Firebirds stay hot, pull out shootout victory over rival Calgary
The recipe was there for a thriller Wednesday night at Acrisure Arena as the rival Calgary Wranglers came to town to face a red-hot Coachella Valley Firebirds team.
And sure enough, the ingredients came together for a tasty Firebirds victory in the form of a 4-3 shootout win. Goalkeeper Chris Driedger stoned all five Wranglers in the shootout, while Logan Morrison scored the lone goal for the Firebirds to secure the two points and keep Coachella Valley in first place in the Pacific Division.
When Driedger ushered aside the final Wranglers' attempt, the electric crowd of 8,910 rose to their feet and roared. There was a palpable electricity in the air during the game, and that's because the Wranglers and Firebirds are bona fide rivals.
The two teams played 13 times last year including an epic five-game playoff series in which the Firebirds eliminated the Wranglers. Wednesday's game was the fifth meeting this year, with the Firebirds winning the last four, and they'll play again Thursday night at Acrisure Arena.
"I think every time we play these guys there’s that rivalry," Driedger said. "You know there’s a couple guys on our team they don’t like very much and there’s a couple guys on their team we don’t like very much and we’re both neck and neck in the standings. Obviously, the playoffs last spring kind of add to that, and since we’re far away from each other we often play two games in a row so there are a lot of factors. We're building a pretty nice rivalry, and when we go against the Wranglers we come to play."
Firebirds coach Dan Bylsma confirmed there is a mutual dislike between the two teams forged over the 18 games they've played in the last year and a half. It's the hockey embodiment of the phrase "familiarity breeds contempt."
"Rivalries are usually built between two good teams with some history and some playoff history. It seems like every time we play against the Wranglers you feel like you're going against the best team or the other best team in the league," Bylsma said. "I don't think they like us and we don't like them and there was definitely a flavor of that in tonight's game."
The game was tight throughout and neither team ever had more than a one-goal lead. The Firebirds struck first with a pretty individual effort by John Hayden who picked up a loose puck and zipped it past Wolf for an early 1-0 lead for the Firebirds. Before the first period ended, though, the Wranglers tied the game when Jakob Pelletier tipped in his own rebound past Driedger.
Calgary scored on a 3-on-5 advantage in the second to carry a 2-1 lead into the third. Marián Studenič quickly tied with an early third-period goal for the Firebirds, only to see Calgary retake the lead minutes later during a 4-on-4 opportunity. But the Firebirds' again had a quick answer in the form of Ville Ottavainen who rifled one from the blue line through a Hayden screen to tie the game at 3 which is where it stood into overtime.
There were huge moments during the 3-on-3, 5-minute overtime period. Driedger had to stop a clean breakaway attempt, something he had already done twice before in the game, to keep the Firebirds in it. Max McCormick then found an opening but clanged his potential game-winner off the crossbar and out. The overtime period ended up scoreless, setting the stage for the heroics of Driedger and Morrison.
The Firebirds have now scored at least a point in six straight games (five wins and an overtime loss) and are playing their best hockey of the season. The Firebirds are now 25-12-4-1 on the season and stayed one point ahead of Tucson atop the Pacific Division standings. Tucson beat Bakersfield 3-2 on Wednesday.
"Our group is very confident right now, and it took a little while to get to the level we want to play at, but recently things have been clicking well," Hayden said. "We’re pretty confident and we’re having a lot of fun with it."
Put another way, the Firebirds have their swagger back. They completed a January that saw them go 10-2-2-1 in 15 games. And remember those early home struggles? Wednesday's win now has the Firebirds with an above-.500 record at Acrisure Arena at 9-8-2-1 to go with their sizzling 16-4-2-0 road record.
"The story of our season is that we’ve been a little bit inconsistent with our play and too many times that’s been at home," Bylsma said. "We've really started to play consistent, 60-minute hockey. That’s what you want and you want a good opponent that you have to play your best against to beat and that was the case tonight and our guys rose to that challenge. The Wranglers are undoubtedly one of the better teams that we play and it's good to see our guys play a full 60 minutes and get the win."
The goals
1-0 Firebirds: Five minutes into the game, John Hayden picked up a loose puck at center-ice, skated in on Dustin Wolf and whistled a perfect wrister into the upper left corner of the net.
1-1: Calgary ties it up with 9:03 to go in the first quarter when Jakob Pelletier tipped in his own rebound past Chris Driedger.
2-1 Calgary: After the Firebirds had an agonizing possession midway through the second period in which they peppered the Wranglers goal to no avail, the Flames cashed in a minute later on a 5-on-3 power play when 6-foot-8 big man Adam Klapka cleaned up a loose puck in front of Driedger.
2-2: Right off a faceoff, Marián Studenič fired a shot through traffic and past Wolf to tie the game at 2-2 less than two minutes into the third period.
3-2 Calgary: In a 4-on-4 situation, Calgary's Matt Coronado made a pretty juke at the blue line to create a 2-on-1, which he fed to Ben Jones who scored short-side past Driedger's right shoulder.
3-3: Villa Ottavainen ripped one from the blueline through a John Hayden screen that got behind Wolf before he ever saw it to retie the game with 13:28 left in regulation.
Ice nuggets
Goose out: The Firebirds announced that defenseman Gustav Olofsson underwent a procedure to correct a lower-body injury and is week-to-week. He'll certainly miss Thursday and Saturday's games.
Tenny's back: Fan favorite Matt Tennyson, a defenseman from the 2022-23 Coachella Valley Firebirds, has returned to the team to join the Firebirds as a television analyst. He'll also be part of the team's community relations team as a hockey ambassador.
Hughes returns to ice: Cameron Hughes, one of the Firebirds leading scorers, was back in the lineup Wednesday after being suspended the previous two games for his actions during a game against Henderson that were deemed suspension-worthy by the AHL.
What's next
The Firebirds and Wranglers turn right around and play again Thursday night at Acrisure Arena in a 7 p.m. start. The Firebirds then play the third game of their seven-game homestand on Saturday against Tucson, the team closest to the Firebirds in the Pacific Division standings. Puck drops at 6 p.m. for Saturday's game.
This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Firebirds stay hot, pull out shootout victory over rival Calgary
