AHL Morning Skate: May 9, 2025

A1-Hershey Bears vs. A5-Lehigh Valley Phantoms
Game 4 – Tonight, 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

GAME NOTES
The Phantoms have the champs on the ropes with a chance to deliver a knockout blow tonight in Game 4 at PPL Center... Lehigh Valley and Hershey have been off since the Phantoms’ 4-2 win on Sunday evening gave them a 2-1 lead in the best-of-five series... Jacob Gaucher (2-2-4), Garrett Wilson (1-1-2), Nikita Grebenkin (1-2-3) and Olle Lycksell (2-2-4) scored for Lehigh Valley in Game 3... Gaucher’s goal was the third shorthanded goal of the series for the Phantoms, who have also gone 15-for-16 on the penalty kill... Anthony Richard (3-3-6) and Emil Andrae (0-4-4) tallied two assists each for the Phantoms in Game 3... After starter Parker Gahagen (3-1, 2.00, .929) was forced to leave the game midway through the second period, Cal Petersen came on for his first appearances of the playoffs and stopped all 15 shots he faced to earn the win... Hershey’s offense in Game 3 came on goals 1:24 apart early in the second period by but the Bears pulled ahead on goals 1:24 apart early in the second period by Andrew Perrott (in his Calder Cup Playoffs debut) and Ivan Miroshnichenko (1-1-2)... Alex Limoges (1-2-3) recorded an assist, giving him points in each of the first three games of the series and five consecutive games going back to the regular season... Hunter Shepard (1-2, 2.42, .896), making his 43rd consecutive postseason start, stopped 22 of 26 shots in Game 3... The Bears faced elimination twice during their 2023 and 2024 Calder Cup runs, winning a Game 7 over Cleveland in the conference finals last year and a Game 7 in the Calder Cup Finals in 2023... Since 2022, Hershey is 6-1 in games when trailing a playoff series.

A2-Charlotte Checkers vs. A3-Providence Bruins
Game 4 – Tonight, 7:00 ET,
(Charlotte leads series, 2-1)

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 3, CHARLOTTE 2 | Recap
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
Already with three wins when facing elimination this postseason, the Bruins try to extend their season one more time as they visit Charlotte in Game 4 of their Atlantic Division semifinal this evening... Michael DiPietro (3-3, 1.86, .928) made 38 saves and Tyler Pitlick (1-0-1) scored the go-ahead goal with 4:44 gone in the third period as Providence earned a 3-2 win on Wednesday, cutting the Checkers’ series lead to 2-1... Pitlick’s winning goal was his first point of the Calder Cup Playoffs after putting up career highs with 21 goals, 25 assists and 46 points in the regular season, and it came on what would be Providence’s only shot of the third period in Game 3... DiPietro’s 38 saves were one shy of his season high... Riley Tufte (4-2-6) scored twice for the Bruins, his second two-goal game in his last four outings; he had 0-4-4 in 12 career Calder Cup Playoff games entering this postseason... Will Lockwood (1-0-1) and Rasmus Asplund (1-0-1) scored for the Checkers in Game 3... For Asplund, it was his first tally against a goaltender since Feb. 7; each of his last six regular-season goals were empty-netters... Kaapo Kähkönen (2-1, 1.35, .949) stopped 16 of 19 shots in the loss... Kähkönen has allowed four goals on 79 shots in the series... Charlotte is 1-for-10 on the power play, while Providence is 1-for-11 in the series after going 4-for-12 in the first round against Springfield... The Checkers have lost three games – all at home – over the last two postseasons with a chance to close out a series.

N1-Laval Rocket vs. N2-Rochester Americans
Game 1 – Wednesday, 7:05 ET,

Game 1 – Wed., May 14 – Laval at Rochester, 7:05
Game 2 – Fri., May 16 – Laval at Rochester, 7:05
Game 3 – Wed., May 21 – Rochester at Laval, 7:00
*Game 4 – Fri., May 23 – Rochester at Laval, 7:00
*Game 5 – Sun., May 25 – Rochester at Laval, 4:30
*if necessary… All times Eastern

C1-Milwaukee Admirals vs. C5-Rockford IceHogs
Game 4 – Tonight, 8:00 ET,
(Rockford leads series, 2-1)

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 6, ROCKFORD 2 | Recap
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
Milwaukee extended its season with a convincing 6-2 win over Rockford on Wednesday night, but the IceHogs have another chance to close out the Central Division champions on home ice this evening... Kieffer Bellows (3-2-5) scored three goals – the second hat trick of his AHL career – and added two assists to lead the Admirals’ offense in Game 3... It was the first five-point playoff game by a Milwaukee skater since Gabriel Bourque in 2011, and Bellows became the first AHL player to have three goals and five points in the same postseason game since Joe Gambardella for Bakersfield on May 8, 2019... Grigori Denisenko (1-0-1), Spencer Stastney (1-1-2) and Joakim Kemell (1-1-2) all scored their first goals of the series, and Ozzy Wiesblatt (0-3-3) and Fedor Svechkov (1-2-3) each tallied two assists in the win... Matt Murray (1-2, 3.34, .863) bounced back from allowing five goals on 18 shots in Game 2 and made 25 saves to pick up the win on Wednesday... Rockford rookie Samuel Savoie (2-3-5) had a goal and an assist in Game 3, giving him five points in the last two games... Zach Sanford (1-4-5) netted a shorthanded marker for the IceHogs... Drew Commesso (4-1, 1.86, .942) took his first loss of the postseason, giving up five goals on 27 shots over two periods of work before Mitchell Weeks made his Calder Cup Playoff debut in relief... The Admirals have now won nine times over the last three postseasons in games when they faced elimination... Rockford finished 21 points behind Milwaukee in the regular-season standings; an IceHogs win would be the largest upset in the Calder Cup Playoffs since the Providence Bruins (84 points) eliminated the Worcester IceCats (108) in 2001.

C2-Texas Stars vs. C3-Grand Rapids Griffins
Game 3 – Tonight, 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

GAME NOTES
Texas returns home for Game 3 of their Central Division with a 2-0 series lead after picking up two victories during their week-long visit to Michigan... Following their 4-0 win in Game 1, the Stars raced out to another 4-0 lead on Monday before holding on for a 4-2 victory... Justin Hryckowian (1-2-3) recorded a goal and an assist in Game 2... Luke Krys (1-0-1), Arttu Hyry (1-0-1) and Curtis McKenzie (2-0-2) all scored as well, and Kyle Capobianco (1-2-3) registered two assists... McKenzie now has 31-36-67 in 92 career Calder Cup Playoff contests... Remi Poirier (2-0, 1.00, .958) followed up his Game 1 shutout by blanking the Griffins until the 15:52 mark of the second period, and finished the night with 17 saves... Former Stars forward Sheldon Dries scored his 14th career Calder Cup Playoff goal for Grand Rapids, and Michael Brandsegg-Nygård, Detroit’s first-round pick in the 2024 NHL Draft, added his first career American Hockey League tally... Jack Campbell, a member of Texas’ Calder Cup championship team in 2014, got the start for the Griffins and made 27 saves in Game 2... Grand Rapids has not been swept in a playoff series since 2009.

P2-Abbotsford Canucks vs. P4-Coachella Valley Firebirds
Game 4 – Tonight, 10:00 ET,
(Abbotsford leads series, 2-1)

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 – ABBOTSFORD 3, Coachella Valley 1 | Recap
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 host the Firebirds with a chance to close out the two-time defending Western Conference champions in Game 4 tonight... Artūrs Šilovs (4-1, 2.07, .921) was pulled after allowing three goals on eight shots in Game 2, but he made 25 saves on Wednesday night to backstop Abbotsford to a 3-1 win and a 2-1 series lead... Nate Smith (2-3-5) and Kirill Kudryavtsev (1-1-2) gave Abbotsford a 2-0 lead with goals late in the first period, and Phil Di Giuseppe (3-2-5) tacked on an empty-netter in the final minute of regulation to extend his scoring streak to four games... Jonathan Lekkerimäki (0-1-1) picked up an assist for the Canucks in his first appearance of the series... Jujhar Khaira (2-3-5) has points in all three games of the series after going scoreless in the first round vs. Tucson... Ryan Winterton (2-0-2), who did not play in the first round against Calgary, scored his second goal of the series for the Firebirds... Nikke Kokko (3-2, 2.11, .915) made 20 saves for Coachella Valley in Game 3... The Firebirds are 5-2 all-time when facing elimination from the postseason, including a comeback from 2-1 down to defeat Colorado in the division semis in 2023.

The idea that it takes an entire roster to contribute in the Calder Cup Playoffs is not just lip service, and Abbotsford Canucks head coach Manny Malhotra has the lineup changes to prove it.

After splitting a pair of road games with the Firebirds, the Canucks managed to grind out a 3-1 win in Game 3 back on home ice. Defenseman Joe Arntsen and forwards Dino Kambeitz and Jonathan Lekkerimäki entered the Abbotsford lineup for Game 3; Jett Woo, Danila Klimovich and Aatu Räty all missed the contest.

“We have great depth,” goaltender Artūrs Šilovs said after the win. “Everybody is battling for a spot. A lot of guys deserve it, too. That’s a great thing that you see [when] somebody gets injured, guys can step up.”

“The overall game that we played was very much like we’ve done all year,” Malhotra said. “It was by committee. We had contributions up and down the lineup. Throughout different momentum swings in the game, we had people able to control play for us. [The lineup changes] gave our group a little bit of a new look and some energy.”

As for the status of Räty, Woo and defenseman Christian Wolanin, who has missed the past four games?

“It’s playoff time,” Malhotra quipped. “They’re day-to-day.”

This one isn’t over yet, and the Charlotte Checkers know it.

Despite outshooting the Bruins, 40-19, in Game 3 on Wednesday, the Checkers walked away with nothing. Michael DiPietro, who won the Aldege “Baz” Bastien Memorial Award as the AHL’s top goaltender this season, frustrated the Checkers on 38 of those 40 shots in a 3-2 loss that kept Providence’s season alive.

Charlotte had to get by without defenseman Matt Kiersted, who left Wednesday’s contest with an undisclosed injury in the third period. Against a hard-nosed, grinding opponent like Providence, that will put a strain on any defense corps. Kiersted’s status for Game 4 has not been disclosed.

What the Checkers do not want to do is to let this series drag out. A best-of-five series can turn quickly. All it takes is a hot goaltender like DiPietro to produce another night like Wednesday. A loss tonight would put Charlotte in a must-win situation on Sunday.

“We have to take care of ourselves…and make sure we’re right with the recovery part of it,” Checkers head coach Geordie Kinnear said after Game 3. “Continue to get better, because, again, that’s a good hockey team, and they were never going to go away easy. We want to make sure we get better, learn from this game, and move on.”

Bit by bit, the Griffins will have to work to get themselves out of a jam against the Texas Stars. That begins tonight at H-E-B Center after Texas grabbed back-to-back wins at Van Andel Arena to put the Griffins’ season in jeopardy.

“Seed a little doubt,” Griffins assistant coach Brian Lashoff said Thursday.

Win tonight and that leaves the Stars with something to think about with a quick turnaround for Saturday’s Game 4. Game 5 would be Monday. Three games. Four nights. All on the road. It’s an opportunity to change the narrative quickly.

Dominik Shine, who contributed a pair of assists in the 4-2 loss in Game 2, stressed the importance of not dwelling on their past two losses. He also pointed out that while the Griffins are in a hole, it’s not a particularly deep one because of the best-of-five format.

“A seven-game series is long,” Shine said. “Those are hard to come back from. But five games, it’s just two [wins], and you’re right back in it.”

Tonight the Hershey Bears have their season on the line – as well as their bid for a third consecutive Calder Cup title. A team has not won the Calder Cup in three consecutive years since the Springfield Indians did so in 1960-62.

The Phantoms have left the Bears frustrated, taking a 2-1 series lead into tonight’s contest at PPL Center. One key area to watch is the Hershey power play. Not only have the Bears gone just 1-for-16 this series, they also have allowed three shorthanded goals. After Game 3, head coach Todd Nelson vowed that there will be adjustments made.

“Our power play is going to be shaken up a bit,” Nelson said following Game 3. “It's going to be a different look, for sure.”

When the call came for Cal Petersen, he responded.

Phantoms starter Parker Gahagen left Game 3 midway through the second period with his team behind, 2-1. In stepped Petersen, who shut down Hershey on all 15 shots that he faced. It was his first appearance of the Calder Cup Playoffs and provided a big moment for Petersen, who had a tough season in which he finished 13-15-3 with a 3.14 goals-against average and .885 save percentage. Head coach Ian Laperriere had opted to go with Gahagen from the start of the postseason.

With an energized home crowd, Petersen gave Phantoms fans something to cheer about in Game 3.

“It was great,” Petersen said. “I think we’ve done a good job of getting it rocking in here. It’s such an awesome building, and the fans are passionate, so we’re trying to give them something to rally around.”

Admirals head coach Karl Taylor maintained much the same demeanor following a 6-2 win in Game 3 that he did in a 6-1 defeat one game earlier.

Taylor means it when he has stressed finding that emotional equilibrium. If he did not show much panic after a pair of losses put his team’s season at risk, winning one game also did not elicit a particularly different reaction, either.

“I thought we looked like a team that needed to win a game,” Taylor said. “The guys played well, but they played with confidence and also a lot of moxie. Good win for us, but that’s one win.

“You’re always trying to create doubt. The other team is trying to create doubt in us, and we’re trying to give them a little bit of doubt. You’re trying to get them to think about the negative stuff, trying to get them to think about the what-ifs. We’re going to enjoy the win, (but) we’re going to focus on the next opportunity.”

Taylor also adjusted his Game 3 lineup. With defenseman Jake Livingstone out on a one-game suspension, Turner Ottenbreit stepped in on the blue line. Up front, Chase De Leo took Jesse Ylonen’s place.

― with files from Patrick Williams

In yesterday’s Stanley Cup Playoff action, Calder Cup champions Connor McMichael (2023) and John Carlson (2009, 2010) scored goals and 2020-21 Baz Bastien Award winner Logan Thompson made 27 saves as Washington defeated Carolina, 3-1, to even their series at a game apiece... 2018 Calder Cup champion Calvin Pickard made 28 saves for his sixth consecutive win and Leon Draisaitl scored at 15:20 of overtime as Edmonton beat Vegas, 5-4, to take a 2-0 series lead.