1 week Ago By The Desert Sun
Who's next? The Coachella Valley Firebirds put together a gritty defensive performance to top the Calgary Wranglers 2-0 and sweep their best-of-3 Pacific Division first-round Calder Cup playoff series 2-0 on Saturday night.It's the third straight year the Firebirds have eliminated the Wranglers from the postseason. Coachella Valley advances to the Pacific Division semifinals.
They will face either Abbotsford as the road team or San Jose as the home team.Both teams had trouble scoring early in this one, but the Firebirds finally broke through with less than five minutes to go in the second period. Nathan Villeneuve, who just turned 19 earlier this month, stole the puck at mid-ice and snuck past his defender along the boards.
As he bore down on Calgary goalkeeper Waltteri Ignatjew, he dropped it off to Mitchell Stephens, who ripped a slap shot into the back of the net.It was Stephens' third goal in the playoffs after scoring twice in the Firebirds' 4-3 triple-overtime win in Game 1, including the game-winner.Nikke Kokko played superbly in goal with a great team defensive effort in front of him.
Kokko had 23 saves in the shutout.The Firebirds are now an impressive 8-2 in playoff series in their three-year existence. The goalsFIRST PERIODNo goalsSECOND PERIODFirebirds 1-0: It's a beauty as Nathan Villeneuve stole the puck at mid-ice and snuck past his defender on the boards to start a break.
He crossed the blue line with momentum and dropped it back to Mitchell Stephens, who ripped it past Ignatjew. Great goal.THIRD PERIODFirebirds 2-0: An empty-net goal by John Hayden clinched the win with 15 seconds left.
This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Coachella Valley Firebirds eliminate Calgary Wranglers in first round.
