AHL Morning Skate: May 7, 2026

with files from Patrick Williams

Providence spent much of the regular season chasing the best record in 90 years of AHL hockey. Now the Bruins are looking to avoid being on the wrong end of history.

A 3-2 overtime victory in Game 3 on Tuesday gave Springfield a 2-1 series lead and has the Thunderbirds one win away from knocking off the Macgregor Kilpatrick Trophy winners. Game 4 is tonight at the MassMutual Center (7:05 ET, ).

After going 54-16-2-0 in the regular season, the Bruins have lost just 20 out of 75 games all year – but seven at the hands of the Thunderbirds.

Calle Rosén scored twice in regulation and Zach Dean netted the winner 3:45 into overtime to pull out a Game 3 that Springfield played without regular forwards Hugh McGing, Dylan Peterson, Thomas Bordeleau and Julien Gauthier. The Thunderbirds have also been without defensemen Hunter Skinner, who was injured in Game 1 of the first round against Charlotte, and Leo Lööf.

“Every single guy that came and gave us minutes played their [tails] off, and that was the difference,” Springfield head coach Steve Ott said in his post-game speech to his club.

Ott received a couple more depth options this week, as the St. Louis Blues’ last two first-round draft picks – defenseman Adam Jiříček (16th overall in 2024) and forward Justin Carbonneau (19th overall in 2025) – have been assigned to Springfield.

Matthew Poitras tallied a goal and an assist for the Bruins in Game 3, giving him four points (1-3-4) in the series. Riley Tufte also scored, his first of the postseason after a 32-goal campaign.

Since allowing eight goals in Game 1 of the first round, Springfield has surrendered nine goals total in five games.

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The 38-point difference between Providence and Springfield in the regular-season standings would make a Thunderbirds series victory the biggest upset in Calder Cup Playoff history:

37 points – 1993, Rochester Americans (87) def. Binghamton Rangers (124)
35 points – 1996, Cornwall Aces (80) def. Albany River Rats (115)
31 points – 1956, Cleveland Barons (59) def. Pittsburgh Hornets (90)
30 points – 1993, Springfield Indians (64) def. Providence Bruins (94)
29 points – 1949, Hershey Bears (61) def. Indianapolis Capitals (90)

Hershey hosts Wilkes-Barre/Scranton in Game 4 of their Atlantic Division semifinal tonight (7 ET, ) needing a win to extend its season and send the series back up I-81.

Rutger McGroarty scored on a redirection 5:02 into overtime to give the Penguins a 4-3 win and a 2-1 series lead on Tuesday. McGroarty got his stick on a Sebastian Aho wrister from the left point and deflected it past Bears goaltender Clay Stevenson for his first career playoff goal.

Wilkes-Barre/Scranton trailed by a goal heading into the third period, but Avery Hayes tied the game with 2:53 left in regulation.

McGroarty commented that the mood in the locker room during the second intermission was a positive one.

“The talks were about…how good of a group we have here and how much fun it is playing hockey with these guys,” he said. “Play for one another, play for the man next to you. It’s all about the team.”

“I think we sat back a little bit too much in the third,” Bears head coach Derek King said. “We can’t feel sorry for ourselves. This team’s never done anything easy this year, so were going to have to do it the hard way.”

“We’ve put ourselves in some tough positions at different points throughout the year but we’ve always found a way to bounce back,” added Bears forward Grant Cruikshank. “We’ve been good when our backs have been against the wall.”

“The chance to end a team’s season – obviously it’s hard,” said Penguins forward Tristan Broz, who had three assists in Game 3. “But this (Giant Center) is a fun building to play in, and as competitors that’s all you want, to have a stage like that to perform.

“We have a lot of guys in the locker room that the bigger the game, the bigger we’re going to play.”

Bogdan Trineyev (3-3-6) scored a goal and Ilya Protas (2-4-6) had an assist in Game 3; both have recorded at least one point in all five of Hershey’s playoff games so far.

There’s one more potential series-clincher on tonight’s schedule, as Coachella Valley hosts Ontario in Game 4 of their Pacific Division semifinal (10 ET, ).

On Tuesday, the Reign got goals 80 seconds apart from Aatu Jämsen and Logan Brown early in the third period to erase a 1-0 deficit on their way to a 2-1 win and a 2-1 series lead.

“Good teams find a way to win,” said Brown, who has two goals in the series after scoring once in 31 regular-season games for Ontario. “We didn’t really get to our game until the third. It was good that we were able to find it and Ports (goaltender Erik Portillo) kept us in it until we did.”

Portillo (1-1, 2.09, .934) made 27 saves, allowing only a Jani Nyman goal late in the first period.

“You know that Coachella will push, they have a lot of skilled guys, so you’ve just got to dig deep and fight,” Portillo said. “To show that we can keep playing our game, keep pushing, pushing, pushing… That just shows the resilience of our game.”

“Every hit, every shot, it’s hard,” Nyman said after Game 3. “Ontario is a really good team. We need to do something more if we want to win.”

The Firebirds have already won two elimination games this postseason, coming back to knock out Bakersfield after losing the opener of their best-of-three first-round series.

“Being a little more comfortable in that situation, not your first time with your backs against the walls, it’s a little confidence boost,” said forward Jagger Firkus, who scored a goal in each of those wins against the Condors last round. “Those are the kind of games that are fun to be part of. You give it your all, empty your tank and see where it takes you.”