Dan Bylsma will have to do some lineup juggling when his Coachella Valley Firebirds open their best-of-three first-round Pacific Division series with the Tucson Roadrunners tonight.
AHL rookie scoring leader Tye Kartye has been recalled to the Seattle Kraken, along with goaltender Chris Driedger. Seattle opened its first Stanley Cup Playoff appearance with a 3-1 win over defending champion Colorado last night.
Kartye, a 21-year-old forward, had 57 points (28 goals, 29 assists) while playing all 72 games for the Firebirds this season, earning a spot on the AHL All-Rookie Team. He did not play for the Kraken last night.
Driedger came to the Firebirds in late February after spending nine months recovering from an ACL injury. He took a heavy workload in Coachella Valley, going 9-4-0 with a 2.61 goals-against average and a .908 save percentage in 14 games.
Driedger becomes Seattle’s third-string goaltender, behind Philipp Grubauer and Martin Jones, leaving Joey Daccord and Christopher Gibson as the Firebirds’ tandem. Daccord ranked fifth in the AHL in both GAA (2.38) and save percentage (.918).
The pressure started some time ago for Rockford IceHogs goaltender Arvid Soderblom.
The 23-year-old Swede made the final seven starts (and 11 of the last 12) for Rockford as the team fought for a Calder Cup Playoff berth down to the final day of the regular season. He made 26 saves in the IceHogs’ playoff-clinching 4-1 win at Milwaukee on Sunday evening.
The Iowa Wild are Soderblom’s next test, as the teams open their best-of-three Central Division first-round series tonight in Rockford. Soderblom was a problem for Iowa this season, going 4-0-1 with a 1.93 GAA and a .936 save percentage against the Wild.
― Patrick Williams
