Coachella Valley Firebirds' home struggles continue with loss to San Jose
A confounding trend continued Wednesday night for the Coachella Valley Firebirds, who lost another home game after San Jose scored three straight power-play goals midway through the game to pull away for a 5-3 win.
The loss drops the Firebirds to 2-6 at home this season, a year after going 24-8 in the regular season at Acrisure Arena. Inexplicably, Coachella Valley is 7-1 on the road, so their 9-7 overall record is just one game off the 10-6 start they had last year, but the lack of home magic is becoming a storyline that is hard to ignore.
"You try to play the same way every night regardless of what building you’re paying in, but at the same time good teams defend home ice and we just gotta do a better job doing that," said Firebirds forward Devin Shore who scored the game's first goal. "It’s unfortunate the way it’s gone. Guys are working hard and stuff but maybe a couple percent more from each guy. I'm sure we’ll turn it around. These fans are great and they deserve to see some wins so it’s something we take a lot of pride in and it hasn't been good enough yet. Only thing you can do is keep working."
It was a penalty-filled 15-minute stretch spanning the second and third periods that saw the Barracuda score four goals, three on the power play, which was the difference in Wednesday's loss to a San Jose team that Coachella Valley had beaten twice already this year and entered the game with one of the worst win percentages.
The Firebirds did make it exciting late, cutting a 4-1 deficit to 4-3 with goals by Logan Morrison and Shane Wright, but their final attempts with the goalie pulled didn't connect, and San Jose ended it with an empty-netter.
Wednesday's loss was a prime example of the way the puck just hasn't been bouncing in their favor at Acrisure Arena this season so far. The Firebirds were in control for the first 25 minutes of the game, holding a 1-0 lead, but the hockey gods were not on their side as three different shots clanged off the iron hitting either the crossbar or post, preventing them from getting that always valuable two-goal lead.
The most heartbreaking miss came early in the second period. Captain Max McCormick was on a clean breakaway, beat the goalie, and hit the inside of the post so cleanly that he raised his arms in celebration only to see the puck defy the laws of physics and ricochet out.
Midway through the second period in a game that, to that point, had been controlled by the Firebirds, the momentum shifted.
San Jose scored a power-play goal to tie it at 1-1 and then spent the final five minutes of the period on the power play as multiple Firebirds penalties strung together. The Barracuda eventually broke through again with a power-play goal with a 5-on-3 advantage in the final minute of the period. The two-man advantage came after a questionable tripping penalty call on Ville Pettman that drew the ire of the Firebirds bench. The replay showed the Barracuda player tripped on his own, and when told that after the game, an incredulous Firebirds coach Dan Bylsma said "You needed a replay to see that?"
Making it more frustrating, the goal that was scored as a result of the 3 on 5 was also debatable as it looked like it was redirected in by a high stick. The referees gathered to discuss it, but wound up counting the goal.
That same power play carried into the third period and San Jose scored a deflating goal right away as Leon Gawanke whistled one from the blue line past Chris Driedger just 19 seconds into the period to give the Barracuda the 3-1 lead. If that one wasn't deflating enough, five minutes later they scored again to make it 4-1 and send many in the crowd to the exits.
"Each game has its own ebb and flow and I actually think the fourth goal was more deflating than the third one," Coach Bylsma said. "They got the third one and the guys on the bench were planning on scoring two goals anyway to win this game so, now we gotta score two to tie it, but the fourth one was a bit of a dagger to the momentum that we thought we were going to have."
The portion of the 7,637 fans that left almost missed a dramatic comeback as the two late goals cut the deficit to 4-3 with 2:30 left. The Firebirds had some good chances for the equalizer with the goalie pulled, but it wasn't to be, and then San Jose got control and scored the empty-netter to officially end it.
Bylsma said he found the spirit with which they played in the final 12 minutes of the game something to be encouraged about moving forward.
"The way we responded after it got to 4-1 with the last 12 minutes of hockey was encouraging, not just because we scored a couple, but you saw the resiliency and the fight in our guys," Bylsma said. "That got us back in the game and gave us a chance."
The home woes are one thing, but another difficult part to the start of the season for the Firebirds is the unusual amount of player movement. The Firebirds have seen players being called up to the Seattle Kraken and sent back at a much higher frequency than last year. Already this year, Devin Shore, Shane Wright, Ryan Winterton, Chris Driedger, Marian Studenic and Andrew Poturalski (twice) have been called up by the Kraken. Studenic and Poturalski are currently in Seattle.
“I think it’s been a good struggle for our team to have to deal with it," Bylsma said. "Last year we didn’t really have that issue until the playoffs and we had to deal with it then. This year it’s kind of part of our struggle trying to find the identity of our team and our group together. I don’t think it’s a bad thing with guys getting called up in different situations, but, yeah, it’s provided us with a good struggle.”
The goals
Firebirds 1-0: After going almost four full periods without a goal at Acrisure Arena, Devin Shore broke the drought with a nifty power-play goal. He found himself with the puck on the right circle and ripped one over the right shoulder of San Jose goalkeeper Eetu Makiniemi.
Tied 1-1: The Barracuda scored just seconds into their first power play of the game as Danil Gushchin got one past Driedger who was screened by the traffic in front.
Barracuda 2-1: A 5-on-3 power play led to another San Jose goal as Nathan Todd, standing right in front of Driedger redirected a chest-level shot into the goal. The Firebirds contended it was a high stick and shouldn't have counted, but after a brief discussion, the goal was allowed.
Barracuda 3-1: And the power play that carried over from the second period proved costly, too as San Jose's Leon Gawanke whistles a power-play goal past Driedger from the blue line to deflate the crowd just 19 seconds into the third period.
Barracuda 4-1: On kind of an innocuous break, Scott Sabourin got a feed and dribbled one through Driedger's legs for a fourth straight San Jose goal. It came with 14 minutes left in the game, but many Firebirds fans had seen enough and headed for the exits.
Barracuda 4-2: The Firebirds cut into the San Jose lead when Logan Morrison tapped in a rebound with 6:30 left in the game for his fifth goal of the season to give the remaining fans a charge.
Barracuda 4-3: Shane Wright scored a pretty power-play goal on a nifty pass from Cameron Hughes to cut the lead and get the remaining crowd roaring, but it was as close as they would get.
Barracuda 5-3: An empty-net goal by Jacob Peterson ended it.
Ice nuggets
Famous face: The National Anthem was sung by Steve Knill, who was a contestant on "The Voice." The San Francisco resident was on Season 17 and was a member of Kelly Clarkson's team before being eliminated in the battle rounds.
Player movement: The Seattle Kraken have been very active in dipping into the Firebirds pool to call up players this year. Within the last two days, Seattle has called up forwards Marian Studenic and Andrew Poturalski.
Standings check: The Firebirds entered Wednesday's game in seventh place in the Pacific Division. It's kind of tricky to really assess their position because they've played fewer games than all the teams above them, but the top seven teams in the 10-team division make the playoffs, so Coachella Valley is hovering right on that cusp line.
What's next
Coachella Valley (9-7) will play a road-home back-to-back series with the Ontario Reign this weekend. The Firebirds will be at Ontario on Friday night and then play the Reign on Saturday night at Acrisure Arena. The Saturday home game will have a 6 p.m. start.
This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Coachella Valley Firebirds' home struggles continue with loss to San Jose
