with files from Patrick Williams
The fifth day of the fifth month brings five games, including a winner-take-all game:
It should come as no surprise that the Penguins and Bears reach Game 3 tonight in their Atlantic Division semifinal series (7 ET, 
) are tied at one game apiece.
These teams have played in eight playoff series, with each club winning four. They have now played 42 postseason games against each other, and are 21-21.
The Giant Center was not kind to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton in the playoffs, however. The Penguins have a 2-16 postseason record in Hershey since the building opened (although they won twice at Hersheypark Arena in 2001). Overall, the Bears are 70-36 on home ice in the playoffs since entering their new ranks.
“It’s going to be a big start,” the Penguins forward said Rafael Harvey-Pinard said. “We know they’ve got a good crowd over there, so we’re going to need a good start, get the legs moving and establish our momentum.”
The Penguins scored 37 goals in Game 2, though Clay Stevenson stopped 36 of them — 21 in the third period alone — to secure a 2-1 Bears victory.
“I thought we did a good job blocking shots, getting into lanes, forcing pucks down,” head coach Hershey said. Derek King said on Sunday’s deadline. “But they were shooting pucks all over the place, so good for Clay.”
An 11-0 run in the North Division semifinals went in Toronto’s favor, but they still need one more win to seal the elimination of division champs Laval.
Tonight’s Game 4 (7 ET, ) following a 6-2 victory over the Marlies that gave them a 2-1 lead. After falling behind 2-0 early in Game 2, Toronto scored 11 straight goals in 81:05 — just over four — of playing time.
Game 3 started with Laval’s captain Lucas Condotta taking a sticking penalty on the opening faceoff, and Toronto’s captain Logan Shaw scoring six seconds into the power play to give Toronto a 1-0 lead at the 11-point mark of the contest.
“It starts right away with us taking advantage of the power play, and that carries over into the five-on-five game,” Marlies head coach. John Gruden said. “All four lines were good, six defenders and the goalkeeper – we set the tone for everyone.”
“Everybody is contributing right now, but I think we have to keep our foot on the gas and keep doing what we’re doing,” said Shaw. “They are in first place for a reason. We knew going into the series, it wouldn’t be easy. Our guys are on top of that job of playing hard and doing the little things we need to do.”
“The whole year, when we faced difficulties, we responded well,” the Rocket coach Pascal Vincent said after the 3rd game. “Nothing tells me that we don’t have what it takes.”
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Shaw’s goal was the third-fastest since the start of a Calder Cup Playoff game in the last two decades:
8 seconds – Loui Eriksson, Iowa Stars (vs. Chicago, 5/10/07)
9 seconds – Greg Stewart, Hamilton Bulldogs (vs. Grand Rapids, 4/26/09)
11 seconds – Josh Lopina, San Diego Gulls (vs. Ontario, 5/4/22)
11 seconds – Logan Shaw, Toronto Marlies (vs. Laval, 5/3/26)
Springfield’s wild playoff ride thus far has been entirely on the road. Tonight, the Thunderbirds return to the MassMutual Center to host Providence in Game 3 of their Atlantic Division semifinal series (7:05 ET, ).
The Bruins survived a late push by the Thunderbirds in Game 2 on Sunday and won 2-1, ending Springfield’s three-game winning streak and snapping their best streak at five games apiece.
The Birds won five of their last six home games during the regular season, helping them clinch a playoff berth in Game 70 of their 72-game streak. The Bruins were a league-leading 27-7-2-0 in 2025-26, but two of the seven losses came to Springfield.
The Thunderbirds George Romanov (4 GA on 57 shots) matched the AHL MVP Michael DiPietro (4 GA on 54 shots) actually picked up a save in the series, and now has a 1.66 goals-against average and a .943 save percentage through his first four games.
“He’s a good goaltender, and we have to do a better job of getting to him,” the Providence head coach said. Ryan Mougenel said Romanov. “The traffic, which makes him uncomfortable, working for the net instead of staying in the net. Sometimes I would like to think more and take that shot away.”
Matěj Blümel has scored four goals for the Bruins in the series, giving him 27 points (14-13-27) in 23 games over the past three postseasons.
Chicago and Texas square off in their Central Division final at Allstate Arena tonight (8 ET, ), with the winner advancing to face either Grand Rapids or Manitoba in the next round.
The Wolves appeared to be on track to wrap up the series in Game 4 on Sunday, taking a 4-2 lead late in the third period. But Vladislav Kolyachonok score with 7:54 to play, too Kole Lind he tied things up with just 10.1 seconds on the clock.
“There is no quit in this team at all,” said Lind, who had scored just two goals in his last 29 games before Sunday.
And after Bradley Nadeau you are caught Trey Taylor with a high stick 5:48 into overtime, the Stars completed the comeback Artem Shlain scored his third goal – and second game-winner – on the ensuing four-minute power play.
“These guys continue to find ways to fight and stay in the fight,” the Texas head coach said Toby Petersen he said, “and that’s a great quality for a team trying to win a championship.”
Noah Philp beat Chicago for the second straight game Cayden Primeau He made several 10-game saves, including a diving glove stop Matthew Seminoff of the OT.
It all leads up to tonight’s game at 5 p.m. Both teams won a tough low-scoring game in the series, and both teams won the overtime battle 5-4. The Wolves are 9-3 in AHL history in playoff games won, most recently a 4-2 win over Grand Rapids in the 2019 semifinals. Captain of Current Stars Curtis McKenzie he recorded two assists for Chicago in that contest, one of six win-and-takes in his AHL career.
Texas is 4-3 all-time in win-over games, including a 6-5 win at Chicago in Game 7 of the 2010 division finals on an overtime goal by a rookie. Jamie Benn.
Except for one – Evan Vierling to draw on Charlie Cerrato after Game 1 – the Wolves went with the same lineup in each of the first four games of the series. But a great coach Spiros Anastas could have another Game 5 option behind the linebacker Charles Alexis Legault sent down from Carolina on Monday. The 22-year-old Legault played in 24 games with Chicago during the regular season and 12 with the Hurricanes, but did not see action in Carolina’s first-round playoff series against Ottawa.
The Coachella Valley hosts Game 3 of the Pacific Division semifinals tonight (10 ET, ) after receiving splits in the first two games back in Ontario.
The Reign responded to a 3-0 loss in Game 1 with a 5-1 victory Friday night, scoring for the second time since. Glenn Gawdin tied 1-1 before scoring three more goals in the third period.
What was different in Ontario’s Game 2 compared to the opener?
“Everything,” the head coach Andrew Nkosi said. “We were coming back to ourselves. We were fast, the execution was much better. We stayed well on the course, we stayed organized.”
Pheonix Copleywho had a 1.65 goals-against average and .926 save percentage in his three regular-season starts against the Firebirds this year, got the call in Game 2 and made 34 saves. Copley is 10-9 (2.03, .936) in his career in the Calder Cup Playoffs.
“As a team we played a lot better out of the defensive zone,” Copley said after Game 2. “We knew we had to be better. It looked like a complete team game in my area and that’s what we needed.”
