It would have been perfectly understandable if the Manitoba Moose had gotten to Remi Poirier a bit, had given him something uncomfortable to think about before the Calder Cup Playoffs started.
To begin with, the teams found themselves dealing with a scheduling quirk, as the Moose were in Cedar Park for a two-game series last weekend to close out the regular season, already knowing that they were going to meet in the Central Division First Round series. In all, that could have meant as many as five games in nine nights on Texas ice.
Poirier made sure that there would not be a fifth game, however, by ending the series last night with a 41-save shutout. It was a stark contrast to last Friday, when the Moose beat Poirier eight times on 35 shots in an 8-3 rout. It was a rough end to the 22-year-old’s first full season as an AHL regular; he ended up going 17-16-4 with a 3.19 goals-against average and .904 save percentage.
Poirier and the Stars had to regroup quickly, and they did. Texas came through Game 1 on Tuesday with a 6-3 win as Poirier handled 21 of 24 shots. In Game 2, the Moose came out firing, sending 14 first-period shots at Poirier.
He shut them down, the Stars got two power-play goals from Fredrik Karlström, and they are now set to meet the Milwaukee Admirals in the Central Division Semifinals.
“We know last weekend was not great,” Poirier told texasstars.com after finishing off Manitoba. “But it’s a brand-new season. I think it was great for me. Get the confidence back after last weekend. I think that’s a well-earned game.”
If this is Dustin Wolf’s final spin through the AHL, he made sure it got off to a strong start.
On recall to the Calgary Flames since March 12, Wolf returned to the Wranglers for the final weekend of the regular season, then turned in a masterpiece Wednesday in the opener of their playoff series in Tucson. Up against a Roadrunners lineup featuring a deep cast of forwards, Wolf stopped all 46 shots that he faced for his fifth career AHL playoff shutout in a 2-0 victory.
Wolf’s standout work has come to be expected, but certainly not taken for granted.
“It’s probably the best I’ve ever seen Dustin play for us,” Wranglers head coach Trent Cull said to calgarywranglers.com after Game 1. “It’s almost hard to believe some of the saves he was making there.
“I thought there was a lot of compete, a lot of battle… Really happy with a lot of guys’ performances.”
Wolf has always taken on a heavy workload, and he did so during his five weeks with the Flames. He made 10 starts down the stretch and won his final four games. And although the Wranglers are the seventh seed in the Pacific, theirs is a roster that has ample postseason experience, including a division finals duel with Coachella Valley last season and a trip to the conference finals while playing in Stockton in 2022.
Wolf welcomed the chance to go after the Calder Cup again – and perhaps end his AHL career on a high note.
“It felt good to come back here,” the third-year pro told the team website. “This is the playoffs, the best time of the year.”
― with files from Patrick Williams
