It’s Down To 2: Firebirds beat Admirals to reach Calder Cup Final

The improbable is now a reality.

A mere six months removed from not even having a home sheet of ice, the Coachella Valley Firebirds’ magical debut season flew a palpable step further on Monday night with a series-clinching 4-3 win over the Milwaukee Admirals in Game 6 of the Western Conference Finals at Acrisure Arena.

With the victory, the Firebirds now advance to the Calder Cup Finals, where Coachella Valley will play host to the Hershey Bears in a best-of-seven series with a 2-3-2 format. The finals chapter is one of storybook makings, pitting the AHL’s most historic franchise versus the league’s newest team.

The Calder Cup Finals get underway at Acrisure Arena at 7 p.m. Thursday, with Game 2 at Acrisure on Saturday before the series moves east to Pennsylvania.

In advancing to the title series, the Firebirds concurrently wrote new league history, becoming the first-ever AHL team west of Texas to make it to the championship round, while also becoming the first team since the Texas Stars of 2009-10 to make it to the Calder Cup Finals in their inaugural season.

“We’re on that ride, and it’s a great ride to be on,” Firebirds head coach Dan Bylsma said after the win. “I can’t say enough about the fans, the building and all the people coming out – they’re on the ride with us.  And that really was kinda’ the goal to begin with. The fans, the energy, it’s a once-in-a-lifetime experience, and I’m super happy to be having it.”

Skating before a second consecutive sell-out crowd of 10,087 firestick-waving fans, the Firebirds played with purpose from the opening puck drop, offering the visiting Admirals a showcase of speed and precision seen in the opening home wins in Games 1 and 2 of the series.

Scoring for the second time in the matchup, center Alexander True sent the eager Acrisure crowd into an early frenzy with a left-handed laser over the left shoulder of Admirals goalie Devin Cooley at 7:31 of the opening period.  Just seven minutes later, Ryker Evans put Coachella Valley up 2-0, compliments of a gorgeous dot-to-dot pass from Andrew Poturalski.

Showing the type of muscle that earned wins in Games 3 and 4 of the series, Milwaukee answered at the onset of the second period, with bullish, 6-foot-6 center Michael McCarron locating a loose puck just north of the crease and putting a backhander past Firebirds netminder Joey Daccord.

“They’re a very good team, and were incredibly hard for us to play against,” Daccord said of the series. “It was a challenge on the road for us for sure, and I think in Game 5 we just bared down and played the style of hockey we want to play. It gave us so much confidence coming home with the (3-2 series) lead. We just have a lot of confidence playing at home and it carried over into tonight.”

Coachella Valley answered the Admirals’ goal in short order, taking a 3-1 edge in reverse wraparound fashion. Moving right-to-left behind Cooley’s net, center John Hayden’s shot wide left was swiftly located by Tye Kartye whom, after skating left-to-right through the trapezoid behind Cooley, gave the Firebirds a two-goal edge with a nifty shot off of Cooley’s left pad.

“We knew that we had to be hungry, and that they were gonna’ come out hard, fighting for their season,” said Karte of the victory. “I felt like we did a good job coming out strong and then we finished the game off as well."

Unwilling to succumb quietly at the onset of the third period, Milwaukee took the game back to a one-goal deficit when winger Egor Afanasyev, showing some impressive stickwork, flicked a mid-air floater from teammate Adam Wilsby past Daccord to cut the Firebirds’ lead to 3-2.

Taking little time to regain a cushion, the Firebirds, working on the power play, used patient passing from Max McCormick to Kartye, who scored his second goal of the game just over five minutes into the third. The man advantage goal was the first for Coachella Valley in 20 power play tries, with Milwaukee having amped-up their penalty kill since the opening game of the series.

Still playing with pluck, the Admirals answered the edge of elimination once again, with Kiefer Sherwood tipping-in a blue line shot from defenseman Marc Del Gaizo to cut the Firebirds lead to 4-3 with just under nine minutes to play.

The one-goal difference set stage for a frenzied finish.

With just over two minutes remaining, Milwaukee pulled Cooley to gain a 6-on-5 advantage and, a minute later, a penalty by Coachella Valley’s Ville Pettman led to a 6-on-4 skate for the final 1:12 of play.

With a standing crowd chanting down the waning seconds, the Firebirds’ extraordinary debut quest took another step forward as the team mobbed around Daccord in unison and was soon presented the Robert W. Clarke Trophy as Western Conference Champions.

“One of the biggest things for us is that we just have a very competitive and fiery group,” Daccord said of the squad.  “Every day, we turn everything into a competition, and the guys hold each other to an incredibly high standard.”

In Hershey, the Firebirds will face a franchise which dates to 1932, and which joined the American Hockey League in 1938. The Bears own league records for both conference crowns (24) and Calder Cup titles (11).

“As this year has gone along, as we were fighting to be a good team, the best team, we kinda’ knew we were gonna’ get to Calgary at some point; and I hoped and believed we would get by them, but Hershey is the ending point,” Bylsma said. “It kinda’ has to be that way. They have a huge history of being a good team and franchise for so many years and winning a bunch of Calder Cups. And this is how it had to be, and now I’m excited it’s going to be.”

Goal recap

Firebirds, 1-0: On a fine corner pass from Max McCormick, Alexander True gets the scoring underway in the opening salvo with a taut wrister over the left shoulder of Admirals goalie Devin Cooley.

Firebirds, 2-0: Ryker Evans continued his stellar play, netting his third goal of the postseason, taking a perfect feed from Andrew Poturalksi and putting the ‘Birds second goal past Cooley’s blocker.

2-1: The Admirals show some life less than two minutes into the second period when burly center Michael McCarron puts one past Joey Daccord.

Firebirds, 3-1: Was it a shot or was it a pass? Either way, a fast response from the ‘Birds. Just four minutes after the McCarron goal, AHL Rookie of the Year Tye Kartye capitalizes on a rebound from a John Hayden shot/pass to put CV back up by two.

3-2: The Admirals find some rare air when Egor Afanasyev takes a puck floating five feet off the ice and deflects it past Daccord to put Milwaukee back within one.

Firebirds, 4-2: Working with the man advantage, the hosts renew their two-goal edge when Kartye scores his second of the game, as beneficiary of some patient passing from McCormick.

4-3: Not willing to go home without a fight, Milwaukee answers with a low zinger from the blue line, compliments of a tip goal Kiefer Sherwood.

Players of the Game

On Monday, Tye Kartye looked like the guy who scored three goals in 10 games for the Seattle Kraken during the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Having been shut down by the Admirals since a goal in the series opening game, Kartye was operating on a different level in the Game 6 win.

His first period goal considered, Ryker Evans has continued to play a much more physical brand of defense than he did throughout the regular season. Matching up with Milwaukee’s massive and physical crew was a constant test, and one he passed with aplomb on Monday.

What's next

With a victory, the Firebirds advance to the Calder Cup Finals to meet the Hershey Bears (Washington Capitals affiliate), who won their series against Rochester 4-2 with a 1-0 win on Friday. Hershey has won a record 11 Calder Cups. The most recent one occurred in 2010.

Game 1: Thu., June 8 – Hershey at Coachella Valley, 7pm PT

Game 2: Sat., June 10 – Hershey at Coachella Valley, 7pm PT

Game 3: Tue., June 13 – Coachella Valley at Hershey, 4pm PT

Game 4: Thu., June 15 – Coachella Valley at Hershey, 4pm PT *

Game 5: Sat., June 17 – Coachella Valley at Hershey, 4pm PT *

Game 6: Mon., June 19 – Hershey at Coachella Valley, 7pm PT *

Game 7: Wed., June 21 – Hershey at Coachella Valley, 7pm PT

*if necessary

This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Coachella Valley Firebirds beat Milwaukee Admirals to reach Calder Cup Finals