AHL Morning Skate: 5.10.22 | TheAHL.com

A common theme stressed by American Hockey League head coaches is the development opportunity that the Calder Cup Playoffs provide to National Hockey League prospects.

“That scar tissue builds up,” Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins head coach J.D. Forrest said following his club’s 4-3 overtime win that clinched an opening-round series with the Hershey Bears on Monday night. “[The] jubilation in the locker room, you couldn’t be happier for the guys, and that was one really high-character win.”

That scar tissue had indeed built up. Wilkes-Barre/Scranton had been locked for weeks in a battle even to qualify for the Calder Cup Playoffs. Then they faced an emotional series against an in-state rival following an already-tense regular-season series between the clubs.

Then Forrest’s team had missed out on an opportunity to eliminate the Bears a night earlier. That was one lesson. Then they built a two-goal third-period lead Monday only to see the Bears score twice in a 43-second span in the final 1:35 of regulation and take the Penguins to overtime. Another lesson.

And still one more lesson came with Alex Nylander’s overtime winner. The Penguins had used the intermission to shake off Hershey’s comeback, compose themselves, and then wear down the Bears in overtime to take the series.

“How we got to overtime [did not] matter anymore,” Forrest said of his Penguins following the third period. “The only thing that matters once you’re in overtime is that we continue to play the same way we played for most of that third period. We figured we’d be in good shape.

“Just like water on a duck’s back, just let it roll off, and then go out there and perform. It’s a grind, these overtimes, and we need energy. And that’s what we did. I couldn’t be more impressed with the response that our players had. Up and down, I just thought it was incredible.”

If Forrest’s players someday hope to be with the parent Pittsburgh Penguins or elsewhere in the NHL competing for a Stanley Cup, then Calder Cup Playoff pressure is one more step toward preparing for that stage. The stress will only intensify under that NHL glare.

“One of the biggest things amplified in the playoffs is just performing under that pressure, under that microscope, and the circumstances in a playoff game,” Forrest said.

“The decisions you make, the magnitude of the situation, can kind of freeze guys, and they’ve got to learn to play through that. And that’s what playoff hockey is all about… Get a taste for it, because that is a different feel to just have that pressure cooker.

“We’ve been playing playoff hockey a long time. But when you’re in an overtime situation, one goal is going to decide whether your season ends or continues ― that’s a whole other ballgame.”

The Bridgeport Islanders had a reliable penalty kill in the regular season that finished 13th overall at 81.5 percent (190-for-233).

But head coach Brent Thompson does not want to tempt fate against the Charlotte Checkers in the teams’ best-of-five Atlantic Division Semifinals. While the Charlotte power play registered a 19.2 percent conversion rate (48-for-250) that ranked 18th in the regular season, the Checkers have been fortified by the return of top talent from the Seattle Kraken and more than two weeks to practice and make any needed special-teams adjustments.

“They’re an opportunistic team,” Thompson said of the Checkers. “They’ve got a very good power play with a lot of high-end skill. So, discipline is going to be a huge factor coming up with this series.”

Then again, five-on-five play against the Checkers is no treat, either. Charlotte placed 11th in the AHL with 3.25 goals per game in the regular season and features a mobile, top-tier blue line.

Charlotte has a “high-powered offense,” Thompson said. “Very good on the rush. Big bodies. Very active [defensemen]. They have four on the rush all the time, so we have to be prepared to defend and counter that. I mean, with their speed on the rush, we have to manage the puck the right way.”

Plenty of respect comes Bridgeport’s way from Charlotte head coach Geordie Kinnear and his players, too.

“I think it’s a real elite hockey team with high-end personnel,” Kinnear said of the Islanders. “Chris Terry’s been in this league a long period of time.”

Kinnear and Terry have a long history going back to their days in the Carolina Hurricanes organization. Kinnear, an assistant coach as part of a Carolina-Charlotte affiliation, worked with Terry for parts of seven seasons. The pair went to the Eastern Conference Finals in 2011 with the Checkers in Terry’s second full pro season.

“There’s a lot of experience on that side,” Kinnear said of the Islanders.

Charlotte defenseman Chase Priskie echoed Kinnear’s words.

“Bridgeport is a fantastic team,” Priskie said. “They’re really respected. They bring a lot of tough skill, the gritty players that really make you pay, and they make you pay all over the ice, trying to get to their blue paint.

“Their D play extremely hard, and their forwards do the same thing, especially on the forecheck. It’s not going to be an easy series whatsoever. And I think that the team that’s able to put their best foot forward every shift will be the team that is able to move on.”

― Patrick Williams