with files from Patrick Williams
Day 3 of the 2026 Calder Cup Playoffs features one series getting underway, and one team trying to advance to the division semifinals.
The last of the seven first-round series drops the puck tonight with Bakersfield hosting Coachella Valley in Game 1. It will be the Condors’ only shot on home ice in the series, which shifts to Palm Desert for Games 2 and 3.
Bakersfield was 25-8-3-0 at Dignity Health Arena this season, the third-best home record in the league behind only Ontario and Providence. The Condors also won all four home meetings with the Firebirds, part of a 6-1-0-1 record overall in the season series.
Bakersfield’s offense was powered this season by their duo of Quinn Hutson (30-33-63) and Isaac Howard (24-26-50), who became the first teammates to both make the AHL All-Rookie Team at forward since Rochester’s JJ Peterka and Jack Quinn in 2021-22. Captain Seth Griffith (18-49-67) finished fifth in the league in points and was his team’s leading scorer for the eighth time in his career – including each of the last five years for Bakersfield.
Coachella Valley was 22-12-2-0 on the road in 2025-26, their fourth straight season of 20-plus road wins since entering the league in 2022-23. The Firebirds’ top seven scorers this season were all 23 and younger, led by third-year pro Logan Morrison (29-32-61), second-year pro Jagger Firkus (21-35-56) and rookie defenseman Tyson Jugnauth (9-36-45).
The Hershey Bears can finish off the Bridgeport Islanders with another win tonight as they host Game 2 at Giant Center.
Hershey struck first in the series with a 2-0 victory on Tuesday night, ending the Islanders’ 10-game home winning streak. Rookie defenseman David Gucciardi, a seventh-round pick by Washington in the 2022 NHL Draft who scored just three goals in 52 games during the regular season, snapped a scoreless deadlock with 7:29 left in regulation of Game 1.
“Both teams were waiting for somebody to make a mistake,” said Bears head coach Derek King, the former Islanders first-round pick who played 638 games on Long Island. “Both teams played hard, they were good on the forecheck, they put some pressure on us at times, and we then tilted the ice, and it was waiting for one mistake. It was a game of checkers or chess, whatever you want to call it, but we found a way to get it done.”
Ilya Protas added an empty-net goal with 1.1 seconds remaining, and Clay Stevenson made 18 saves for his first shutout of the season and the first of his Calder Cup Playoff career.
Marcus Högberg got the Game 1 start for Bridgeport and stopped 21 of 22 shots in his Calder Cup Playoff debut.
The Islanders are looking to extend not only their season tonight, but also their 25-year history in Bridgeport. New York is moving its AHL affiliate to Hamilton, Ont., in the fall.
