Firebirds squander late lead, fall to Canucks, 6-5, in shootout
The Coachella Valley Firebirds on Sunday threw away what would have been an important win after coming from two goals down to take a third period lead inside Acrisure Arena.
This one will no doubt leave a sour taste, players echoed afterward.
The 6-5 loss to the Abbotsford Canucks that was secured in an overtime shootout came after the Firebirds, holding a one-goal lead, turned the puck over not far in front of their own net and surrendered a game-tying goal with just 1:54 remaining.
Following a scoreless five minutes of overtime, forwards Max McCormick, Kole Lind and Andrew Poturalski came up empty in the shootout and Canucks left winger Vasily Podkolkin scored the one goal Abbotsford needed to end the game.
“It sucks,” star forward Shane Wright said. “We had chances to win. We had chances to close that game out. We still had a chance to win, even if we didn’t have our best stuff.”
Now, instead of moving into a tie for third place in the Pacific Division with the Ontario Reign, the Firebirds will now head on the road tied for fourth with Abbotsford.
The loss was the Firebirds’ first of the new year, following a string of three decisive victories that began with a 6-1 New Year’s Day thrashing of the Calgary Wranglers. Coachella Valley then topped Calgary 3-1 on Jan. 2 and Abbotsford 4-0 on Saturday.
So, the Firebirds had outscored their first three opponents of 2024 by a combined score of 13-2 prior to Sunday. That's a big reason why Sunday's loss felt more than a bit deflating.
“When you get hot, you want to stay hot," blueliner Connor Carrick said.
The kicker following those three wins to start the year was that the Firebirds (18-10-2-1) and Canucks were back on the ice Sunday, fewer than 17 hours after their Saturday game had concluded.
That type of scheduling is a part of professional hockey, but it makes maintaining a high quality of play difficult.
“Kind of a strange game,” Carrick said. “Execution-wise, it makes for a lot of tough reads and kind of challenges your system on both sides.”
Both teams appeared fatigued as a result of the quick turnaround, and the play on the ice was anything but crisp. McCormick scored first, on a short-handed goal, before Abbotsford forward Max Sasson answered with a goal of his own just 53 second later.
Following a turnover that left Firebirds goalie Cale Morris exposed and without defensive help, Podkolzin scored to give Abbotsford its first lead of the game just prior to the first intermission. That seemed to give the Canucks the momentum entering the second period, and Abbotsford center Arshdeep Bains added a short-handed goal to give the Canucks a 3-1 advantage.
“It wasn’t pretty,” Firebirds head coach Dan Bylsma said. “I think it was sloppy on both sides of the ledger. I think you can look at a lot of the plays and say that we gave them those opportunities and we gave them those goals.”
Firebirds rookie forward Logan Morrison kept Coachella Valley in the game with a goal before Bains scored again to extend Abbotsford's lead to 4-2.
Just when it felt like it was over for the Firebirds, they somehow managed to find their way back. First, with a power play goal from Carrick, then with another power play goal by Wright to tie the game.
Wright added a second goal early in the third to, improbably, give the Firebirds the lead once again and for the majority of the third it appeared as though Coachella Valley would hang onto the lead for a meaningful win in a game that was far from their best of the season.
Instead, an errant pass in the crease after winning a face-off was all the Canucks needed to tie the game, steal the momentum and take the win in overtime.
“I think just how the play happened, we’re looking to come up the strong side of the ice," Bylsma said. "But because of where the puck came, kind of right into the pile, off the guys there, it wasn’t something we were able to do. So, we in turn looked to go out the weak side and (had) miscommunication or misplay.
"We didn’t break down defensively; we handed him a tee-ball and he got a hold of it.”
Morris recorded 35 saves in the loss. Of the four goals he allowed, at least two were not his fault and were the result of turnovers that led to open scoring opportunities for Abbotsford players.
“I think the sting of losing and the disappointment of losing," Bylsma said, "the frustration of losing is something we can draw from and move forward with.”
Next game
The Firebirds will hit the road this week, starting with a game in San Diego against the Gulls on Wednesday. Puck drop is set for 7 p.m., if is played at all.
A water main break caused the cancellation of the Gulls' Friday and Saturday games against the Bakersfield Condors that were scheduled to be played at Pechanga Arena.
Coachella Valley will then travel to Colorado to face the Eagles on Friday and Saturday before returning home for a stretch of home games on Jan. 15 and 17 against the Henderson Silver Knights and Jan. 19 versus the Wranglers.
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 fall to Canucks in OT after squandering late lead
