The status of Checkers defenseman Matt Kiersted remains unknown going into Game 5 today. Kiersted, who departed in the third period of Game 3 and missed Game 4, has been a staple on the Charlotte blue line since the 2021-22 season. He had 29 points and a league-best plus-34 rating for the Checekrs in the regular season, and had recorded one assist through the first three games of this series.
With Kiersted out for Game 4, head coach Geordie Kinnear turned to Eamon Powell, who had played five regular-season games with the Checkers after joining the team from Boston College. A captain in his final two NCAA seasons, Powell had 20 points (four goals, 16 assists) in 32 games with BC.
“Be ready.”
That is a go-to favorite quote for head coaches, especially in the postseason. Fortunately for the Bruins, Brandon Bussi had kept himself primed to go. When a crease collision 2:22 into Game 4 took AHL goaltender of the year Michael DiPietro out of the Providence crease, Bussi came on in relief and took control, stopping the Checkers on 31 of 33 shots and holding his team in the game long enough for captain Patrick Brown to win it in overtime, 3-2.
It was Bussi’s first game action since April 11 when he had 23 saves in a win at Hartford.
Providence has not disclosed DiPietro’s status for this afternoon. Nolan Maier, who spent most of this season in ECHL Maine, is the third goaltender on the Bruins’ roster. He has played 11 AHL games over his three pro seasons.
Give Todd Nelson four days to prepare for a must-win Calder Cup Playoff game, and there is a strong chance that he will come up with an effective plan.
The five-time Calder Cup champion has been through pressure situations before. So going into Game 4 on Friday night, following back-to-back losses and facing an early elimination, the Bears came through with a 6-4 road win to force this evening’s decisive Game 5 on home ice.
Nelson vowed after Game 3 that changes were on the way, and he meant it. Forward Mike Sgarbossa, scoreless in the first three games of the series, was scratched for Game 4, as was Dalton Smith. Brad Hunt and Garrett Roe dressed for the first time this postseason as Nelson went with 11 forwards and seven defensemen.
“Brad Hunt, that’s why he’s here,” Nelson said after Game 4. “That’s why we went out and got him, to get pucks going to the net, and he really gave our power play a lift.”
Even more dramatically, Nelson turned to Clay Stevenson in net. Hunter Shepard could not be faulted for the Bears’ two losses, but Nelson has a way of getting his players’ attention.
“As for Clay,” Nelson said, “he’s always played well against Lehigh. I just wanted to shake things up, and I just thought if we’re going to go down, we’re going down swinging.”
Playing in the Calder Cup Playoffs sometimes means facing uncomfortable situations. For the Phantoms, that means going into Giant Center today to play for their season.
But the Phantoms have already shown that they can handle one of the AHL’s toughest buildings for a visitor. They won three of their five visits during the regular season, and controlled Hershey in a 3-1 win in Game 2 of this series.
With goaltender Parker Gahagen out with an injury suffered during Game 3, head coach Ian Laperriere turned to Cal Petersen for the Game 4 start, with Carson Bjarnason serving as the back-up. Bjarnason spent this season with Brandon of the Western Hockey League and was a 2023 second-round pick by the Philadelphia Flyers.
Laperriere quickly dismissed any talk of asking a 19-year-old goaltender to make his pro debut in a winner-take-all Calder Cup Playoff game.
“Cal’s our guy,” Laperriere said. “I’m going back with him. I think it’s great Carson’s on the bench, learning… It’s a good experience for him.”
Do the Milwaukee Admirals have more confidence after twice fighting off elimination in Rockford?
“The bottom line is none of it matters,” head coach Karl Taylor replied after the Admirals again extended their postseason with a 3-2 win Friday in Game 4.
“As a group we just want to make sure that we play a great game, give us the best opportunity to win, and just play confident and play with our foot on the gas. We definitely don’t want to hang around (and) see what happens.”
Ideally for the IceHogs, of course, they would have wrapped up this series on home ice in either Game 3 or 4 and been resting up this weekend to prepare for the Texas Stars in the Central Division Finals.
That didn’t pan out, though, but they are trying to find the positives in their situation. One is that from a development perspective, these young Chicago Blackhawks prospects have shown that they can match up with a top team like Milwaukee.
“We’re not worrying about what was,” interim head coach Mark Eaton said after Friday’s Game 4 loss. “We’re worrying about what is and that these guys embrace this opportunity. This is why we play the game. This is the most fun part of hockey…playing those winner-take-all games. Winner moves on. Loser goes home.
“It’s an opportunity (that) I’m going to encourage these guys to enjoy and go out there and play free and play hard and enjoy that opportunity. We’re going to a decisive Game 5 against a good team, and it’s going to be fun.”
Today is just the second day in Calder Cup Playoff history to feature three winner-take-all games. Three first-round Game 3’s were contested on April 28 of last year.
Home teams are 121-81 (.599) in such games all-time.
The 2024 postseason saw seven series go the distance, with three of those deciding games going to overtime.
― with files from Patrick Williams
