Firebirds' secret to playoff success? Finding wins amid the chaos that postseason brings

The Coachella Valley Firebirds weren't at their best Wednesday night. The penalty kill was dreadful. Goaltender Chris Driedger had a rough night. They blew the lead three different times.

But here's the thing, and it's the most important thing: They still won. This team's ability to find a way to win different styles of games — which the postseason seems to have a way of throwing at you — may be its most special quality.

After Wednesday's pivotal 7-5 win that saw them win despite yielding "three and a half" power-play goals, the Firebirds are now one Friday night victory away from advancing to the next round. When you cross the threshold into a new round of the playoffs, they don't ask you how pretty the wins looked that got you there.

It's the playoffs after all, everything's not going to go exactly as coach Dan Bylsma draws it up on the whiteboard. Devin Shore described it this way.

"You develop a plan and try your best to execute your plan, but I guarantee you things are going to go wrong out there," he said. "And things are going to go wrong again on Friday night. It's about sticking with it, realizing that each shift, each little play in a game is independent of the previous plays regardless of if they went well or did not go well."

In Wednesday night's case, things seemed to go wrong almost immediately after something went right. The Firebirds led 2-1, then it was 2-2. The Firebirds led 3-2, then it was 3-3. The Firebirds led 4-3, then it was 4-4. Oh my gosh, the Firebirds scored twice in a row in both halves of a double-minor power play to go up 6-4. Seconds later, it was 6-5.

There were about 12 different palpable mood swings for the smaller-than-normal, but still-loud crowd on hand at Acrisure Arena. Uproarious glee with every goal, nervous murmuring with every goal against.

There's a different feel to this year's playoff run among the Firebird faithful, and you could feel it in the air Wednesday. Last year was all about the joy of something new. Every series bringing with it a new reason for excitement. No pressure, just the joy of being on a fun ride.

This year there is pressure. What if the fun ride stops after four playoff games instead of 26? That unsettling feeling that comes with failing to meet expectations is in play for the fans this year in a way that didn't exist last year. Nerves became more frayed with every Wrangler answer Wednesday and you could feel it.

But the Firebirds prevailed. The players stayed focused, kept plugging away. They were able to do exactly what Shore described, not let a recent failure carry over into the next shift.

"You can't play the score," said captain Max McCormick, who scored twice including an empty-netter that put the game away and allowed the crowd to exhale. "Penalties happen, things that maybe you disagree with, you can't let that affect you. You have to try to stick to your process for the full 60 minutes. I think you saw that from us throughout the regular season. Sometimes we didn't have our best or it wasn't the prettiest game, but we just needed to step up throughout the lineup to find a way to win."

There were a lot of players who fit that step-up role Wednesday night, specifically Marian Studenic, who played what Bylsma called his best game as a Firebird. He sacrificed his body with two big blocks early in the game, one hit him so squarely he had to be helped off the ice. But he stayed in the game, and went on to score two huge goals as the hockey gods rewarded him for his gutsy play.

Bylsma said Wednesday's game was not unlike Sunday's 4-3 overtime win. The Firebirds did not play perfect hockey, but they also didn't stray from the path amid the swirl and chaos of all the twists and turns both games delivered.

"You could say the same thing about Game 2 in that like tonight it didn't go as planned, but I think our guys and the leadership in our room and the mentality with which we play is that we're going to just keep doing it over and over and over again the best we can," Bylsma said. "And that showed in Game 2 and that showed again tonight. We just gotta going forward keep that same mentality."

Wednesday night's game had the most goals in any Firebirds playoff game. Friday's game could be completely different. The secret to the Firebirds' success is that they feel comfortable in any type of game, and have the belief that, in the end, continuing to play "Firebirds hockey" is the best way to win.

"There are a lot of surprises in the playoffs," Shore said. "You've got to play the game you're in. The next game might be 1-0, right? Regardless, you have to stick to the plan. Not feel sorry for yourself and just keep on playing, keep enjoying it. It's fun out there."

So take it from Shoresy Firebirds' fans. This playoff ride — which we now know will last at worst until Sunday and at best into mid-June — is going to be bumpy, but it's also going to be fun. Wednesday's game was both.

Shad Powers is a columnist for The Desert Sun. Reach him at shad.powers@desertsun.com.

This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: AHL: Firebirds special playoff skill? Winning when not at their best