Firebirds held scoreless in 1-0 loss to Ontario Reign inside Acrisure Arena
Coachella Valley Firebirds fans were left waiting on Wednesday, and it was a rarity.
During the Firebirds' 1-0 loss to the Ontario Reign inside Acrisure Arena, Firebirds fans sat, without much of a reason to shoot out of their seats.
For the second time in two home games this season, the play was described by Firebirds (1-2) head coach Dan Bylsma as "sloppy," and while it's still incredibly early in the season, the magic of last season's Calder Cup postseason run has not carried over into two home games to start this season.
“I think we’ve had some good chances," team captain Max McCormick said. "The puck is just not going in for us right now. So, we’ve got to keep working and continue to create more opportunities to get to the net, and that’s where good things happen.”
Coachella Valley lost its home opener, 3-2, to the Bakersfield Condors on Oct. 13. Then, after beating the Tucson Roadrunners 4-0 on the road, the Firebirds returned home for Wednesday’s game, which marked just the third time Coachella Valley has been held scoreless in this building.
The crowd of 8,229 sat rather nervously for three periods, just waiting. There were chants and some minor tense moments in a tight game, but there were also a lot of disappointing exhales.
The Reign managed to fire the puck past Firebirds goaltender Chris Driedger just before the end of the second period, which seemed to give the Firebirds a sense of urgency. Coachella Valley fired off four shots on goal in the final two minutes of the period, but Ontario goaltender David Rittich recorded 34 saves to secure the shutout victory.
"I 100% should have had the goal that went in tonight," Driedger said. "So, that's tough when it ends up being the game-winner."
Coachella Valley outshot Ontario 41-25 and was 0-for-4 on the power play, with a one man-advantage coming in the final three minutes.
Wednesday felt like another subtle reminder of how fortunate Firebirds’ fans were in their inaugural season, which ended in Game 7 of the Calder Cup Finals in June. Twelve of the first 14 games inside Acrisure Arena ended with a Firebirds win, and Coachella Valley averaged 3.6 goals per game during that stretch.
In the Calder Cup Playoffs, the Firebirds won 12 of 16 games inside this building while averaging 3.9 goals per game.
This season, the Firebirds have scored just two goals in two games at home.
One difference this year is that with nine new faces in the lineup, the team has had just a couple weeks to build chemistry. They've now played just three games during that time, whereas other American Hockey League teams have played several more.
But it might be fair to wonder if the lack of offense the Firebirds have had this season is solely due to a lack of chemistry. Maybe it'll take more than just a matter of time before this group sets fire to the opposing net with a flurry of goals.
"I think we, as a group, can learn from the lack of success that were having, that it's not going to come easy," Bylsma said. "It's not going to come just because we put the skates on, put the jersey on and slap the puck around."
"I think it's a good thing for our group to go through it," Bylsma adding, "and learn from it and bring a little more intensity, a little more compete to our game."
The goal
1-0, Reign: Ontario blueliner Kevin Connauton scored the first goal of the game at the 17:19 mark in the second period, leaving little time for the Firebirds to answer before the second intermission. Martin Chromiak assisted on the play.
Firebirds' player of the game
Driedger gets the nod again in this one. It could be argued that he has been the Firebirds' best player in each of their first three games of the season.
In the first game, two of the three goals he allowed were on breakaways due to poor passes. He then shut out the Roadrunners on the road before allowing just a single goal on 41 shots Wednesday.
Driedger remained in the game to prevent a second Ontario goal after he took a violent charge from Reign forward Charles Hudon late in the game. He remained on his back for several seconds, later describing that the hit knocked the wind out of him.
In three games this season, Driedger has allowed just four goals and is the reason they've been in both of their home losses.
Ice nuggets
Another slow start: In each of their first two homes games this season, the Firebirds have been held scoreless in the first period. They were held without a goal in three of their first four home games last year, which weren’t actually home games at all. They were held in either Seattle or the surrounding area, where they played two games at Climate Pledge Arena, another at Kraken Community Iceplex and another at Angel of the Winds Arena in Everett, Washington.
In their first four official home games inside Acrisure Arena last season, Coachella Valley scored four goals in the first period in those games and was only held without a first-period goal in one of those games.
“There might be a little bit of expectation to succeed," Driedger said, "and when you have the expectation to do well, sometimes complacency can sneak up and bite you. I don’t know if that's what’s happening with this group, but I know we have great leadership, great coaching and we’re going to figure it out.”
Next game
The Firebirds hit the road this weekend with a pair of games against the San Jose Barracuda on Saturday and Sunday. Puck drop is 6 p.m. on Saturday and 3 p.m. on Sunday.
Coachella Valley will then return home for a Tuesday game against the Abbotsford Canucks.
Andrew John covers the Coachella Valley Firebirds for The Desert Sun and the USA TODAY Network. Email him at andrew.john@desertsun.com.
This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Coachella Valley Firebirds blanked at home in 1-0 loss to Ontario Reign
