AHL Morning Skate: May 28, 2025

GAME NOTES:
The Eastern Conference Finals begin at Place Bell tonight with the Laval Rocket hosting the Charlotte Checkers in Game 1 of the best-of-seven series... The Rocket were the only one of the AHL’s four division champions to make it through to the conference finals, closing out Rochester with a 5-0 victory on Sunday afternoon... The Checkers have been off since last Wednesday, when they completed a three-game sweep of Hershey... Laval is in the conference finals for the second time in four years; they lost in seven games to Springfield in 2022... Joshua Roy (3-5-8) led all Rocket skaters with seven points in the division finals, including goals in each of the last three games... Alex Barré-Boulet (3-7-10) is Laval’s top point-getter in the postseason, and now has 9-23-32 in 31 career Calder Cup Playoff games... Cayden Primeau (3-1, 2.03, .924) had a .936 save percentage in four appearances last round against Rochester, and is now 13-1-1 (1.54, .941) on home ice this season... Charlotte is 3-0 on the road this postseason, including last week’s series-clinching victory in Hershey... Overall, the Checkers have won eight straight road games since a 4-0 loss in Providence on Apr. 4... Charlotte has reached the conference finals for the third time in team history (2011, 2019), but this is the first-ever trip to the AHL’s final four for a Florida Panthers affiliate... The Checkers are averaging a league-low 1.88 goals against per game in the postseason, and they are also second in scoring at 3.38 goals for per game... Rasmus Asplund (4-2-6) had three goals and two assists in the division finals against Hershey... John Leonard (3-3-6) carries a four-game scoring streak (2-2-4) into this series... Kaapo Kähkönen (6-2, 1.85, .918) has gone the distance in the Charlotte cage so far this postseason... Laval is 8-for-33 on the power play (24.2 percent) in the playoffs... The Checkers have outscored their opponents while down a man this postseason, scoring three shorthanded goals while allowing just two power-play goals in 26 chances (92.3 percent)... Tonight is the first meeting between the Rocket and the Checkers since Dec. 29, 2018.

P2-Abbotsford Canucks vs. C2-Texas Stars
Game 1 – Thursday, 10:00 ET,

Game 1 – Thu., May 29 – Texas at Abbotsford, 10:00
Game 2 – Sat., May 31 – Texas at Abbotsford, 10:00
Game 3 – Mon., June 2 – Abbotsford at Texas, 8:00
Game 4 – Wed., June 4 – Abbotsford at Texas, 8:00
*Game 5 – Fri., June 6 – Abbotsford at Texas, 8:00
*Game 6 – Sun., June 8 – Texas at Abbotsford, 9:00
*Game 7 – Mon., June 9 – Texas at Abbotsford, 10:00
*if necessary… All times Eastern

The Checkers are hoping to have defenseman Matt Kiersted back in their lineup soon. Head coach Geordie Kinnear sounded an optimistic note before tonight’s Game 1 in Laval.

Kiersted has missed Charlotte’s last five games. During the regular season, the fourth-year pro recorded 29 points and a league-best plus-34 rating in 64 games and was one of the foundational pieces of the Charlotte defense corps. He also appeared in two NHL games with Florida.

“He looked pretty good out there,” Kinnear said Monday at practice. “Yeah, we’re excited to have him back.”

While the Checkers last played a week ago, the Rocket have a shorter turnaround time after going the distance in their North Division Finals against Rochester.

After ending the series with a 5-0 home win on Sunday afternoon, the Rocket took Monday off and went right back to work yesterday to ready themselves for Charlotte.

Like the Checkers, Laval has been dealing with injuries on the back end. Defenseman Tyler Wotherspoon missed the last two games of the Rochester series; he had 18 points and a plus-19 rating while skating in all 72 games during the regular season. Noel Hoefenmayer and Zack Hayes have stepped in to stabilize the Laval blue line.

― with files from Patrick Williams

In the Stanley Cup Playoffs yesterday, Corey Perry tallied a goal and an assist and Stuart Skinner made 28 saves as Edmonton defeated Dallas, 4-1, to take a 3-1 series lead in the Western Conference Final... Perry made his professional debut with the Cincinnati Mighty Ducks during the 2004 Calder Cup Playoffs.