Kole Lind is the Firebirds' hero in a 3-2 shootout win over San Jose

Two days after allowing an early lead to slip away in an overtime shootout loss, the Coachella Valley Firebirds on Tuesday stopped history from repeating itself.

Inside Acrisure Arena, the Firebirds took an early lead over the San Jose Barracuda, only to end up in an overtime shootout once again. But the shootout went differently this time, ending in a 3-2 Firebirds win.

At the end of regulation, the score was tied at 2-2, sending the game to overtime. After six rounds, with 12 players from both teams coming up empty in the shootout, Firebirds right winger Kole Lind finally broke through with the game-winning goal. Lind pulled Barracuda goaltender Aaron Dell out of the net with a pump-fake that provided him with an open shot that pushed the Firebirds to victory.

"Luckily, he bit on the first move," Lind said, "and I had an empty cage to shoot it into."

Goaltender Joey Daccord recorded 20 saves and kept all seven Barracuda shooters out of the net in the shootout.

San Jose forward Danil Gushchin got the puck past Daccord in the shootout, but after referees watched the replay, they determined that the goal did not count as Gushchin was over the goal line and no longer had forward momentum.

"He had another awesome performance," Firebirds right winger Jesper Frödén said of Daccord. "The whole game, he kept us in it. He's tough to score on in shootouts. We do shootouts in practice and both of our goalies are tough to score on, so we had a lot of confidence in him going into that shootout tonight."

Firebirds head coach, Dan Bylsma, who superstitiously turns away and doesn't watch during shootouts, said that Lind wasn't exactly the player he expected to come up with the game-winning goal in the shootout. But Bylsma said that he was really happy for him.

“We practice shootouts in practice and Kole has come up on the short end of the shootout competition,” Bylsma said with a smile. “So, the guys were pretty excited to see him score. Out of 14 shooters, he was the only guy who put it into the back of the net.”

Coachella Valley’s win helped the Firebirds (23-6-3-1) maintain their lead atop the American Hockey League’s Western Conference. It also kept the Firebirds in the lead in the Pacific Division by a point over the Calgary Wranglers.

The Firebirds have now won eight of their last 10 games and 16 of their last 20. They have won six of eight inside Acrisure Arena, which opened Dec. 18.

Bylsma said that while many recent games have been close, those are the kind of games he prefers. He said that such games keep his team sharp and will ultimately make the team better once the playoffs come around this spring.

With that in mind, Bylsma added that he watches the AHL standings daily. Now that his team is at the top of the conference, he’s using that first-place position to continue to motivate his team to play in an effort to stay one step ahead of everyone else.

“You need to be judged by where you are in the standings,” Bylsma said. “Right now, we’re where we want to be.”

The goals

1-0, Firebirds: Frödén, who was the AHL player of the month in October, got the Firebirds on the board first at 6:32 into the game. It was Frödén’s team-leading 17th goal of the season. Teammate Cameron Hughes had a decent look at the goal on a two-on-two break and drew San Jose goaltender Aaron Dell out of the net with a pump-fake before passing off to Frödén about 10 feet in front of the goal. Andrew Poturalski was also credited with an assist on the play.

2-0: Right winger Kole Lind extended the Coachella Valley lead with a goal in traffic at 10:37 into the first period. It was Lind’s 15th goal of the season. Lind split a pair of defenders with the puck and somehow managed to fire it past Dell following a pass from Brogan Rafferty. Tye Kartye also assisted on the play.

2-1: The Barracuda scored for the first time at 2:42 remaining in the second period. Forward Luke Johnson snuck the puck past Firebirds’ goaltender Joey Daccord for his seventh goal of the season, which was San Jose’s first in two games inside Acrisure Arena. Adam Raska assisted on the goal.

2-2: Gushchin sent the game into overtime with one minute remaining in regulation, to the shock of the home crowd. He received the puck from San Jose forward Thomas Bordeleau, found a tiny opening between Daccord and the right goal post and managed to fire the puck into it.

3-2: Lind's goal in the overtime shootout sealed the game for the Firebirds.

Ice nuggets

Hammer in the house: Fred “The Hammer” Williamson, who starred in the NFL in the 1960s and later appeared in more than 100 movies, dropped the ceremonial puck to start the game. Williamson, 84, is a longtime Palm Springs resident.

Lind thriving against Barracuda: Lind, the 24-year-old from Saskatchewan, has now scored six goals and contributed five assists in five games, for a total of 11 points, against San Jose this season. He’s recorded 15 goals and 20 assists over the course of the season.

Daccord feeling at home: Daccord now has a 5-1 record as a goaltender at Acrisure Arena. What’s more, the 26-year-old from Boston has allowed just 10 goals in those six games, for a goals-against average of 1.7 goals per game. He’s also recorded a pair of shutouts in those games.

Next game

Friday: The Firebirds return to the ice Friday at home versus the Bakersfield Condors (12-18-1-0). The puck is set to drop at 7 p.m.

Coachella Valley will then take a two-day break before returning to Acrisure Arena versus the Tucson Roadrunners on Monday, Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, at 3 p.m. The Firebirds split a pair of games against the Roadrunners last month in the first two games inside the Firebirds’ new arena.

Andrew John covers sports in the Coachella Valley and beyond 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: Hockey: Firebirds beat San Jose, 3-2 in overtime shootout