with files from Patrick Williams
Day 2 of the 2026 Calder Cup Playoffs sees five series openers as the best-of-three first round takes flight in earnest after Hershey got things started with a 2-0 win in Bridgeport last night.
The other Atlantic Division first-round tilt begins at Bojangles Coliseum tonight, as the defending Eastern Conference champion Charlotte Checkers take on the Springfield Thunderbirds. The Checkers finished 21 points clear of the T’birds during the regular season.
This is Springfield’s first visit to the Queen City since suffering back-to-back 8-2 losses on Jan. 13 and Jan. 14. Steve Ott took over as head coach on Jan. 19, and the Thunderbirds went 19-13-2-0 the rest of the way to grab the sixth and final playoff spot in the Atlantic.
These teams have met in the postseason once previously, a three-game sweep by Springfield in the division finals in 2022.
Toronto hosts Rochester in Game 1 of the North Division’s first-round series at Coca-Cola Coliseum this evening. The home team won all six regular-season meetings between the clubs in 2025-26.
The Amerks qualified for the postseason on Sunday, rallying on a third-period goal from Carson Meyer to force overtime in Hershey and earn the last point they needed to get in.
“These are the meaningful games that you dream of as a kid,” Amerks goaltender Devon Levi said after the contest, which Rochester eventually lost 5-4 in OT. “This was a Game Seven for our season.”
Rochester ended the regular season on a five-game slide (0-4-1-0), while the Marlies closed out with two wins over division champion Laval.
Each of the previous four playoff series between Toronto and Rochester has ended in a three-game sweep, with the Marlies winning in 2012, 2013 and 2019 and the Amerks prevailing in 2023.
Manitoba and Milwaukee tangle at Canada Life Centre in Game 1 of the Central Division first-round series tonight. The Moose dropped a 7-0 decision to the Admirals on home ice on Apr. 8, but they went 3-0-0-2 the rest of the way to finish seven points ahead of Milwaukee.
The Ads, meanwhile, lost their last three games of the regular season by a combined score of 16-1.
Manitoba finished 30th in the 32-team league in scoring and ranked last on the power play, but the Moose were ninth in goals allowed and 11th on the penalty kill. Milwaukee’s special teams were both elite during the regular season, coming in third on the power play and second in penalty killing. In eight head-to-head meetings, the Admirals killed off 25 of 26 Moose power plays (96.2 percent).
The Moose are looking for their first series win since 2018. The Admirals have won six series in the last four years, with each of them going the distance.
San Diego is in Colorado for Game 1 of their Pacific Division first-round series tonight. The Gulls are back in the postseason for the first time since 2022, when they were swept by Ontario in the first round.
The Gulls tied Tucson for seventh place but grabbed the final playoff position in the Pacific by virtue of having more regulation wins than the Roadrunners (27-21). San Diego had 12 different skaters hit double digits in goals including 2024 first-round draft pick Stian Solberg, who led all AHL rookie defensemen with 12 goals.
Tristen Nielsen led the Eagles with 28 goals in the regular season; the fifth-year pro had a career year offensively after winning the Calder Cup with Abbotsford last season.’
The final Game 1 of the night sees San Jose visit Henderson, where the Silver Knights finished the regular season with a seven-game home winning streak – including 9-6 and 4-1 victories over the Barracuda on Apr. 10-11.
Henderson had the best record in the AHL after the All-Star break, going 21-4-1-3 to climb from eighth place in the Pacific Division to third. They scored 129 goals in those 29 games (4.45 per game), led by Trevor Connelly (11-28-39 in 29gp), Raphael Lavoie (21-17-38 in 28gp) and Kai Uchacz (14-16-30 in 28gp) all averaging better than a point per game during that stretch.
At the other end of the ice, Carl Lindbom went 18-0-2 with a 2.22 GAA and a .924 save percentage after the All-Star break. He has not lost a game in regulation since Jan. 18.
San Jose finished six points behind Henderson in a tight Pacific Division. Filip Bystedt, the 27th overall pick in the 2022 NHL Draft, led the Barracuda in scoring with 22-38-60 in 65 regular-season games.
Tonight marks the first Silver Knights playoff game at Lee’s Family Forum since it opened in 2022.
A3-Charlotte Checkers vs. A6-Springfield Thunderbirds
Game 1 – Tonight, 7:00 ET, 
Game 1 – Wed., Apr. 22 – Springfield at Charlotte, 7:00
Game 2 – Fri., Apr. 24 – Springfield at Charlotte, 7:00
*Game 3 – Sat., Apr. 25 – Springfield at Charlotte, 7:00
*if necessary… All times Eastern
A4-Bridgeport Islanders vs. A5-Hershey Bears
Game 2 – Thursday, 7:00 ET,
(Hershey leads series, 1-0)
Game 1 – Tue., Apr. 21 – Hershey 2, BRIDGEPORT 0 | Recap | Highlights
Game 2 – Thu., Apr. 23 – Bridgeport at Hershey, 7:00
*Game 3 – Sat., Apr. 25 – Hershey at Bridgeport, 3:00
*if necessary… All times Eastern
A1-Providence Bruins vs. TBD
A2-Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins vs. TBD
N4-Toronto Marlies vs. N5-Rochester Americans
Game 1 – Tonight, 7:00 ET,
Game 1 – Wed., Apr. 22 – Rochester at Toronto, 7:00
Game 2 – Fri., Apr. 24 – Toronto at Rochester, 7:05
*Game 3 – Sun., Apr. 26 – Rochester at Toronto, 4:00
*if necessary… All times Eastern
N1-Laval Rocket vs. TOR-ROC winner
N2-Syracuse Crunch vs. N3-Cleveland Monsters
Game 1 – Friday, 7:00 ET,
Game 1 – Fri., Apr. 24 – Syracuse at Cleveland, 7:00
Game 2 – Sun., Apr. 26 – Syracuse at Cleveland, 4:00
Game 3 – Fri., May 1 – Cleveland at Syracuse, 7:00
*Game 4 – Sun., May 3 – Cleveland at Syracuse, 3:00
*Game 5 – Sat., May 9 – Cleveland at Syracuse, 5:00
*if necessary… All times Eastern
C4-Manitoba Moose vs. C5-Milwaukee Admirals
Game 1 – Tonight, 8:00 ET,
Game 1 – Wed., Apr. 22 – Milwaukee at Manitoba, 8:00
Game 2 – Fri., Apr. 24 – Milwaukee at Manitoba, 8:00
*Game 3 – Sun., Apr. 26 – Milwaukee at Manitoba, 3:00
*if necessary… All times Eastern
C1-Grand Rapids Griffins vs. MB-MIL winner
C2-Chicago Wolves vs. C3-Texas Stars
Game 1 – Tuesday, 8:00 ET,
Game 1 – Tue., Apr. 28 – Chicago at Texas, 8:00
Game 2 – Thu., Apr. 30 – Chicago at Texas, 8:00
Game 3 – Sat., May 2 – Texas at Chicago, 8:00
*Game 4 – Sun., May 3 – Texas at Chicago, 4:00
*Game 5 – Tue., May 5 – Texas at Chicago, 8:00
*if necessary… All times Eastern
P2-Colorado Eagles vs. P7-San Diego Gulls
Game 1 – Tonight, 9:05 ET,
Game 1 – Wed., Apr. 22 – San Diego at Colorado, 9:05
Game 2 – Fri., Apr. 24 – San Diego at Colorado, 9:05
*Game 3 – Sun., Apr. 26 – San Diego at Colorado, 5:05
*if necessary… All times Eastern
P3-Henderson Silver Knights vs. P6-San Jose Barracuda
Game 1 – Tonight, 10:00 ET,
Game 1 – Wed., Apr. 22 – San Jose at Henderson, 10:00
Game 2 – Fri., Apr. 24 – San Jose at Henderson, 10:00
*Game 3 – Sun., Apr. 26 – San Jose at Henderson, 6:00
*if necessary… All times Eastern
P4-Coachella Valley Firebirds vs. P5-Bakersfield Condors
Game 1 – Thursday, 10:10 ET,
Game 1 – Thu., Apr. 23 – Coachella Valley at Bakersfield, 10:10
Game 2 – Sat., Apr. 25 – Bakersfield at Coachella Valley, 9:00
*Game 3 – Sun., Apr. 26 – Bakersfield at Coachella Valley, 8:00
*if necessary… All times Eastern
P1-Ontario Reign vs. TBD
TBD vs. TBD
In last night’s Stanley Cup Playoff action, J.J. Moser scored 12:48 into overtime to give Tampa Bay a 3-2 win over Montreal… Brandon Hagel scored his third goal of the series for the Lightning, and Anthony Cirelli recorded two assists… Viktor Arvidsson scored twice as Boston doubled up Buffalo, 4-2… Jonathan Aspirot had two assists for his first two career Stanley Cup Playoff points… Dylan Guenther had a goal and an assist for Utah in a 3-2 win at Vegas… Nicolas Roy, a Calder Cup champion with Charlotte in 2019, scored 7:44 into overtime as Colorado defeated Los Angeles, 2-1.
