AHL Morning Skate: May 3, 2025

A1-Hershey Bears vs. A5-Lehigh Valley Phantoms
Game 3 – Sunday, 5:05 ET,
(Series tied, 1-1)

Game 1 – Wed., Apr. 30 – HERSHEY 3, Lehigh Valley 0 | Recap
Game 2 – Fri., May 2 – Lehigh Valley 3, HERSHEY 1 | Recap
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

A2-Charlotte Checkers vs. A3-Providence Bruins
Game 2 – Sunday, 7:05 ET,
(Charlotte leads series, 1-0)

Game 1 – Fri., May 2 – Charlotte 5, PROVIDENCE 1 | Recap
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

N1-Laval Rocket vs. N5-Cleveland Monsters
Game 3 – Sunday, 3:00 ET,
(Laval leads series, 2-0)

Game 1 – Wed., Apr. 30 – Laval 3, CLEVELAND 2 | Recap
Game 2 – Fri., May 2 – Laval 4, CLEVELAND 0 | Recap
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
(Rochester wins series, 3-0)

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 4, SYRACUSE 0 | Recap

C1-Milwaukee Admirals vs. C5-Rockford IceHogs
Game 2 – Tonight, 7:00 ET,
(Rockford leads series, 1-0)

Game 1 – Thu., May 1 – Rockford 3, MILWAUKEE 2 (OT) | Recap
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

GAME NOTES
A late two-goal comeback on Thursday night gave the IceHogs a 1-0 series lead heading into Game 2 of their series in Milwaukee this evening... Colton Dach returned to the lineup and scored 12 seconds into overtime to give Rockford a 3-2 victory in the opener, a game which the Admirals had led 2-0 with just over eight minutes to play... Dach, who missed six weeks with an elbow injury sustained in an NHL game with the Blackhawks, scored the third-fastest OT goal in Calder Cup Playoff history... Paul Ludwinski (1-0-1) and Gerry Mayhew (3-0-3) scored late in regulation to pull Rockford even... Cal O’Reilly and Fedor Svechkov scored 15 seconds apart in the opening minute of the second period to give the Admirals the lead after a scoreless opening frame... Svechkov was playing his first game for Milwaukee since Dec. 30; the 2021 first-round draft pick had 8-9-17 in 52 NHL games with Nashville this season... Drew Commesso (3-0, 0.95, .969) made 28 saves in Game 1 and has stopped 94 of 97 shots so far this postseason... Matt Murray finished with 25 saves for Milwaukee in Thursday’s loss... The IceHogs were 1-27-2-0 during the regular season when trailing after two periods; the lone win was a 5-4 shootout victory over Milwaukee on Feb. 1... Excluding shootouts, the Admirals have not lost consecutive games since Jan. 15-18.

P2-Abbotsford Canucks vs. P4-Coachella Valley Firebirds
Game 2 – Tonight, 9:00 ET,
(Abbotsford leads series, 1-0)

Game 1 – Thu., May 1 – Abbotsford 3, COACHELLA VALLEY 1 | Recap
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

GAME NOTES
The Canucks scored three goals in a span of 7:19 on Thursday night and grabbed a 3-1 victory over Coachella Valley, setting up a critical Game 2 for the host Firebirds tonight... Jett Woo (1-1-2), Danila Klimovich (1-0-1) and Guillaume Brisebois (1-1-2) provided the Abbotsford offense in Game 1, and Artūrs Šilovs (3-1, 1.75, .934), after allowing a goal on the first shot he faced, stopped them all the rest of the way and finished the night with 29 saves... Ryan Winterton (1-0-1) drew into the Firebirds lineup for Game 1 after not playing in the first round against Calgary and scored 1:36 into the contest... Nikke Kokko (2-1, 1.65, .933) turned aside 25 shots for Coachella Valley in the Game 1 loss... Before Thursday, the Firebirds had never lost a home playoff game by more than a one-goal margin... It also marked just Coachella Valley’s second Game 1 loss in 11 all-time playoff series... Abbotsford improved to 19-2-0-1 in their last 22 games, and have allowed no more than one goal in nine of those contests... Both head coaches in this series won Calder Cup championships as players, the Canucks’ Manny Malhotra with Hartford in 2000 and the Firebirds’ Derek Laxdal with Springfield in 1990.

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 2 – Sunday, 9:00 ET,
(Colorado leads series, 1-0)

Game 1 – Fri., May 2 – Colorado 6, SAN JOSE 3 | Recap
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

Injuries meant the Firebirds had to go without defenseman Cale Fleury and forward Mitchell Stephens for Game 1 against the Canucks on Friday. Fleury is listed as day-to-day; Stephens, who scored three goals in two games during the first round against Calgary, is out indefinitely.

“At the end of the day, this is an opportunity for our guys that we have in the lineup to play,” head coach Derek Laxdal said after Game 1.

As Pacific Division rivals and with plenty of time to pre-scout, Game 1 did not reveal any secrets between the clubs. Still, there is a difference between video work and actually trying to handle the Canucks on the ice in the Calder Cup Playoffs.

“The one thing that I think caught us off-guard was their physicality in the first period and the activation of their ‘D,’” Laxdal continued. “They really came at us. We got caught watching a little bit, but once we jumped into the pool, we didn’t dip our toes in the water, I thought we played with them. We have to have that mindset going forward.”

The first two periods of Game 1 for the Milwaukee Admirals? Lots to like. The rest of the game? Needs some work.

And the message in the room after a 3-2 overtime loss to the IceHogs? Let it go.

Milwaukee built a 2-0 lead on home ice before it crumbled in the final 10 minutes of regulation. The end came after just 12 seconds of overtime.

Captain Cal O’Reilly preached that message after the game. “You sulk and sit on it for a bit and then tomorrow we come to the rink, it’s done. It’s playoff hockey. Things change quick. We’ve got to look at it a little bit and then forget about it.”

Said head coach Karl Taylor, “I really liked most of our game. Sometimes you like your game and you lose. We need to move on. They get an hour to be mad or disappointed and (then) we’ll shake it off and get ready for Saturday.”

Colton Dach has handled high-pressure hockey before. He represented Canada at the IIHF World Junior Championship, one of the biggest stages in the game. He went to the Memorial Cup two years ago. There are 25 NHL games with the Chicago Blackhawks to his name. Now there’s an overtime-winning goal in the Calder Cup Playoffs on his resume.

“It’s a pretty good feeling,” Dach said after his Game 1 winner. “A bunch of guys on the bench were saying a goal would erase every other emotion during the game, and they were right.”

The 22-year-old Dach was in the Rockford lineup for the first time since Feb. 23. He had not played a game since sustaining an elbow injury in an NHL game on Mar. 20. Interim head coach Mark Eaton slotted Dach on a line with captain Brett Seney and Joey Anderson for Game 1 and came away impressed with the second-year forward’s performance.

“He’s a presence out there,” Eaton said. “He can do it all, and he’s the kind of player you lean on in playoffs and games where it gets physical, it gets chippy. He has the size and physicality to be able to withstand that and still make a positive impact, and that’s what he did.”

― with files from Patrick Williams

In yesterday’s Stanley Cup Playoff action, Springfield Thunderbirds alumni Nathan Walker and Alexey Toropchenko scored during a four-goal third period as St. Louis staved off elimination with a 5-2 win over Winnipeg... Philip Broberg tallied a goal and an assist for the Blues.