AHL Morning Skate: May 31, 2025

N1-Laval Rocket vs. A2-Charlotte Checkers
Game 3 – Sunday, 4:00 ET,
(Charlotte leads series, 2-0)

Game 1 – Wed., May 28 – Charlotte 5, LAVAL 1 | Recap/Highlights
Game 2 – Thu., May 29 – Charlotte 5, LAVAL 2 | Recap/Highlights
Game 3 – Sun., June 1 – Laval at Charlotte, 4:00
Game 4 – Tue., June 3 – Laval at Charlotte, 7:00
*Game 5 – Thu., June 5 – Laval at Charlotte, 7:00
*Game 6 – Sat., June 7 – Charlotte at Laval, 3:00
*Game 7 – Sun., June 8 – Charlotte at Laval, 3:00
*if necessary... All times Eastern

GAME NOTES:
Abbotsford Centre will be rocking again as the Canucks host the Stars in Game 2 of the Western Conference Finals tonight... Christian Wolanin scored 5:51 into overtime to give Abbotsford a 3-2 win in Game 1 of the best-of-seven series on Thursday night... It was the first goal of these playoffs for Wolanin (1-1-2), who missed seven games due to injury earlier in the postseason... Ty Mueller (2-6-8) tallied a goal and an assist in Game 1, his second straight two-point game... Guillaume Brisebois (2-1-3) also scored, and Linus Karlsson (7-5-12) added two assists... Artūrs Šilovs (9-3, 1.74, .937) stopped 36 of 38 shots in Game 1, including all 13 he faced during the third period and overtime... Kole Lind (7-5-12) opened the scoring on Thursday with an assist from Cameron Hughes (3-12-15); Lind (21-33-54) and Hughes (7-47-54) have combined for 108 points in 53 games over the last three postseasons... In his fourth game back from a two-month injury absence, Antonio Stranges (1-0-1) scored his first goal since Mar. 2... Richmond, B.C., native Trey Taylor (1-5-6) registered two assists for the Stars... Remi Poirier (4-2, 2.01, .928) finished with 43 saves, tying his season and AHL career high... Both teams were 0-for-1 on the power play in Game 1... The Canucks have won all four of their Game 1’s this postseason, but are 0-3 so far in Game 2’s... Abbotsford is now 3-5 all-time in playoff overtime games, but Thursday’s contest was the first of those eight to be played at home... Texas fell to 22-12 in Calder Cup overtime, including four straight road losses.

If Thursday’s Game 1 was any indication, the Canucks and Stars could be in for a long Western Conference Finals series.

“The term ‘resilient’ comes to mind for our group,” Canucks head coach Manny Malhotra said after his team’s overtime victory. “There was a lot of frustration that set in throughout our game. They (the Stars) are a very high-skilled team. They were able to get some sustained pressure on us.

“There’s obviously things we want to clean up but the major takeaway is we got the job done.”

The Stars’ Neil Graham sounded like a coach who was prepared for a long battle.

“It’s going to be a great series,” Graham said after Game 1. “Frankly, I think the fans got their money’s worth. It was a pretty entertaining hockey game. We’re going to have to be better for the next one, as I’m sure they will be as well.”

Remi Poirier made 43 saves in the loss, but was visibly upset after allowing the winning goal to sneak through.

“Remi was great,” Graham said. “There’s nothing to beat himself up over. He made some outstanding saves. We gave up some greater quality chances than we’ve been accustomed to and he was right there to answer the bell. It’s a team sport for a reason. Without him, that game doesn’t get to overtime.”

After missing nearly six months due to injury, forward MacKenzie Entwistle was back in the lineup for the Checkers on Thursday night.

Head coach Geordie Kinnear inserted the sixth-year pro on a line between Riley Bezeau and Jesse Puljujärvi.

Entwistle skated in 193 NHL games with Chicago before joining the Panthers as a free agent last offseason. He appeared in seven regular-season games with Charlotte, with his last appearance coming Dec. 7 vs. Rochester.

― with files from Patrick Williams

In the Stanley Cup Playoffs on Thursday night, Corey Perry, Mattias Janmark and Kasperi Kapanen scored to help Edmonton to a 6-3 win over Dallas, clinching the Clarence Campbell Bowl as the NHL’s Western Conference champions... Mattias Ekholm recorded an assist in his first game of the postseason... The Oilers will face Florida in a Stanley Cup Final rematch beginning Wednesday in Edmonton.