Firebirds solidify Pacific Division lead with 5-2 thrashing of Wranglers
The official scorekeeper on Thursday evening credited Andrew Poturalski with the Coachella Valley Firebirds’ first goal of the game, then promptly changed it to Max McCormick. Down on the ice, Poturalski could not have known about the error, but it was almost as if he took it personally.
Poturalski, the veteran center, scored fewer than three minutes later and then found the back of the net a second time on a power play goal two minutes after that as part of a scoring surge that ignited a rally and led to a decisive 5-2 win over the Calgary Wranglers in front of 7,370 inside Acrisure Arena.
The win further solidifies the Firebirds’ lead atop the American Hockey League’s Pacific Division, giving Coachella Valley (26-12-4-1) a three-point lead over the idle Tucson Roadrunners for first place.
It also continued Coachella Valley’s dominance this season over perhaps its biggest rival. The two teams had the best records in the Western Conference last season and met in the playoffs, with the Firebirds winning a winner-take-all Game 5 on May 19.
After Calgary won the first matchup of the season between the two teams in October, the Firebirds have won the last five. All of them have come since Jan. 1.
The last two wins over the Wranglers have come within a stretch of two days, with Wednesday's win coming by way of a shootout.
"For us to go out and do that, I think it was a good statement win for us," Poturalski said. "Things have been going good lately, and just keeping that momentum rolling and playing with confidence is so huge in this sport. So we've just got keep rolling with it."
Coachella Valley has now won eight of its last 11 games and has earned points in the standings in 10 of 11 games, with two of the three losses coming in overtime. The Firebirds are currently on what is surely their hottest streak since making a run to the Calder Cup Finals last season.
Firebirds head coach Dan Bylsma said that the team talked internally about making a run once it reached the 36-game mark of the 72-game regular season last month.
"We had a discussion at the halfway point," Bylsma said. "The guys, the team, we had a discussion about where we're at and the guys set some pretty lofty goals for where we wanted to go. I would say that at the 36-game mark we weren't there yet, we weren't on pace for where we want to go."
Forty-two games in, that seems to have changed.
"The guys have worked," Bylsma said.
On Thursday, there was reason to believe that there could be a letdown to the team's recent success. The Firebirds were back on the ice fewer than 24 hours after Wednesday's win.
The Wranglers also had a quick turnaround, but history shows that both teams on a back-to-back tend to have sloppy performances in the second game, which often negates or reduces the home-ice advantage.
That wasn’t at all the case for the Firebirds.
Following a scoreless first period, the Coachella Valley scored four times in the second, on just 10 shots. After McCormick and Poturalski scored, Firebirds veteran forward John Hayden, who has now scored in each of the last four games, added a breakaway power-play goal to make it 4-0.
"Sometimes on a back-to-back, playing a lot of hockey, you're just concerned about the energy level of the team," Bylsma said. "But I think with Calgary as your opponent, a team we've butted heads with a lot, and we know they're a good team, it wasn't a challenge for our guys to get up for playing these guys."
After the fourth goal, Wranglers head coach Trent Cull pulled goalie Oscar Dansk in favor of last year’s league MVP Dustin Wolf, who was expecting a day of rest.
Firebirds goaltender Ales Stezka got the win, recording 27 saves in the process. The game marked the ninth time this season that Stezka has allowed fewer than three goals in a game.
For the game, the Firebirds were 2-for-5 on the power player and 2-for-3 on the penalty kill.
Coachella Valley will return to the ice inside Acrisure Arena on Saturday in what should be a big game against the Roadrunners. Puck drop is set for 6 p.m.
The goals
1-0, Firebirds: McCormick’s goal was his team-leading 19 of the season. Poturalski and forward Kole Lind were credited with assists on the play.
2-0: Poturalski’s first goal came on assists by Lind and blueliner Ryker Evans. Evans took a shot from about 20 feet out and Poturalski fired the puck in on the rebound.
3-0: Poturalski’s second goal, on the power play, was perhaps one of the best shots of the year by a Firebirds player. He shot it from about 15 feet out, with assists coming from Lind and blueliner Connor Carrick.
4-0: Hayden’s goal was his ninth of the year and his fifth in the last four games. Forward Devin Shore and Evans assisted on the goal.
4-1: Yan Kuznetsov scored on a power play for the Wranglers to prevent the shutout. Kuznetsov has scored four goals this season, but three of them have been against the Firebirds.
5-1: Rookie forward Ryan Winterton scored his 11th goal of the season at the 10:38 mark of the third period. Forward Luke Henman was credited with the assist.
5-2: Kevin Rooney scored his first goal of the season at the 18:05 mark of the third period.
Firebirds' player of the game
Poturalski. He was on the ice for the first three goals, which pushed the Firebirds out to a comfortable lead that they never relinquished. It was also Poturalski’s second multi-goal game of the season and his first since Dec. 13.
It's worth noting that it was Poturalski who scored the game-winning overtime goal to eliminate the Wranglers from the playoffs in this same building last season.
Lind finished with three assists in what was one of his better games of the season. With the two of them teaming with McCormick, it gave the Firebirds a dangerous trio for the Wranglers to contend with.
“We started with that line at the beginning of this year,” Bylsma said. “I think they expected to have success, but it didn’t really come early on in the season. I think they have come to realize that in order for it to be successful, they have to put in the work. Over the last little bit here you’ve seen that from them and when they do that they might be the best line in the league.”
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: Firebirds top Wranglers 5-2 with big second period
