Calder Cup Game 6 live: Firebirds 5, Hershey Bears 2 (final)
The Coachella Valley Firebirds’ first season comes down to this – a Game 7 in the Calder Cup Finals.
Facing a win-or-go-home scenario, the Firebirds beat the Hershey Bears 5-2 on Monday night to keep their season alive.
In front of a boisterous sellout Acrisure Arena crowd, the Firebirds shook off a shaky first 10 minutes and then dominated the final 50 minutes of Game 6 for one of their most important wins of the season.
Coachella Valley extended its lead to 5-2 about four minutes into the third period on Kole Lind's second goal of the night and ninth of the postseason . Alexander True and Brogan Rafferty had assists.
The Firebirds stretched their second-period lead to 4-2 when they scored on their second power play of the night. Kole Lind tallied his eighth goal of the playoffs with 8:10 remaining in the second period. Goalie Joey Daccord had his second assist of the Calder Cup Finals.
Hershey had trimmed its gap to 3-2 with 16:32 remaining in the second period when Beck Malenstyn scored his fourth goal of the playoffs.
After a sluggish first 10 minutes of the first period, the Firebirds regained momentum by scoring three quick goals to take a 3-1 lead after the first period. The Firebirds are 9-0 this postseason when leading at the first intermission. They are also 10-3 in games when they've scored on the power play.
The Firebirds got on the scoreboard for the first time in two games when Max McCormick scored on a power play goal with 9:50 remaining. Andrew Poturalski had the assist for Coachella Valley that evened the score at 1-1.
Less than two minutes later, John Hayden scored his first Firebirds' playoff goal to give Coachella Valley a 2-1 lead with 7:59 remaining in the opening period. Ryker Evans and Ville Petman assisted.
Then, with 3:08 remaining and just after Hershey's power play ended, the Firebirds went ahead 3-1 with a spectacular goal by Cameron Hughes. The goal was his fourth of the Calder Cup Finals. Petman and Gustav Olofsson had assists.
Connor McMichael put the Bears on the scoreboard quickly with a close-range goal with 18:27 remaining in the first period. Hershey outshot the Firebirds 7-2 in the first five minutes. Hershey outshot Coachella Valley 10-9 in the period.
The Firebirds and Bears returned to the desert for Monday night's game after three consecutive one-goal games in Hershey -- all of which were won by the home team, including a 1-0 overtime victory in Game 5 on Saturday. Hershey returns to Acrisure Arena with a 3-2 lead in the series and can win the franchise's 12th Calder Cup with a win tonight.
Meanwhile, the Firebirds hope to ride the momentum provided by a sellout crowd to another win in an elimination game. The Firebirds have faced four this postseason, and since they're still playing you know that they have a 4-0 record in those games, all of which took place at Acrisure Arena. The Bears have not faced an elimination game this postseason.
We will be updating this live blog leading up to, during and after Monday's Game 6, a game that could be the last one of the Firebirds' amazing inaugural season.
Calder Cup Finals: Third period
Coachella Valley extended its lead to 5-2 about four minutes into the third period on Kole Lind's second goal of the night and ninth of the postseason . Alexander True and Brogan Rafferty had assists.
Calder Cup Finals: Second period
With an electric atmosphere inside Acrisure Arena, the Firebirds grabbed a 4-2 lead after two periods as they seek to force a decisive Game 7 in the Calder Cup Finals.
The Firebirds extended their second-period lead to 4-2 when they scored on their second power play of the night. Kole Lind tallied his eighth goal of the playoffs with 8:10 remaining in the second period. Goalie Joey Daccord had his second assist of the Calder Cup Finals.
Hershey had trimmed its gap to 3-2 with 16:32 remaining in the second period when Beck Malenstyn scored his fourth goal of the playoffs.
Coachella Valley outshot Hershey 7-3 in the second period and has now outshot the Bears 16-13 through the first 40 minutes.
Calder Cup Finals: First period
After a sluggish first 10 minutes of the first period, the Firebirds regained momentum by scoring three quick goals to take a 3-1 lead after the first period. The Firebirds are 9-0 this postseason when leading at the first intermission. They are also 10-3 in games when they've scored on the power play.
They got on the scoreboard for the first time in two games when Max McCormick scored on a power play goal with 9:50 remaining. Andrew Poturalski had the assist for Coachella Valley that evened the score at 1-1.
Less than two minutes later, John Hayden scored his first Firebirds' playoff goal to give Coachella Valley a 2-1 lead with 7:59 remaining in the opening period. Ryker Evans and Ville Petman assisted.
Then, with 3:08 remaining and just after Hershey's power play ended, the Firebirds went ahead 3-1 with a spectacular goal by Cameron Hughes. The goal was his fourth of the Calder Cup Finals. Petman and Gustav Olofsson had assists.
Connor McMichael put the Bears on the scoreboard quickly with a close-range goal with 18:27 remaining in the first period. Hershey outshot the Firebirds 7-2 in the first five minutes.
The team that has scored first has won each of the first five games of the series.
Calder Cup Finals: Stats favor Firebirds' W in Game 6
Of course, Hershey is perfectly capable of skating around with the Calder Cup in their hands by night's end, but most streaks and stats point to a Firebirds victory. Here are some of the positive data points for Firebirds fans:
The Firebirds have never lost four games in a row
The Firebirds have won six straight home games spanning the last three series, including two lopsided wins over Hershey, and are 11-3 at Acrisure Arena this postseason.
With backs against the wall, the Firebirds are 4-0 this postseason, scoring 5, 4, 5 and 6 goals in those deciding games.
Remember, though, that Hershey has been an excellent road team this postseason. They were 6-0 on the road entering the Calder Cup Finals before getting thwacked 5-0 and 4-0 in the first two games at Acrisure Arena.
The Bears are also 4-0 on the road in the playoffs when scoring first.
Calder Cup Finals: Firebirds pleased for desert return
The Firebirds returned to Palm Springs International Airport on Sunday afternoon and were greeted by several dozen fans. The Firebirds were probably pleased to step foot back in the Coachella Valley.
The Firebirds have lost six of their last seven road games in the AHL playoffs. But now they are back in friendlier confines.
Coachella Valley has posted a 35-8-1-2 record during the regular season and Calder Cup Playoffs at Acrisure Arena, which opened six months ago Sunday.
Firebirds head coach Dan Bylsma hopes the return to the California desert will result in a momentum swing in the series that has been decided by one goal in each of the last three contests.
"We’ve got to go back home and use that change of venue, use that momentum (from Games 1 and 2) and get our third win," Bylsma said. “We didn’t want to give them three games here in Hershey and force us to go back and win 6 and 7 at home, but it’s going to make for a great story.”
Calder Cup Finals: Good omen?
Coachella Valley Firebirds fan Matthew Watkins shared a photo in the Firebirds fan Facebook group of an interestingly shaped cloud he saw while driving in the Los Angeles area Sunday night. He considers it a good omen for a Firebirds victory on Monday night.
Calder Cup Finals: Rare air
A win and Calder Cup victory tonight for the Bears would mark only the fourth time in the history of the Calder Cup Finals that a team that opened the series with a two-games-to-none deficit managed to come back and win the title; the last team to achieve the feat was the 2010 Hershey Bears squad.
Calder Cup Finals: Working overtime
Hershey’s Game 5 win on Saturday was the second overtime victory of the series, and third overall overtime win of the playoffs for the Bears. The last playoff year that the Bears won three or more games in overtime was in 2017, when Hershey went 4-1 in games decided beyond regulation. Hershey’s record for most overtime wins in a playoff year was set in 2010, when the Bears went 8-1 in extra time, and won three of four overtime games against Manchester in the Eastern Conference Finals, and won Game 5 of the Calder Cup Finals 2-1 at Texas before returning home to claim the Cup in regulation on home ice.
The Firebirds, meanwhile, are now 2-3 in overtime games this postseason, having beaten Calgary in overtime twice, losing once to Colorado and now losing twice to Hershey.
Calder Cup Finals: First goal = win
It's always a good thing to score the first goal in a game, but even more so during these Calder Cup Finals. The team to score first has won all five games so far. Taking it a step further, the team that scored first has never even trailed in these Calder Cup finals.
This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Calder Cup Game 6 live: Hershey Bears vs. Coachella Valley Firebirds
