Home Sweet Home: Firebirds roll to 5-3 win to take 2-0 series lead over Admirals
Game 2 had been a problem for the Coachella Valley Firebirds this postseason, with the newest team in the American Hockey League losing the second game in each of its first three playoff series.
The script was flipped Saturday in front of the largest crowd ever for a sporting event at Acrisure Arena, with the Firebirds claiming a 5-3 win over the Milwaukee Admirals to take a 2-0 lead in their best-of-seven Western Conference Finals series in the Calder Cup Playoffs.
Coachella Valley won Game 1 on Thursday.
The Firebirds now have five games to win two more to advance to the Calder Cup Finals. Game 3 is set for Monday in Milwaukee, with Games 4 and 5, if necessary, also in Milwaukee.
"There's some advantage to the road team if you can get a win in the first two games when you're going back for three in your building," Firebirds head coach Dan Bylsma said. "So, it's huge for us to get Game 1 and Game 2 in the series because we're now faced with going back to the hostile environment in their building and where they've proven to be good.
"This win was massive," Bylsma added.
Alexander True scored the first goal a minute into the game and Jesper Frödén, Ville Petman, Max McCormick and Carsen Twarynski also scored for the Firebirds. Goaltender Joey Daccord recorded 24 saves to collect the win.
Bylsma said that the quick start was important and he agreed with players that the Firebirds played better in Game 2 than they did in Game 1. They didn't give the Admirals as many open looks at the net and Coachella Valley was able to break the puck out to avoid the Milwaukee forecheck and create breakaway scoring opportunities.
The Firebirds never trailed in the game and now have some momentum and confidence heading to Milwaukee.
"Big to get two wins at home, especially to start the series," Twarynski said. "(Thursday) wasn't our greatest game all-around, and we managed to get a win, which is great. Today I thought we had a lot better effort for 60 minutes, so it's something to build on."
With the win, Coachella Valley has won six of its last seven games at home.
The sell-out crowd of 10,087 was the largest of the season for the Firebirds. It was even larger than the sell-out crowd of 9,918 that rocked Acrisure Arena for the Firebirds' opener on Dec. 18. Due to the demand, multiple areas previously open to the general public became ticketed areas, including bars and club areas.
Despite outscoring the Admirals 11-7 in the first two games of the series, players believe that they have yet to play their best hockey of this series.
"I feel like we have more in us than we've shown these first two games," Frödén said. "I think this game was building in the right direction. I think we played better today. We didn't give them that many odd-man rushes in their favor, so I think we shut them down a little better. But I feel like we have even more in us to prove."
The goals
1-0, Firebirds: With the Firebirds coming out aggressive, True was the one who found the back of the net first. True’s unassisted goal came just 1:01 into the game and quickly brought the crowd to its feet.
1-1: Zach Sanford scored a power play goal at the 5:44 mark, after Austin Poganski went to the penalty box for interference. Phil Tomasino and Marc Del Gaizo assisted on the play.
2-1, Firebirds: Frödén scored for the second time in three games, with the puck bouncing off the Milwaukee goalie, to give Coachella Valley the lead again early in the second period. Ryker Evans and Gustav Olofsson assisted on the play.
3-1: Petman, who had been aggressive with the puck early, scored on a breakaway at the 6:25 mark in the second period to give the Firebirds a two-score lead. Shane Wright assisted on the goal.
3-2: Anthony Angello made the game interesting again with his goal at the 3:53 mark into the third period. The right winger found himself with little pressure in front of the Firebirds’ goal and fired the puck past the right shoulder of Daccord.
4-2: McCormick scored an empty net goal at 17:54 in the third period to seal the win. The goal was McCormick's 11th of the postseason, which leads all players in the league.
5-2: Twarynski scored an empty net goal in the final minute of the game.
5-3: Egor Afanasyev then scored in the final seconds for the Admirals.
Firebirds' player of the game
Petman gets the nod here. The 23-year-old forward from Finland scored the goal that gave the Firebirds a two-score lead in the second period, which felt significant at the time. It allowed Coachella Valley some breathing room at a point in the game when the Admirals were pressing.
Petman also gets the nod because he had a handful of big hits and blocked a couple of shots that may have otherwise been goals. He's been a glue-guy for the Firebirds during the postseason and Saturday his play was particularly important in a win.
Out of town scoreboard
In Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Finals, the Hershey Bears beat the Rochester Americans, 4-2, to take a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven series. Game 4 is set for Monday in Rochester.
If the Firebirds were to reach the Calder Cup Finals, they would have home ice advantage versus Hershey or Rochester, with the first two games being played inside Acrisure Arena and the final two, if necessary, also being played at home.
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: AHL playoffs: Firebirds cruise to 5-3 win to take Game 2 over Admirals
