Sandis Vilmanis scores his first goal in the AHL

Vilmanis, who played his third game in the AHL, scored the home team’s fifth goal in the 35th minute of the match against the Cleveland “Monsters”, helping the team win 5:1 (3:1, 2:0, 0:1).

In total, the 20-year-old Latvian forward made two shots on goal and ended the game with a positive efficiency coefficient of +1.

Meanwhile, in another match, the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton “Penguins” represented by Latvian forward Raivjas Ansons beat Rodrigo Ābol’s team “Lehigh Valley Phantoms” of Allentown 4:3 (4:0, 0:2, 0:1) at home.

Both Latvian forwards remained scoreless in this game. Ansons did not make any shots on goal, but ended the game with a positive efficiency coefficient of +1, while Abol had two shots on goal and a neutral efficiency.

The teams represented by Latvian hockey players will play their next game already tonight, when “Checkers” will host Cleveland “Monsters” again, and “Penguins” will play as guests with “Lehigh Valley Phantoms”.

In the overall standings of the AHL Eastern Conference, the “Checkers” are the leaders with six points in three games, the “Penguins” are fourth with four points, and the “Lehigh Valley Phantoms” team is in 13th position with two points in two games.

Last season, the Hershey “Bears” became AHL champions for the second year in a row, beating the Riverside “Coachella Valley Firebirds” 4-2 in the final series.