Some of the AHL’s top Calder Cup contenders continue to look rather wobbly.

Already the Calder Cup Playoffs have had the Providence Bruins (first overall), Ontario Reign (fourth), and Charlotte Checkers (fifth) all going home early alongside the North Division regular-season champion Laval Rocket. 

Now it’s the Grand Rapids Griffins (second) and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (third), two more top Calder Cup possibilities, who have found themselves facing some strong pushback. The Griffins face elimination as soon as Tuesday night. And if the Penguins can’t reset themselves that same night, they could be sent to the brink this week, too.

Let’s review who is rising, holding, and falling among those Calder Cup Playoff teams – past and present.

Rising

Chicago Wolves
They took out a solid Texas Stars team to open the postseason.

Now they have a chance for some even bigger prey in the Grand Rapids Griffins. Two road wins to open their series with their long-time rival have the Wolves positioned to finish off the Western Conference regular-season champion this week at Allstate Arena.

Defensive misadventures caused the Wolves trouble at times in the regular season. So did some shaky goaltending at times. Those issues have been handled so far. Cayden Primeau, a money goaltender who twice went to the Eastern Conference Finals with Laval, is in control in net. Up against the Griffins, a team whose 3.54 goals per game ranked second overall in the regular season, the Wolves have held them to four goals so far in this series.

Finishing off this series will be a difficult task. Grand Rapids is a deep, experienced club that could turn this series around quickly. But the Wolves have them vulnerable as they try to finish them off here.

Colorado Eagles
A killer instinct has eluded the Eagles at times, especially in past seasons.

After a poor 4-0 road loss to the Coachella Valley Firebirds, they came home and trailed the Firebirds by a goal well into the second period of Game 3. That was despite a 17-shot first period. But when two Chase Bradley goals gave them a lead, the Eagles clamped down. They got goals from Gavin Brindley and T.J. Hughes for a 4-1 lead and did not let the Firebirds summon much of a third-period push at all.

That’s encouraging for the Eagles, who continue to get standout work from goaltender Trent Miner. Now they need to end this series in Wednesday night’s Game 4. Letting the Firebirds hang around cost the Pacific Division regular-season champion Ontario Reign their season. With someone like Miner, who has four shutouts already, they are set up to do so.

Springfield Thunderbirds
These Thunderbirds, they’re just an irritating, annoying team that continues to refuse to go away.

They looked buried against the Charlotte Checkers in their opening series, starting with an 8-1 loss and then going down early in Game 2. Instead they put some vinegar in their game, rallied, and then knocked out the Checkers. Up against the 110-point Providence Bruins, the AHL’s top regular-season team? They handled that as well with a road split to start that series before they put the P-Bruins away on home ice to take that series.

Now they’ve drawn blood from the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, who placed third overall in the regular season. Their third-period three-goal rally sent them on to a 4-3 victory in Game 2. That got them another split, and now they’re going home for two games at MassMutual Center.

They’ve already ended two top clubs’ seasons. Can they send another one home for the summer?

Holding

Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins
What was that? 

Game 1 against Springfield had the Penguins putting together a masterpiece. Sergei Murashov collected a shutout, first-round pick Bill Zonnon scored in his AHL debut, and the Penguins smothered the visitors.

Game 2 looked even better. Zonnon tallied again as the Penguins eventually put together a 3-0 lead. Then the third period arrived, the Penguins had a power play in the opening 31 seconds, and a chance to put away the Thunderbirds in the game and quite possibly the series. Instead Springfield scored shorthanded 24 seconds later, hung around until the closing minutes of the period, sunk two goals 1:36 apart to force overtime, and then won the game to even the series. In all, the Penguins got outshot 31-12 in the final 33:44. 

It was sloppy and decidedly much unlike the Penguins. Now even a split in the next two games in Springfield would force them to win Game 5 at home. These best-of-five series can unravel quickly, and the Penguins have left themselves in a position possibly to find that out.

Falling

Grand Rapids Griffins
The Griffins, the AHL’s second-best team in the regular season, should have expected a tough fight from the Wolves should be a better barometer for the Griffins.

They’ve gotten a lot more than that. Much like Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, a disastrous late-game collapse doomed the Griffins in Game 2 on home ice. The difference for the Griffins is that they didn’t have a Game 1 win to act as a cushion.

Now they’re in trouble as the series moves to Chicago. In a season in which the Griffins for so long looked like the top Calder Cup contender, they run the risk of winning just one playoff round this year.

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