Two former Everett Silvertips, John Lammers and KING 5 blogger Mitch Love, are in tonight's lineup for the Minnesota Wild affiliate. Lammers assisted in a goal in a losing effort in Game 4 over the weekend in Houston. The Admirals (Nashville Predators affiliate) then shut out the Aeros, 7-0 on home ice Monday night. For the Aeros and Admirals, today is a D-Day of sorts, the day we learn which team has the skill, the determination and the lucky bounces to advance to the AHL's Western Conference Finals against a strong Manitoba Moose team, which features two more former Silvertips, defensemen Taylor Ellington and Shaun Heshka.

The Worcester Sharks (San Jose's AHL team) are also in action tonight in the run for the Calder Cup, and even though tonight's matchup against the Providence Bruins (Boston affiliate) is Game 6 on the schedule, it's still a "do-or-die" situation for the Sharks, who are down 3 games to 2 in this series.

Former 'Tip Riley Armstrong scored a goal in the Sharks' losing Game 5 effort. Former 'Tip Zach Hamill notched an assist in Monday's 4-3 victory. Worcester hopes the home crowd will help spark them to victory tonight to force a decisive Game 7 on Thursday night back in Providence.

Last night, the Hershey Bears advanced to the Eastern Conference finals with a 3-0 shutout of cross-state rivals, the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. What makes this matchup so interesting is that so far, it has mirrored the matchup between its NHL counterparts, the Washington Capitals and Pittsburgh Penguins almost score for score. Many fans sincerely hope that tonight's Game 7 matchup between the Caps and Pens don't turn out the same way.

As always, you can listen to any AHL matchup at the teams' website, or watch online at the AHL's website (there's a fee). Just click on any name to access the website:

AHL's website
Houston Aeros
Milwaukee Admirals
Worcester Sharks
Providence Bruins