Coachella Valley Firebirds top the San Diego Gulls 8-4 at Acrisure Arena
Carsen Twarynski and Brogan Rafferty each scored a pair of goals and Tye Kartye and Kole Lind continued their current run of goals as the Coachella Valley Firebirds beat the San Diego Gulls 8-4 on Sunday inside Acrisure Arena.
The Firebirds remain in second place in the American Hockey League’s Western Conference with 14 more regular season games to play. Coachella Valley (41-11-4-2) clinched a playoff berth last week with a win over the Iowa Wild.
On Sunday, the Gulls took an early lead before the Firebirds evened the score on a Rafferty goal six minutes into the game. Lind and Max McCormick assisted on the play.
Cameron Hughes then scored in the second period to give Coachella Valley its first lead of the game. San Diego then scored two goals in the period to reclaim the lead before six consecutive Firebirds goals—by Rafferty, Alexander True, Lind, Twarynski Kartye and Twarynski again.
The Gulls added another goal with six minutes remaining, but the game was no longer still in doubt.
Goaltender Chris Driedger recorded 16 saves and was credited with the win.
Kartye’s goal marked his 16th in his last 23 games. He recorded his first hat trick as a professional last week against Texas. The 21-year-old forward from Ontario, Canada scored just five goals in his first 35 games.
Lind has also been on a tear. The 24-year-old forward from Saskatchewan, Canada has now scored nine goals in his last 12 games, including the game-winner in overtime versus San Jose on Feb. 27.
Andrew John covers the Firebirds and sports around the Coachella Valley 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: AHL: Coachella Valley Firebirds top San Diego Gulls 8-4
