AHL Morning Skate: May 6, 2025

A1-Hershey Bears vs. A5-Lehigh Valley Phantoms
Game 4 – Friday, 7:05 ET,
(Lehigh Valley leads series, 2-1)

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 – LEHIGH VALLEY 4, Hershey 2 | Recap
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 3 – Wednesday, 7:00 ET,
(Charlotte leads series, 2-0)

Game 1 – Fri., May 2 – Charlotte 5, PROVIDENCE 1 | Recap
Game 2 – Sun., May 4 – Charlotte 2, PROVIDENCE 0 | Recap
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 4 – Tonight, 7:00 ET,
(Laval leads series, 2-1)

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 3, LAVAL 1 | Recap
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 get another shot at finishing off the Monsters as they host Game 4 at Place Bell this evening... Cleveland staved off elimination on Sunday afternoon with a 3-1 victory behind two goals from Dylan Gambrell (2-0-2) and 36 saves from Jet Greaves (3-2, 2.43, .917)... Roman Ahcan (1-2-3) scored a shorthanded goal and added two assists in Game 3 after going scoreless over his first four outings this postseason... Laurent Dauphin (1-3-4) scored the only goal for Laval on Sunday, breaking up Greaves’ shutout bid with 6:34 left in the third period... Greaves is 4-1 with a 1.66 goals-against average and a .946 save percentage in five career starts when Cleveland is facing elimination... Returned to the Rocket by the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday, Cayden Primeau stopped 22 shots in Game 3 but took just his third regulation loss in 26 starts all season... Oliver Kapanen, the Canadiens’ second-round pick in the 2021 NHL Draft, made his AHL debut for Laval in Game 3... Laval is looking to celebrating a series win at home for the first time; the Rocket’s wins over Syracuse and Rochester in 2022 were both clinched on the road.

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 3 – Friday, 8:00 ET,
(Texas leads series, 2-0)

Game 1 – Tue., Apr. 29 – Texas 4, GRAND RAPIDS 0 | Recap
Game 2 – Mon., May 5 – Texas 4, GRAND RAPIDS 2 | Recap
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 3 – Tonight, 9:05 ET,
(Series tied, 1-1)

Game 1 – Fri., May 2 – Colorado 6, SAN JOSE 3 | Recap
Game 2 – Sun., May 4 – SAN JOSE 2, Colorado 1 (OT) | Recap
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 and Barracuda go back to work tonight with their best-of-five Pacific Division semifinal series all square at one game apiece... San Jose earned a 2-1 victory in Game 2 on Sunday thanks to a Danil Gushchin power-play goal 27 seconds into overtime... Gushchin led the AHL with 14 power-play goals during the regular season... The goal also snapped an 0-for-14 slide with the man advantage for the Barracuda, who ranked first in the league (24.0 percent) during the regular season... Pavol Regenda (2-0-2) picked up a shorthanded goal for San Jose late in regulation; the Barracuda have scored a SHG in two straight games against an Eagles team that only gave up three all regular season... Calle Rosén (2-1-3) broke a scoreless tie with 6:47 left in the second period; the 2018 Calder Cup champion (Toronto) has 9-11-20 in 37 career AHL playoff games... Tonight is the Eagles’ first game at Blue Arena since Apr. 12; they finished the regular season with a three-game road trip before opening the playoffs in San Jose... Colorado was a league-best 26-6-2-2 on home ice this season, outscoring their guests 149-89; one of those six regulation losses was a 6-3 setback against the Barracuda on Apr. 4.

The San Jose Barracuda have become a headache for their opponents this postseason.

They took out the Ontario Reign in a two-game sweep of the teams’ first-round series. Now it’s the division champion Colorado Eagles who are having to contend with a stubborn Barracuda team. San Jose has had this success without injured forward Andrew Poturalski, who led the AHL in regular-season scoring. Danil Gushchin, who missed the Ontario series, is back and delivered the winning tally in San Jose’s 2-1 overtime win in Game 2 on Sunday night.

And then there is Yaroslav Askarov, who held one of the AHL’s top offenses to one goal on 28 shots in Game 2.

“He was great,” Barracuda head coach John McCarthy told reporters. “He won us the game.”

As the parent Sharks continue to rebuild, players like Askarov and Gushchin rank as crucial pieces of the organization’s long-term plan. So does forward Quentin Musty, who made his playoff debut Sunday. Taken 26th overall in the 2023 NHL Draft, Musty had 30 goals and 59 points in only 33 games for Sudbury of the Ontario Hockey League this season.

McCarthy liked what he saw from the 19-year-old Musty, who skated in three regular-season games for the Barracuda after Sudbury’s season ended.

“I think he’s an important part of our organization and wanted to expose him to a playoff game, a playoff-style atmosphere,” McCarthy explained. “I thought he responded really well. He used his size. Has an ability to finish, which was the thinking behind putting him in, and I thought he handled it really well.”

With the Colorado Avalanche exiting the Stanley Cup Playoffs, the Eagles added some goaltending depth Monday.

The Avalanche reassigned Kevin Mandolese to the Eagles after he had served as the NHL team’s third goaltender during their Stanley Cup Playoff series against Dallas. Mandolese, 24, played 19 games for the Eagles and was 11-6-0 with a 2.87 goals-against average and .903 save percentage this season. His last appearance with the Eagles came April 12 in a home start against Henderson.

Mandolese joins Trent Miner, who has started the first two games of this series, and Adam Scheel as Colorado’s goaltenders. The Eagles have also had former University of Michigan netminder Jake Barczewski up from ECHL Utah.

― with files from Patrick Williams

In yesterday’s Stanley Cup Playoff action, 2016 AHL All-Star William Nylander recorded two goals and an assist to lead Toronto to a 5-4 win over Florida in Game 1 of their Second Round series... Chris Tanev added a goal and an assist for the Maple Leafs... Uvis Balinskis scored his first postseason goal for the Panthers.