calder Cup Finals are all about adjustments, and Canucks head coach Manny Malhotra had a few of his own for Game 3 on Tuesday night.

After missing five games, forward Jonathan Lekkerimäki re-entered the Abbotsford lineup, replacing Ty Glover. Lekkerimäki, selected 15th overall in the 2022 NHL Draft by the Vancouver Canucks, played 24 NHL games this season and also had 19 goals in 36 regular-season games with Abbotsford.

Lekkerimäki went on the right side of a line with Ty Mueller and Phil Di Giuseppe. Arshdeep Bains took Di Giuseppe’s spot on the left side of Abbotsford’s top line with Max Sasson and Calder Cup Playoff scoring leader Linus Karlsson. Danila Klimovich slid to a line with captain Chase Wouters and Tristen Nielsen.

One line that stayed intact was the trio of Sammy Blais, Jujhar Khaira and Nate Smith. Those three had caused Charlotte considerable trouble in Games 1 and 2.

Charlotte head coach Geordie Kinnear had his own changes to make as well.

Up front, Riley Bezeau and C.J. Smith re-entered the lineup. Kyle Criscuolo and Brett Chorske did not dress, so Oliver Okuliar and MacKenzie Entwistle each centered a line. Will Lockwood also moved from the left side of Charlotte’s fourth line to the right side of a line with Smith and Justin Sourdif.

On the back end, Tobias Bjornfot could not go after departing Game 2 following a heavy hit. Bjornfot’s absence brought Dennis Cesana back into action. Matt Kiersted and Mikulas Hovorka remained together, but Cesana paired with Trevor Carrick while Marek Alscher and Mike Benning were put together.

― with files from Patrick Williams