Joey Daccord's solid play calms down hectic night as Firebirds earn 6-3 victory
On a night that saw scoring come in bursts, it was the solid and occasionally spectacular goaltending of Joey Daccord that helped the Coachella Valley Firebirds kick off a six-game homestand with a win.
Daccord turned away 32 shots on the night and didn’t allow a goal in the final 37 minutes of the game as Coachella Valley continued its strong play against the Henderson Silver Knights with a 6-3 win at Acrisure Arena.
Kole Lind scored two goals and added an assist as five Firebirds scored in a game that started with frantic scoring but settled down late in the second period and into the third period.
“It was a very intense game, two teams that were very, very intense out there, very physical,” Daccord said. “I thought maybe we didn’t play our best game, but we found a way to win, which is the most important thing.”
Daccord’s play in the second period not only helped the Firebirds hold onto a lead but helped the team stave off a strong Silver Knights attack. Henderson put 18 shots on goal in the period, but only one managed to get past Daccord as the Firebirds maintained a 4-3 lead at the end of the period. Two third-period goals, one by Eddie Wittchow and the second of the game by Lind, provided the final cushion for Coachella Valley.
“Joey had three or four opportunities to make big saves for us and calm the game down,” Firebirds head coach Dan Bylsma said. “He had a couple of doozys. There was the backside one-timer that he had to stretch out and make an unbelievable save on and the other rebound chance that was kind of fumbling toward the net and he made a save miraculously with his glove behind the goal.”
The game started with a Silver Knights goal just 3:51 into the game, a goal the Firebirds thought shouldn’t have counted because Daccord’s pad was speared on the play. But the Firebirds turned the game around moments later on two power play goals just 80 second apart, one by captain Max McCormick on a deflection and the other by Lind, his 22nd of the year.
The Silver Knights tied the game at 2-2 at 13:46 of the period, but Jeremy McKenna gave the Firebirds the lead for good just 20 seconds later with his second goal of the season.
“I thought we had a great game,” said McKenna, who added an assist in the win. “The power play came up big in the first period and I though Joey made some huge, timely saves and we were able to hold them off. I thought we had a really strong third period.”
Luke Henman gave Coachella Valley a 4-2 lead just 2:19 into the second period, but it took just 18 seconds for Henderson to answer back with a Daniil Miramanov shot. After that, though, Daccord shut out the Silver Knights.
“For myself, I just tried to battle and compete and try my best pretty much,” Daccord said. “It’s tough when you are getting a lot of different chances and there are some weird plays, weird bounces. The first goal the guy pushed my leg right into the net.”
The goals
First period
1-0 Silver Knights: In a scramble in front of the Firebirds’ net, Sheldon Rempal pushed the puck across the line at 3:51 of the first period, a goal the Firebirds complained was the result of interference.
1-1: Just eight seconds into the first power play of the night, Firebirds captain Max McCormick tipped in the puck off an assist from Brogan Rafferty and Kole Lind at 9:42
2-1 Firebirds: Just 35 seconds after the previous power play goal, the Firebirds scored again on a deflection by Kole Lind off a shot by Ryker Evans, with an assist also going to Rafferty.
2-2: The Silver Knights tied the score on a beautiful goal to the upper right of the goal by Brendan Brisson off a pass from Gemel Smith.
3-2 Firebirds: Just seconds later, the Firebirds capitalized on a scramble in front of the net, with Jeremy McKenna poking the puck in off an assist from Ian McKinnon and by Luke Henman at the 14:06 mark of the first period.
Second period
4-2 Firebirds: Luke Henman broke free behind the Henderson defense and took a pass from Peetro Seppala for a breakaway goal at the 2:19 mark of the period.
4-3 Firebirds: Henderson scored on a Daniil Miromanov shot.
Third period
5-3 Firebirds: Eddie Wittchow drove to the net and took a pass from Jeremy McKenna to score, with another assist given to Ian McKinnon
6-3 Firebirds: Kole Lind fired in a wrist shot from the right circle for his second goal of the game off an assist by Max Tennyson
Firebirds player of the game
Joey Daccord’s 32 saves helped him to his 22nd win of the season in 32 starts in goal for the Firebirds. Lind was named the first star of the game for the Firebirds with his two goals and one assist, while McKenna and Henman were second and third stars, respectively, with one goal and one assist each.
Ice nuggets
The Firebirds improved to 37-10-4-2 on the year with 80 points, but remain three points behind Calgary in the Pacific Division . . . Victoria Azarenka, a former No. 1 player in women’s tennis, a two-time Grand Slam winner and playing this week at the BNP Paribas Open at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden, dropped the puck at the start of the game Wednesday … The Silver Knights seem to be a bigger and more physical team than the Firebirds, but the Firebirds certainly have Henderson’s number this year. Coachella Valley is now 3-0-0-2 against the Silver Knights this season . . . Bylsma said the current homestand of six straight games isn’t that big a deal for the Firebirds, since the team has been playing a majority of its games at Acrisure Arena after starting the season playing in Seattle and on the road while the arena was completed.
Next game
The Firebirds will continue their six-game homestand Saturday with the first of back-to-back games against the Texas Stars. The Saturday game is at 6 p.m., with a 3 p.m. start Sunday.
This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: AHL hockey: Kole Lind, Joey Daccord spark Coachella Valley Firebirds
