AHL Morning Skate: 5.15.22 | TheAHL.com

Syracuse Crunch head coach Ben Groulx got what he had been seeking yesterday afternoon against the Laval Rocket.

Team captain Gabriel Dumont’s prediction turned out to be correct.

The Crunch fashioned a dominant 3-0 win in Game 4 of the teams’ North Division semifinal series on Saturday afternoon, setting up a deciding Game 5 in Syracuse on Tuesday night. Groulx had been unhappy with his team’s discipline in a 4-1 loss in Game 3 while Dumont had stressed that the Crunch would be a much different team after that loss.

They were, and then some.

The Crunch took just two penalties, none of them after the first period, after they had been shorthanded seven times in Game 3. In Saturday’s win, Cole Koepke gave the Crunch an early lead, they survived the loss of goaltender Max Lagace to a first-period injury, Hugo Alnefelt was perfect in relief (24 saves), and Syracuse never gave Laval an opportunity to push back.

“Everything we talked about last time was much better,” Groulx told the Crunch website. “The character of our team, the character of Hugo Alnefelt when we lost Max… I think Hugo came in, and he was phenomenal when needed.”

Groulx also tinkered with his lineup, going with an 11-7 set-up. Forwards P.C. Labrie and Gemel Smith did not play while defenseman Alex Green drew in.

“We decided we wanted more speed,” Groulx said of the decision. “We thought that we needed more depth on defense. With all the [penalty]-killing we had to do last game, our defensemen were on the ice a lot, so wanted to make sure that we were protected.”

Now Syracuse’s reward is a chance to play for the series in front of Crunch fans.

“That’s a huge factor,” Koepke said. “I mean, anytime we can play at home, it’s awesome. You get your own bed, you’re used to the arena, and you get your own fans. We have great fans back at our arena, so we’re pretty excited to have the home ice.”

The Charlotte Checkers have had a fight on their hands with the Bridgeport Islanders, and it is not easing up any time soon.

Bridgeport has cut Charlotte’s series lead to 2-1 in the clubs’ Atlantic Division semifinal following a come-from-behind 3-2 win yesterday afternoon. Game 3 took on a much different feel from Thursday’s chaotic Game 2, a 7-6 double-overtime win by Charlotte.

“It was just tight-checking,” said Charlotte head coach Geordie Kinnear to the team website. “They’re a really experienced hockey group, and again we made two mistakes that you need to be able to learn from. Their experience ended up putting it in the back of the net.”

Both clubs are willing and able to play physical hockey, and they did so Saturday.

“It’s supposed to [be physical],’’ said Kinnear, an unforgiving defenseman during his AHL playing days in the New Jersey Devils organization. “It’s supposed to be fun, it’s supposed to be competitive, and it’s supposed to be one-on-one battles. It’s what makes our game great, and it’s what makes playoffs great. Embrace it, enjoy it, and come out on the right end of the battle.”

Rochester Americans rookie forward JJ Peterka says that he has adjusted to the pace of the Calder Cup Playoffs, and that could be bad news for any opponent.

A key part of the future for the parent Buffalo Sabres, Peterka broke loose against the Utica Comets with a hat trick in a 4-3 win in Game 2 of the teams’ North Division semifinal series last night. The 20-year-old Peterka completed his hat trick with the overtime-winning goal that has evened the series going into tonight’s Game 3 rematch at Rochester.

The Belleville Senators had held Peterka to a pair of assists in the teams’ best-of-three opening-round series that the Amerks swept. Now Peterka has dented Utica for four goals in two games.

“I got more used to how tough the games are, how [much] less space you’ve got compared to the regular season,” Peterka said via the Amerks website. “I’ve found myself in more scoring opportunities. I can learn a lot from that.”

That overtime winner also reflected Buffalo’s promising future, as fellow top prospects Jack Quinn and Peyton Krebs earned assists on Peterka’s goal.

Someone had to play the powerful Stockton Heat in a Pacific Division semifinal series, and the Bakersfield Condors drew that assignment.

Bakersfield ended up falling to the Heat in a three-game sweep, losing 6-4 in Game 3 on home ice Friday night. However, Game 2 was a one-goal loss, and the teams were separated in Game 3 by just one goal until Justin Kirkland’s empty-netter with two seconds remaining.

Interim head coach Colin Chaulk took over the Bakersfield bench in February following Jay Woodcroft’s promotion to the parent Edmonton Oilers. In his first head-coaching role at the AHL level, Chaulk and the Condors had to navigate the grueling Pacific Division as well as other challenges.

“We’ve talked quite a bit about adversity,” Chaulk said via the Condors website following Game 3. “Everybody’s had personal challenges. A few having been new fathers, some other struggles personally for many different players, coaching changes, all those sorts of things that they didn’t plan for, didn’t choose… [I am] really proud of how well they responded, how positively they responded.”

― Patrick Williams