Rittich Extinguishes Firebirds, Abbotsford Lose Podkolzin After Scary Hit, Shepard Wins NHL Debut Against Devils

It was a busy night across the AHL on Wednesday.

The Henderson Silver Knights moved to 5-1 on the young season with a 4-3 OT victory against the San Jose Barracuda off the stick of Byron Froese, who scored two goals on the night, including the game-winner.

The Milwaukee Admirals took down the Belleville Senators 4-1, while the Rochester Americans edged out the Charlotte Checkers 4-3. 

The Wilkes Barre-Scranton Penguins knocked off the defending Calder champions Hershey Bears 5-1, while a pair of goalies pitched massive shutouts.

The Iowa Wild and goaltender Jesper Wallstedt blanked the Chicago Wolves on the back of a stellar 31-save performance. Meanwhile, NHL veteran David Rittich and the Ontario Reign shut down the Coachella Valley Firebirds with a 41-save 1-0 shutout. 

Finally, the Abbotsford Canucks knocked off the Colorado Eagles 5-2, but the bigger story was a scary injury to key forward Vasily Podkolzin. 

Podkolzin had to be stretched off the ice following a hit from Eagle's Keaton Middleton. Thankfully all seems to be well, as Podkolzin shared a hospital selfie with the caption "All good, no worries!".

Elsewhere, the reigning Calder Cup MVP made his National Hockey League debut and picked up his first win against the red-hot New Jersey Devils.

Shepard, a Hershey Bears mainstay, made 18 saves and was treated to offensive support from the Washington Capitals as the Caps doubled up the Devils 6-4.