AHL Morning Skate: May 4, 2025

A1-Hershey Bears vs. A5-Lehigh Valley Phantoms
Game 3 – Today, 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

GAME NOTES
The Phantoms host the Bears in a pivotal Game 3 of their Atlantic Division semifinal series this evening after squaring the series with a 3-1 win on Friday... Zayde Wisdom (2-1-3) scored two shorthanded goals in the third period of Game 2 to lift Lehigh Valley to the victory; both goals came while Hershey was on a power play with a chance to tie the score... Wisdom is the first AHL player with two SHG in one postseason game since Abbotsford’s Arshdeep Bains on Apr. 28, 2023... Game 2 was scoreless until Anthony Richard (3-1-4) scored for the Phantoms with 1:19 to play in the second period, ending Lehigh Valley’s series-opening goal-less streak at 98 minutes and 41 seconds... Parker Gahagen (3-1, 1.76, .936) stopped 19 of 20 shots in the win... Alex Limoges (1-1-2) scored the only Bears goal in Game 2, his seventh career Calder Cup Playoff tally... Hunter Shepard (1-1, 1.54, .927) made his 42nd consecutive playoff start for Hershey on Friday night... The Bears are 1-for-10 on the power play in the series and 4-for-47 (8.5 percent) against the Phantoms this season.

A2-Charlotte Checkers vs. A3-Providence Bruins
Game 2 – Tonight, 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

GAME NOTES
The Bruins and Checkers square off in Game 2 of their Atlantic Division semifinal series this evening after Charlotte’s league-leading penalty killing unit led them to a 5-1 win in Friday’s series opener... The Checkers, who ranked first in the AHL in both PK efficiency (86.6 percent) and shorthanded goals (16) during the regular season, were down a man just 3:33 into Game 1 before John Leonard and Justin Sourdif scored 37 seconds apart for an early 2-0 lead... Michael Benning, Ben Steeves and C.J. Smith also scored in the contest for Charlotte... Kaapo Kähkönen stopped 27 of 28 shots in his first postseason action since he was with Rauman Lukko in Finland’s Liiga in 2018... Oliver Wahlstrom (2-0-2) scored for the Bruins, who lost their eighth consecutive Game 1 – all on home ice – going back to 2017... Michael DiPietro (2-2, 1.77, .916) made 24 saves for Providence... The Bruins were 23-8-4-1 at Amica Mutual Pavilion during the regular season, and have not lost consecutive home games since Nov. 15 and 17.

N1-Laval Rocket vs. N5-Cleveland Monsters
Game 3 – Today, 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

GAME NOTES
The Rocket have Cleveland on the ropes heading into this afternoon’s Game 3 of their North Division semifinal series... Laval is looking to close out the Monsters are winning twice in Cleveland, including a 4-0 win in Game 2 on Friday night... Jacob Fowler (2-0, 1.00, .956) made 20 saves for his first professional shutout, winning for the fourth time in five starts since joining the Rocket from Boston College last month... Jared Davidson (1-0-1), Lucas Condotta (1-0-1), Alex Barré-Boulet (1-2-3) and Gustav Lindström (1-0-1) scored for Laval in Game 2, and Laurent Dauphin (0-3-3) added two assists... Jet Greaves (2-2, 2.73, .901) made 25 saves in Game 2 for Cleveland... The Monsters won three games when facing elimination in last year’s conference finals against Hershey, forcing a Game 7 after trailing the series three games to none... Thirteen of Laval’s 18 skaters have recorded a point already in the series... The Rocket have outscored the Monsters 21-7 in six meetings this season, including three shutout wins... Cleveland is 8-1-0-0 in Canada this season, including a series-clinching victory at Toronto last weekend.

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 3 – Wednesday, 8:00 ET,
(Rockford leads series, 2-0)

Game 1 – Thu., May 1 – Rockford 3, MILWAUKEE 2 (OT) | Recap
Game 2 – Sat., May 3 – Rockford 6, MILWAUKEE 1 | Recap
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

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

P2-Abbotsford Canucks vs. P4-Coachella Valley Firebirds
Game 3 – Wednesday, 10:00 ET,
(Series tied, 1-1)

Game 1 – Thu., May 1 – Abbotsford 3, COACHELLA VALLEY 1 | Recap
Game 2 – Sat., May 3 – COACHELLA VALLEY 5, Abbotsford 4 (OT) | Recap
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

P1-Colorado Eagles vs. P6-San Jose Barracuda
Game 2 – Tonight, 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

GAME NOTES
The Eagles survived a late scare in San Jose on Friday night and take a 1-0 series lead into Game 2 at Tech CU Arena this evening... Colorado got two empty-net goals to seal a 6-3 victory after the Barracuda had cut a three-goal deficit down to one late in the third period of Game 1... Jayson Megna (2g, 1a) and Tye Felhaber (1g, 2a) tallied three points each for the Eagles, who were playing their first game of the postseason following their first-round bye... Colorado got seven points from its defensemen on Friday night, including goals by Calle Rosén and John Ludvig and two assists from Jacob MacDonald... Coming off a regular season during which he finished fifth in the AHL with a 2.12 goals-against average, Trent Miner made 25 saves in his first career Calder Cup Playoff start... Filip Bystedt (2-0-2) scored shorthanded for San Jose, and Collin Graf (2-0-2) and Colin White (1-3-4) pulled the Barracuda to within 4-3 with 2:19 to play... Yaroslav Askarov (2-1, 1.69, .928) stopped 18 of 22 shots for the Barracuda... Colorado’s six goals on Friday were the most by a team in any game to that point this postseason, matched by Rockford last night.

Cleveland Monsters head coach Trent Vogelhuber thinks that his team has a lot more to give.

They’ll have to show that as they attempt to fend off elimination today in Game 3 against Laval at Place Bell. Cleveland dropped the first two games at home in the best-of-five series. The series winner will face the Rochester Americans in the North Division Finals.

Cleveland scored twice in Game 1 but was shut out in Game 2. In six games against the Rocket this season, the Monsters have totaled seven goals.

“It’s hard to get offense on them,” Vogelhuber said after Friday’s 4-0 loss. “There’s no secret. You just have to work for it. It’s hard, and it hurts.”

Vogelhuber wants more second-chance opportunities from his players.

“That’s where the offense is going to come. You get frustrated because...it doesn’t go in and then you can veer away a little bit. You’ve got to be willing to pay a price to score a goal.”

The Rocket goaltending picture got stronger when the Montreal Canadiens returned Cayden Primeau to Laval yesterday. Primeau had been backing up Jakub Dobeš with the Habs, who were eliminated from the Stanley Cup Playoffs by Washington earlier this week.

Primeau originally joined the Rocket just after the Christmas break and went 21-2-2 with a 1.96 goals-against average and .927 save percentage, earning a share of the Harry “Hap” Holmes Memorial Award as Laval tied Syracuse for the fewest goals against in the regular season.

Primeau joins rookie Jacob Fowler, who has won Laval’s first two playoff games against Cleveland.

Bears head coach Todd Nelson has a deep list of reserves, and he is making it clear that he is willing to make lineup changes in the team’s series against the Phantoms. After a 3-1 home loss in Game 2, Hershey will need to win at least once at PPL Center to keep its season going.

Defensemen Brad Hunt and Andrew Perrott and forwards Garrett Roe, Brennan Saulnier and Dalton Smith are among the options that Nelson has, along with several prospects who have joined the team in recent weeks.

“We’ll talk about personnel first,” Nelson said after Game 2. “Make some adjustments with that. We’ll talk about it as a staff.”

After they managed just 20 shots and allowed two shorthanded goals in the loss, Nelson said the Phantoms outworked his team.

“We’ll have to look at guys who want to put the work boots on,” said Nelson. “That’s what it comes down to. They (the Phantoms) came in determined right from the drop of the puck. They’re a good hockey team. Make no bones about it. I don’t care where they finished in the standings.”

“We played Phantoms hockey,” head coach Ian Laperriere said after Friday’s Game 2. “And we played Hershey Bears hockey. I’m not ashamed of saying that I’m taking pages out of his (Nelson’s) book.”

Laperriere has often praised how Hershey plays the game and has outlined that his team needs to model itself after the Bears. They did that – and then some – in Game 2. The Phantoms’ size and their willingness to use it frustrated Hershey. Lehigh Valley made smart puck plays and established a playoff style. Moreover, they did it across all three periods.

“We all know jobs have to be done,” said Zayde Wisdom, whose two shorthanded goals in Game 2 sparked the Phantoms, “and those are big moments in the game. If we can get that done, that helps us turn the tide.”

Now the challenge is to keep doing that back on home ice.

“We know what we’re facing,” said Laperriere, before adding with a smile, “the best team for the past 30 years.”

― with files from Patrick Williams

In yesterday’s Stanley Cup Playoff action, Mikko Rantanen’s third-period hat trick lifted Dallas to a 4-2 win over Colorado in Game 7 of the teams’ first-round playoff series... Rantanen spent the 2015-16 season with the AHL’s San Antonio Rampage, earning a trip to the AHL All-Star Classic and sharing the Dudley (Red) Garrett Memorial Award as the AHL’s outstanding rookie with Frank Vatrano.