Firebirds lose regular season finale, finish 2nd in Western Conference ahead of playoffs
The Coachella Valley Firebirds fell, 4-2, to the Bakersfield Condors in their regular season finale on Saturday and will finish their first season in second place in the American Hockey League’s Pacific Division.
The Condors took a 2-goal lead into the third period, on goals by Noah Philp and Brad Malone, before the Firebirds tied the game with goals by Gustav Olofsson and Tye Kartye. But Dylan Holloway scored to allow the Condors to regain the lead and Philp added another goal for good measure.
The Firebirds will now take on the Tucson Roadrunners in the Calder Cup Playoffs, starting Wednesday at Acrisure Arena. The two teams will play in a best-of-3 series, with the second game on Friday and a third, if necessary, on Sunday.
Coachella Valley (48-17-5-2) had a chance to finish in first place in the conference, which would have given the Firebirds a first-round bye. But it would have required a Firebirds win and a loss by the Calgary Wranglers. The Wranglers beat the Abbotsford Canucks, 3-2, to enter the postseason in first place.
Joey Daccord made 32 saves in the loss. Coachella Valley finished the game 0-for-5 on the powerplay and 3-for-3 on the penalty kill.
Kartye finished the regular season with 28 goals and 57 points, which leads all rookies.
Andrew John covers the Coachella Valley Firebirds for The Desert Sun and the USA TODAY Network. Email him at andrew.john@desertsun.com and subscribe to The Desert Sun to follow all of his award-winning coverage.
This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Firebirds lose regular season finale, will begin AHL playoffs Wednesday
