Dustin Wolf made 46 saves for his fifth career Calder Cup Playoff shutout, preserving the Calgary Wranglers’ 2-0 win over the Tucson Roadrunners in Game 1 of their Pacific Division first-round series. Game 2 of the best-of-three match-up is Friday evening in Tucson. Wolf, who spent much of the second half of the regular season in the NHL, stopped 15 shots in the first period, 15 more in the second and 16 in the third as Calgary spoiled the first home postseason game for the Roadrunners since 2018. Cole Schwindt scored 6:14 into the second period to break a scoreless tie, and Matt Coronato capp ..read more

Tyler Madden scored twice, Erik Portillo made 30 saves and the Ontario Reign took a decisive 5-1 victory over the Bakersfield Condors in Game 1 of their best-of-three series at Toyota Arena on Wednesday evening. The Condors host Game 2 on Saturday looking to keep their season alive. The Reign scored four times in the second period to break the game open, with Madden and Akil Thomas converting on the power play. Ontario ranked second in the AHL on the man advantage during the regular season at 21.8 percent. Joe Hicketts added a shorthanded goal for the Reign, who continued their hot play after ..read more

Sheldon Dries had a goal and an assist to pace the Abbotsford Canucks to a 4-2 win over the Colorado Eagles in the opener of their best-of-three Pacific Division first-round series at Blue Arena on Wednesday night. The Canucks can wrap up the series with another win on Friday. Dries, who spent three seasons with the Eagles from 2018-21, had scored a team-best 29 goals for Abbotsford during the regular season. He now has 13 goals and 14 points in 29 career Calder Cup Playoff games. Arshdeep Bains and Linus Karlsson also scored for the Canucks and Zach Sawchenko made 27 saves to earn the win in ..read more

Adam Brooks and Rhett Gardner scored and Cal Petersen stopped 21 shots as Lehigh Valley went on the road and defeated Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, 2-1 in the opener of their Atlantic Division first-round series on Wednesday night. The Phantoms head home with a chance to finish off the best-of-three on Friday. Brooks, a Calder Cup champion as a rookie with Toronto in 2018, got Lehigh Valley on the board 14:37 into the first period. Then Gardner, who recorded a team-high eight points in eight playoff games for Texas last year, doubled the lead 58 seconds into the middle frame. Ville Koivunen, in his P ..read more

The Belleville Senators earned the first playoff win in franchise history on Wednesday night, a 3-1 victory over Toronto in the opener of their best-of-three first-round series. Game 2 is set for Friday night in Toronto. Marshall Rifai got the Marlies on the board first just 3:36 into the game, but the Senators controlled things the rest of the way, getting goals from Zack Ostapchuk, Tyler Kleven and Josh Currie and outshooting Toronto 38-17 for the contest. Mads Sogaard recorded 16 saves to earn the win in net. Dennis Hildeby stopped 35 of 38 shots for the Marlies. Belleville has won nine of ..read more

Patrick Williams, TheAHL.com Features Writer Playoff hockey is back in Tucson, and so are some of the AHL’s top prospects. The Calder Cup Playoffs return to the Old Pueblo tonight when the Tucson Roadrunners host Calgary in Game 1 of their Pacific Division First Round best-of-three series. It will be the Roadrunners’ first playoff game at Tucson Arena in nearly six years, since a Game 2 loss to Texas in the division finals on May 4, 2018. For these young Roadrunners, their hoped-for NHL futures now are in Utah after the Arizona Coyotes announced last week that they are relocating to Salt Lake ..read more

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. … The American Hockey League announced today that Hunter Shepard of the Hershey Bears is the winner of the Aldege “Baz” Bastien Memorial Award as the AHL’s outstanding goaltender for the 2023-24 season. The award was voted on by coaches, players and members of the media in each of the league’s 32 cities. Coming off a season in which he won the Jack A. Butterfield Trophy as the most valuable player of the 2023 Calder Cup Playoffs, Shepard challenged the AHL record books in 2023-24 by posting a record of 27-4-3 – the second-highest winning percentage (.838) in league history ..read more

A3-W-B/Scranton Penguins vs. A6-Lehigh Valley Phantoms Game 1 – Tonight, 7:05 ET, Game 1 – Wed., Apr. 24 – Lehigh Valley at W-B/Scranton, 7:05 Game 2 – Fri., Apr. 26 – W-B/Scranton at Lehigh Valley, 7:05 *Game 3 – Sun., Apr. 28 – Lehigh Valley at W-B/Scranton, 5:05 *if necessary… All times Eastern GAME NOTESFor the first time in 16 years, the Penguins and Phantoms face off in the Calder Cup Playoffs when the puck drops for Game 1 in Wilkes-Barre tonight... The in-state rivals met four times in eight postseasons between 2001 and 2008 (when the Phantoms were based in Philadelphia ..read more

Mavrik Bourque notched two goals and two assists to lead the Texas Stars to a 6-3 win over the Manitoba Moose in the opening game of the 2024 Calder Cup Playoffs on Tuesday evening. The Stars lead the best-of-three series, one game to none, heading into Game 2 on Thursday. Bourque, who won the AHL scoring title with 77 points during the regular season, scored 37 seconds after the Moose had taken a 1-0 lead late in the first period, then assisted on a pair of goals in the second period before adding an insurance marker in the third. Curtis McKenzie added a goal and two assists and Christian Kyr ..read more

The playoffs can feel like a marathon. But the first round of the chase for the Calder Cup is a sprint. And Trent Cull is well aware his Calgary Wranglers have their work cut out for them if they wish to advance to Round 2. https://www.nhl.com/flames/news/wranglers-ready-to-bring-their-best-as-ahl-playoffs-begin ..read more