AHL Morning Skate: May 7, 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 – Tonight, 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

GAME NOTES
The Checkers are on home ice tonight for the first time in 24 days, and they have brought a 2-0 series lead with them after opening their Atlantic Division semifinal series with a pair of victories in Providence... Kaapo Kähkönen (2-0, 0.50, .983) stopped 59 of 60 shots over the first two contests, including a 32-save shutout in a 2-0 win in Game 2 on Sunday evening... The Bruins owned a 25-7 advantage in shots on goal over the final 30 minutes of Game 2, including 15-2 in the third period... Wilmer Skoog (1-0-1) and Ben Steeves (2-0-2) provided the Checkers’ offense on Sunday... Michael DiPietro (2-3, 1.84, .920) made 27 saves for the Bruins, and has allowed just nine goals on 112 shots in these playoffs.... Providence is looking to avoid being swept in a playoff series of three games or more for just the second time in franchise history; the Bruins lost a best-of-five to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton in three straight in 2016... Providence is 0-for-8 on the power play in the series after going 4-for-12 in the first round against Springfield... The Bruins are also a perfect 17-for-17 on the penalty kill this postseason, and have successfully killed off 26 straight opportunities going back to the regular season.

N1-Laval Rocket vs. N5-Cleveland Monsters
(Laval wins series, 3-1)

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 – LAVAL 4, Cleveland 1 | Recap

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 – Tonight, 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

GAME NOTES
The IceHogs return home with a 2-0 lead in their best-of-five series and a chance to eliminate the division champion Admirals tonight... Joey Anderson (4-2-6) registered a natural hat trick as part of a four-point night in Saturday’s 6-1 victory in Game 2, the most lopsided home loss in Milwaukee’s Calder Cup Playoff history... Drew Commesso (4-0, 0.96, .969) made 30 saves in the victory, and has now stopped 124 of 128 shots this postseason... Samuel Savoie (1-2-3) recorded a goal and two assists for Rockford on Saturday, and Brett Seney (1-1-2) and Aidan Thompson (1-2-3) tallied a goal and an assist apiece... Nineteen of the 20 IceHogs who have appeared in a playoff game have tallied at least one point – including Commesso, who had an assist in Game 2... Anderson’s hat trick was the fourth of his AHL career and the first ever in the postseason by a Rockford player... Marc Del Gaizo (1-0-1) scored the only goal for Milwaukee in Game 2... The Admirals have lost back-to-back games (excluding shootouts) for the first time since Jan. 15 at Charlotte and Jan. 18 at Texas... Matt Murray (0-2, 4.00, .826) had won his last eight starts in the regular season before the IceHogs handed him losses in Games 1 and 2.

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

P1-Colorado Eagles vs. P6-San Jose Barracuda
Game 4 – Tonight, 9:05 ET,
(Colorado leads series, 2-1)

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 – COLORADO 3, San Jose 2 (OT) | Recap
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
Colorado can close out its Pacific Division semifinal series with another win against San Jose, less than 24 hours after a pivotal 3-2 overtime victory in Game 3 last night... Matthew Phillips (1-4-5) scored the winning goal off a 4-on-2 rush with 5:02 gone in the extra session to give the Eagles the 2-1 lead in the best-of-five series... It was the second career postseason overtime goal for Phillips, who has combined with linemates Tye Felhaber (2-3-5) and Jayson Megna (3-3-6) for 16 points through the first three games of the series... Trent Miner (2-1, 2.28, .926) made 26 saves for the Eagles last night, improving to 13-3-3 on home ice this season... Colorado is now 5-1 in Calder Cup Playoff overtime games at Blue Arena... Filip Bystedt (3-0-3) and Pavol Regenda (3-0-3) scored for San Jose in Game 3, with Regenda’s extra-attacker goal tying the game with 1:35 left in regulation... Bystedt and Regenda have combined for six goals this postseason; the rest of the Barracuda roster has five goals... Collin Graf (2-3-5) recorded two assists in the loss... Yaroslav Askarov (3-1, 1.60, .935) made 25 saves before leaving the game with 2:08 gone in overtime; Gabriel Carriere made his professional playoff debut in relief after making 22 appearances with San Jose (10-9-3, 3.06, .894) during the regular season... The Eagles have won 11 of their last 12 home games against the Barracuda going back to December of 2021.

P2-Abbotsford Canucks vs. P4-Coachella Valley Firebirds
Game 3 – Tonight, 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

GAME NOTES
The Canucks and Firebirds head north for Game 3 of their Pacific Division semifinal at Abbotsford Centre tonight... Jacob Melanson (1-2-3) scored 4:45 into overtime on Saturday as Coachella Valley evened the series with a 5-4 win in Game 2... The Firebirds got first-period goals from defensemen Gustav Olofsson (1-0-1), Ty Nelson (1-0-1) and Max Lajoie (1-0-1) to take a 3-0 lead on Saturday, but the Canucks rallied and took a 4-3 lead on two goals in the third period by Jujhar Khaira (2-2-4)... Ben Meyers (1-2-3) scored for Coachella Valley with 4:02 left in regulation to force OT... Nikke Kokko (3-1) turned aside 26 shots in the Game 2 win, while Nikita Tolopilo made his playoff debut in relief of Artūrs Šilovs (3-1, 2.31, .912) and stopped 21 of 23 shots... The Canucks are now 1-5 all-time in playoff overtime games; the Firebirds improved to 5-5... Neither team has allowed a power-play goal this postseason; Abbotsford is 14-for-14, and Coachella Valley is 10-for-10.

Game 2 of their series against the Canucks on Saturday brought considerable emotional swings for the Firebirds.

This is not the same team that went to the Calder Cup Finals the past two years. Now that the parent Seattle Kraken are able to cycle in more and more prospects, this year’s club has players who haven’t been through long, grinding playoff battles at this level.

So when the Firebirds took a 3-0 first-period lead only to see Abbotsford respond with four straight goals, the potential existed for doubts to creep in.

But head coach Derek Laxdal liked how his players handled those swings in the game. After falling behind 4-3, the Firebirds tied the contest with 4:02 to go before Jacob Melanson wrestled away the game with his overtime winner.

“I give our group a lot of credit,” Laxdal said following the win. “We were very calm on the bench. We knew what we needed to do.”

The Rockford IceHogs have something a bit rare for the Calder Cup Playoffs: a bit of breathing room.

They also have a chance to sweep the Milwaukee Admirals tonight on home ice. The IceHogs won twice on the road against the Central Division champions. But IceHogs forward Joey Anderson, who had a hat trick and four points in Game 2, is well aware that his team can expect Milwaukee’s fiercest pushback yet.

“Got to expect that it’s going to be physical,” Anderson said Tuesday. “I’ve got to imagine that first period they’re going to be looking to bully us, kind of like they’ve tried to in the last two games. I think we go out there, and we just continue to forecheck hard, play our game, not overcomplicate things, and be emotional but not dive into that after-the-play-stuff.

Rockford’s no-frills approach has been efficient and effective this postseason, including in the team’s opening-round series against the Chicago Wolves.

“It’s been awesome,” Anderson continued. “Every guy is buying into it, and it’s not been one line, two lines doing it… it’s all 20 guys in the lineup. We’re simple, forechecking, efficient.”

― with files from Patrick Williams

In yesterday’s Stanley Cup Playoff action, Jaccob Slavin scored 3:06 into overtime to give Carolina a 2-1 win over Washington... 2023-24 AHL rookie of the year Logan Stankoven scored the tying goal for the Hurricanes in the third period... 2023 Calder Cup champion Aliaksei Protas scored his first career Stanley Cup Playoff goal for the Capitals... Zach Hyman scored the winning goal with 3:02 left in regulation to send Edmonton to a 4-2 win over Vegas... 2018 Calder Cup champion Calvin Pickard made 15 saves for his fifth consecutive win.