The North Division semifinals wrap up this afternoon with a win-or-go-home game between Laval and Toronto at Place Bell (3 ET, 
).
Laval’s 4-0 win in Game 4 on Tuesday was supported by 18 saves Kaapo Kähkönentied the chain.
Samuel Blaiswho has won both the Calder Cup (Abbotsford, 2025) and the Stanley Cup (St. Louis, 2019) in his career, scored two goals in Game 4, and Laurent Dauphin recorded a goal and two assists, giving him six points in the series after he missed the final 12 games of the regular season with an injury.
The protector Adam Engström made his first appearance in the series in Game 4 after rejoining the Rockets from the parent Montréal Canadiens.
After scoring 12 goals in the past two games, Toronto was shut out for the first time since January 1, 2025.
“You have to leave everything there,” said Marlies forward Jacob Quillanhis winning resume includes scoring Quinnipiac University’s overtime winning goal in the 2023 national championship game. “You don’t want to regret it. You have to put it all on the line and compete every second for every inch.”
The Rockets are 2-1 in all-time winning streaks; the Marlies are 6-4, but 0-4 on the road.
The winner of today will advance to face Cleveland on Thursday night.
The Colorado Eagles take a 2-1 series lead into Game 4 against Henderson tonight (8:05 ET, ) is in a position to reach the division finals for the third time in five seasons.
The Eagles stymied the Silver Knights’ top offense in the series, holding them to four goals and 80 shots in twelve overs. On the season, Henderson averaged 1.91 goals per game in 11 meetings with Colorado, but 3.88 goals per game against the rest of the league.
For his 20-save effort in Wednesday’s 4-0 win over Colorado Trent Miner (4-1, 0.94, .960) was the first AHL goaltender since Rochester Mika Noronen in 2000 to start the postseason with three shutouts in five starts.
“We block shots, we play defense,” said Miner. “We play a full 60 minutes. Everyone bought in and made the right decisions.”
Tristen Nielsen (3-2-5) score twice for Colorado Game 3 season Alex Barré-Boulet (2-4-6) got three assists. Rookie defender Alex Gagne (2-0-2) scored his second goal of the playoffs after scoring once in 58 regular season games.
Carl Lindbomwho stopped 23 of 26 shots on net against the Silver Knights in Game 3, is now 2-5-1 (2.32, .926) in eight starts against the Eagles this season, and 25-2-4 (2.14, .924) against the rest of the AHL.
The final game of the night is the final game of the Pacific Division semifinal series between Ontario and Coachella Valley (9 ET, ), a Game 5 win between the SoCal rivals.
On Thursday, the Firebirds survived their third shutout loss of the season, a 6-2 victory in Game 4 that moved them to 8-3 all-time in the playoffs.
JR Avon (4-1-5), who scored a career-high 10 goals in the regular season for the Coachella Valley, scored his fourth goal of the postseason in Game 4, and the rookie defenseman. Kaden Hammell (1-1-2) scored a potential game-winner and added an assist for his first two playoff points as a pro.
“The message was to come out strong and continue that effort,” the defender said Gustav Olofssonwho has played in all 57 postseason games in the Firebirds’ four-year history. “Even with the lead, we didn’t want to sit back. When you’re desperate that happens, and the guys did a good job and did what was needed.”
Outshot 15-5 in the first period of Game 4, Ontario still managed to go into the break tied 1-1. But Coachella Valley scored twice late in the second and again early in the third to put the game out of reach.
“Fortunately, we get another chance at it,” the head coach of Reign Andrew Nkosi he said, “(but) we really need to get better in the first place. We all need to get better at the man, which I have full confidence that we will be.”
The Firebirds are 4-1 in sweepstakes games, but tonight will be their first time participating in one on the road. The Reign’s only previous such Calder Cup Playoff contest was a 4-1 loss at San Diego in the 2017 divisional semifinals.
