with files from Patrick Williams
Day 6 of the 2026 Calder Cup Playoffs features three winner-take-all contests as the first round ends and the playoff field is cut down to 16.
With their first season coming to an end, the Manitoba Moose have turned to it Domenic DiVincentiis on the net on Friday night. And the decision paid off, as the Moose turned to a strong defensive effort and got 19 saves from their second-year goaltender in his Calder Cup Playoff debut.
DiVincentiis took over as an AHL All-Star Thomas Milicwho stopped 20 of 23 shots in Game 1. Throughout the regular season the duo split most of the scoring duties for Manitoba, with Milic playing 41 games and DiVincentiis playing 34 games.
“It’s amazing,” the 22-year-old DiVincentiis said of the victory, a 2-1 victory that forced today’s Game 3 decision against Milwaukee. “That’s a total team effort right there.”
Forward David Gustafsson gave the game winner with 42.6 seconds to go in regulation. Drafted by Winnipeg in the second round in 2018, Gustafsson is in his seventh season with the Jets organization. But after spending most of the past three seasons in the NHL, he was back with the Moose full-time in 2025-26, collecting 32 points in 48 games.
“Scoring goals in the play-offs, that’s what you dream about,” Gustafsson said. “And at a time like that, it was great. That was the best game we played all season for all the guys that were there. That’s what you have to do if you want to win in the playoffs.”
DiVincentiis isn’t the first to appear in today’s Game 3 on home ice (3 ET, 
).
“We haven’t done anything yet,” he said. “We still have one more win to go here, and we are very focused on Sunday.”
In the visiting room, Milwaukee’s head coach Karl Taylor he was not focused on what could happen.
“That was a great hockey game,” he said. “I thought it was a draw. It was a close game, both teams competed hard. The fans got involved. It’s unfortunate that we lost, but that’s how it happens. Sometimes you lose.”
The result is yet another win for the Admirals, the ninth under Taylor since 2019. They are 6-2 in their last eight, including 2-0 against the Moose.
“Just play the game of hockey like we always do,” Taylor said of the Game 3 message. “The same things I’ve said in all the other games we’ve had over the years. We focus on ourselves. It’s not complicated. You’re going to see two desperate teams trying to extend their season, and those are fun games.
“Game 7, Game 5, Game 3, whatever… The fans love that, the players love it, the coaches love it. It’s those exciting moments that you get at one time that allow you to check yourself.”
The Rochester Americans have become a goalkeeper Devon Levy at times during his three seasons with the team.
And they didn’t turn their backs on him with the season on the line Friday night after a 5-0 loss to Toronto in Wednesday’s Game 1. Levi got the call again and fired 29 shutouts to force tonight’s decider at the Coca-Cola Coliseum (4 ET, ). The Americans did not respond to being shut out of the playoff game by being shut out in their history since 2000.
“We need him to be good,” the head coach Michael Leone said after the 2nd game. “He wasn’t good in the last game. He was good tonight. But I’m also very grateful to the team. That’s really good. [opponent]and we defended ourselves hard. I give our team a ton of credit. We played hard. I thought we were the better team.”
Said Levi, “Just getting another chance to play hockey on Sunday is exciting for me, personally, not to mention it’s a big game, going against the wall. Then again, it’s the same as every other game. It’s just another game.”
Along with Levi’s comeback attempt, Rochester’s blue line got two big turnovers in Game 2 in. Vsevolod Komarov again Ryan Johnson. Each player contributed a third-period goal that sealed the 4-0 victory, but most importantly they added movement, some postseason experience, and the ability to take on important minutes. Komarov had not played since April 10 while Johnson last played on March 28.
Levi always gives the Amerks a solid chance. But in Game 2, the Marlies managed 17 shots over two periods, and Levi emphasized the help he received, making sure to credit both Komarov and Johnson and the blueliners they put in while they were out.
“We have a lot of dogs that just work hard,” said Levi.
“We challenged the team,” said Leone. “There are three things I said: if we don’t have a work ethic, we don’t compete, and we don’t have a lot of detail in what we do, we don’t have a chance to succeed as a team. And they know that, and they responded big time in a big way. I’m proud of them.”
Meanwhile, the Marlies returned home and wasted no time getting to work on Saturday morning.
“The execution” was the main talking point.
“I thought they executed their game plan, and we didn’t do a good job executing ours,” the Toronto coach said. John Gruden said after game 2. “It shouldn’t surprise us what we have to do. Now it’s a matter of us wanting to do it consistently and be able to increase our strength.”
Doing it becomes much easier with a simplified game.
“I think when you are connected and when you are willing to make things easy, everything happens naturally,” he continued. “If you go outside and try to do things by yourself, you don’t do anything, things fall apart.
“This is playoff hockey. Playoff hockey is supposed to be tough, and we have to embrace the tough.”
The Cleveland Monsters had a two-goal pick heading into Game 1 against Syracuse.
Ivan Fedotov played in 47 regular season games this season for Cleveland and has 29 games of NHL career experience. Zach Sawchenko has been in the AHL since 2019-20, playing 135 regular season games between San Jose, Chicago and Abbotsford.
The head coach Trent Vogelhuber went with Sawchenko, who made 29 saves — 16 of them in the third period — in a 3-2 victory to open the best-of-five series. Game 2 is today at Rocket Arena (4 ET, ).
“His performance I thought was really good,” Vogelhuber said after Game 1. “I think when we’re at our best, we’ve used both, and Saw has the best record — out of a long week, first weekend, he’s up and ready to go.”
Having two talented goaltenders is an asset, especially in the playoffs. Ten years ago, Vogelhuber was at the forefront of a Monsters team that turned on both of them Anton Forsberg again Joonas Korpisalo on their way to the Calder Cup.
“That’s a day-to-day decision we talk about all the time,” he added. “Both of these boys will play, because that’s how we found out that we are at a high level as a team and that they are at a high level as goalkeepers.”
In the village of Syracuse, Jon Gillies earned the Game 1 start after shutting out Belleville in the Crunch’s regular-season finale on April 18. Making just his fourth AHL start of the season, and his first Calder Cup Playoff appearance since 2017, Gillies allowed three goals on six shots in the first period. Brandon Halverson he came in relief, facing just nine shots in two seasons. Syracuse finished with a 31-15 advantage in shots on goal.
The first round of the Calder Cup Playoffs will wrap up with tonight’s game, a decider between Coachella Valley and Bakersfield at Acrisure Arena (8 ET, ).
Oscar Fisker Mølgaard two goals in the third period – including the game-winner with 3:10 left – to give the Firebirds a season-ending 5-4 win in Game 2 last night.
It was another memorable moment this season for the 21-year-old who made his NHL debut with Seattle in November and ran for Denmark at the Olympics in February.
“I was told to shoot more pucks,” Fisker Mølgaard said with a smile. “Close the switch and let it go. Luckily it went in. It was a big goal for us.”
The winning tally came after the Condors had erased a 4-2 deficit with 38 seconds left. Atro Leppanen again Riley Stillman.
“This team has never been out of games. That’s something special about this team,” the Bakersfield coach Colin Chaulk said. “Coachella followed up, and they had good sticks, and they were physical, and they played for their lives. You have to expect that from them, and unfortunately they got one over us.”
Eduard Salé, Jagger Firkus again Mitchell Stephens and score for the Firebirds, who improved to 23-7 all-time during home ice.
Alec Regula again Quinn Hutson had other goals in Bakersfield, as well Viljami Marjala he had three assists – giving him five assists in two games.
Coach of the Firebirds Derek Laxdal He said he made sure that the message was the same for his team after last night’s victory as they were beaten 6-1 on Thursday in Game 1.
“When the game is over, win or lose, you move on.”
Tonight will be the first win for the Condors in a Calder Cup Playoff game, despite winning Game 3 during the Pacific Division playoffs following the shortened COVID-2020-21 season. The Firebirds won a three-game winning streak in 2023 before dropping Game 7 of the Calder Cup Finals.
Said Chaulk: “Both teams’ seasons are on the line. It’s going to be a great experience for our players. Either way we’re going to make some memories.”
