![\"\"\/](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/USATSI_28774004_168420160_lowres.jpg\")
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Apr 20, 2026; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia Flyers goaltender Dan Vladar (80) defends the net against a wrap around attempt by Pittsburgh Penguins center Blake Lizotte (46) during the first period in game two of the first round of the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs at PPG Paints Arena. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images<\/p>\n
The Charlotte Checkers completed the 2025-26 AHL regular season by splitting a weekend set with the visiting Lehigh Valley Phantoms at Bojangles Coliseum.<\/p>\n
Lehigh Valley\u2019s Yaniv Perets made 39 saves and Christian Kyrou\u00a0 and Jackson Edward scored the goals as the Phantoms blanked the Checkers by a 2-0 count on Saturday. Cooper Black stopped 13 of 14 shots faced and defenseman Trevor Carrick registered a game-high nine shots on goal.<\/p>\n
The Checkers rebounded with a 4-1 win in the season finale to finish the campaign with 44-23-5 record. Sandis Vilmanis scored his 17th goal and added two assists; Jack Studnicka added a pair; and Ben Steeves potted his team-leading 23rd of the season. All four of Charlotte\u2019s goals came on the power play. Nate Smith collected two helpers and assists were also credited to Jack Devine, Robert Mastrosimone\u00a0, Gracyn Sawchyn and Ludvig Jansson. Veteran Louis Domingue got the start and stopped 11 shots before departing early in the third with an injury. Kirill Gerasimyuk came on in relief and made four saves on five shots.<\/p>\n
The Checkers, who finished third in the Atlantic Division, will take on the sixth-place Springfield Thunderbirds in the first round of the Calder Cup playoffs, starting on Wednesday with all games in Charlotte.<\/p>\n
PITTSBURGH PENGUINS vs. PHILADELPHIA FLYERS<\/p>\n
WHEN:\u00a07 p.m. ET<\/p>\n
WHERE:\u00a0PPG Paints Arena \u2013 Pittsburgh, PN<\/p>\n
SEASON SERIES:\u00a0Philadelphia leads 1-0<\/p>\n
ON THE TUBE:\u00a0ESPN<\/p>\n
PROJECTED STARTERS:\u00a0Penguins: Skinner (0-1 .850 \/ 3.12 0SO) Flyers: Vladar (1-0 .882 \/ 2.00 0SO)<\/p>\n
PLAYER STATS:\u00a0Pittsburgh<\/a>\u00a0\/\u00a0Philadelphia<\/a><\/p>\n CAROLINA HURRICANES vs. OTTAWA SENATORS<\/p>\n WHEN:\u00a07:30 p.m. ET<\/p>\n WHERE:\u00a0Lenovo Center \u2013 Raleigh, NC<\/p>\n SEASON SERIES:\u00a0Carolina leads 1-0<\/p>\n ON THE TUBE:\u00a0ESPN 2<\/p>\n PROJECTED STARTERS:\u00a0Hurricanes: Andersen (1-0 1.000 \/ 0.00 1SO) Senators: Ullmark (0-1 .931 \/ 2.11 0SO)<\/p>\n PLAYER STATS:\u00a0Carolina<\/a>\u00a0\/\u00a0Ottawa<\/a><\/p>\n DALLAS STARS vs. MINNESOTA WILD<\/p>\n WHEN:\u00a09:30 p.m. ET<\/p>\n WHERE:\u00a0American Airlines Center \u2013 Dallas, TX<\/p>\n SEASON SERIES:\u00a0Minnesota leads 1-0<\/p>\n ON THE TUBE:\u00a0ESPN<\/p>\n PROJECTED STARTERS:\u00a0Stars: Oettinger (0-1 .821 \/ 5.12 0SO) Wild: Wallstadt (1-0 .964 \/ 1.00 0SO)<\/p>\n PLAYER STATS:\u00a0Dallas<\/a>\u00a0\/\u00a0Minnesota<\/a><\/p>\n EDMONTON OILERS vs. ANAHEIM DUCKS<\/p>\n WHEN:\u00a010 p.m. ET<\/p>\n WHERE:\u00a0Rogers Place \u2013 Edmonton, AB<\/p>\n SEASON SERIES:\u00a0Edmonton won 2-1<\/p>\n ON THE TUBE:\u00a0ESPN 2<\/p>\n PROJECTED STARTERS:\u00a0Oilers: Ingram (16-10-3 .899 \/ 2.60 2SO) Ducks: Dostal (30-20-4 .888 \/ 3.10 0SO)<\/p>\n PLAYER STATS:\u00a0Edmonton<\/a>\u00a0\/\u00a0Anaheim<\/a><\/p>\n Sunday\u2019s results<\/p>\n Avalanche 2, Kings 1 (Colorado leads series 1-0)<\/p>\n Canadiens 4, Lightning 3 (OT) (Montreal leads series 1-0)<\/p>\n Sabres 4, Bruins 3 (Buffalo leads series 1-0)<\/p>\n Golden Knights 4, Mammoth 2 (Vegas leads series 1-0)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Apr 20, 2026; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia Flyers goaltender Dan Vladar (80) defends the net against a wrap…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":557133,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5102],"tags":[62,57,5141,5,4,63],"class_list":{"0":"post-557132","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-florida-panthers","8":"tag-florida","9":"tag-florida-panthers","10":"tag-floridapanthers","11":"tag-hockey","12":"tag-nhl","13":"tag-panthers"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/116441585175205107","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/557132","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=557132"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/557132\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/557133"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=557132"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=557132"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=557132"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}