Stephens’ triple OT winner gives Coachella Valley Firebirds series lead in Pacific Division First Round
By Charles Hamaker
Palm Desert, CA - The lead created by the Coachella Valley Firebirds through two periods of their game one in the Pacific Division First Round series against the Calgary Wranglers may have given the idea that the Seattle Kraken’s AHL affiliate was going to steamroll ahead to a blowout victory. That wouldn’t be the case here, as the Wranglers mounted a fierce comeback effort in the third period to force overtime as Calgary made it apparent that they didn’t want to be pushed around by the Firebirds for the third postseason in a row. Unlike the first two seasons where the Wranglers saw their hopes and dreams of a Calder Cup ended by Coachella Valley, this Firebirds roster is no longer littered with NHL veterans and is more geared towards the prospects of Kraken future. Tonight though, it was the veterans of this group that pushed Coachella Valley ahead as John Hayden, Brandon Biro, and Mitchell Stephens (twice) were the goal scorers to support a young Nikke Kokko in net. As it was in the regular season, there will be growing pains for this young Firebirds team, but having veterans like the ones that shined bright tonight will only elevate this current playoff run and hopefully many more in the future for the younger players on the roster.
Firebirds veterans lead the way early
The visiting Calgary Wranglers were surely looking to get out on the right foot (or skate) in this game one of this Pacific Division First Round matchup, considering that our Coachella Valley Firebirds have ended their Calder Cup dreams in back-to-back postseasons. It appeared that they were on their way to doing so with early pressure on the Firebirds and their goaltender Nikke Kokko, including the first shot on goal of the game just nine seconds in, but it was Coachella Valley who found the back of the net first. Ty Nelson, one of two “iron men” for the Firebirds this season as he played in every game, helped lead a breakout from his own zone before finding Logan Morrison, who carried it through the neutral zone with speed to effectively create an odd man rush. Morrison found Jani Nyman along the far wall, and Logan was able to draw two Calgary skaters away from the puck as he drove up past Nyman. Jani used the moving screen of Morrison to send a pass to John Hayden as the two approached the middle of the slot before Hayden released a wrist shot that Wranglers netminder Waltteri Ignatjew only caught a piece of. Since Ignatjew didn’t stop enough of the puck and his deflection of it didn’t force it wide of the net, Hayden’s shot rolled in to get Coachella Valley on the board first which ignited the home crowd at Acrisure Arena.
The Coachella Valley Firebirds took a two-goal lead in the first period of their game one, Pacific Division First Round series against the Calgary Wranglers, behind goals from John Hayden and Brandon Biro on Tuesday, April 22nd, 2025 at Acrisure Arena. (Photos by Mike Zitek/Coachella Valley Firebirds)
Just four minutes after that initial goal to break the ice despite the initial offensive pressure from the Wranglers, the Firebirds struck once again and did so thanks to an opportunity on net that was wide open. Coachella Valley had Calgary hemmed into the offensive zone, making sure that they’d keep their pressure on as Jagger Firkus collected a loose puck as the Wranglers failed at a clearing attempt from behind their own net. Due to the battles along the boards and Firkus collecting the loose puck, three Calgary skaters were facing him which left Coachella Valley forward Brandon Biro all alone just inside the faceoff circle to the right hand side of Ignatjew in goal for the Wranglers. Biro caught the puck with the inside of his right skate before firing a quick slap shot immediately after that got through cleanly to double the Firebirds lead, with two goals on four shots.
Coachella Valley had two strong chances to increase their lead in the final seven minutes of the opening frame thanks to a pair of power plays, but the Firebirds couldn’t capitalize despite three solid looks on goal. The first came on the initial power play of the period as a hectic zone entry somehow saw two Coachella Valley skaters right next to the crease before they failed to get the puck into the net, and the two other chances were both created on the second man advantage by Jani Nyman. The big Finnish forward created one of those chances with a nice cross ice pass that found a teammate in the high slot, and another good look he created off his very own shot as an attempt through traffic nearly found it’s way in for the third Firebirds goal of the night. Despite the strong looks in those final minutes of the frame, Coachella Valley went into the first intermission with just a two-goal lead.
The Coachella Valley Firebirds added to their two-goal lead in the second period of their game one, Pacific Division First Round series against the Calgary Wranglers, as Mitchell Stephens found the back of the net on Tuesday, April 22nd, 2025 at Acrisure Arena. (Photos by Mike Zitek/Coachella Valley Firebirds)
The second period saw the game slow down quite a bit after the surge of Firebirds offensive energy in that first frame, largely due to the six total penalties that were distributed throughout the middle 20 minutes with five of them going against the Wranglers. The Firebirds power play struggles continued in this middle period, just as those issues began towards the end of the first frame, as Coachella Valley couldn’t take advantage of a Calgary team that was struggling to contain their emotions and play clean hockey while attempting to comeback from an early deficit. All of those chances on the man advantage, and funny enough it was even strength play that netted the Firebirds their third goal of the night just as it was in the first frame. Coachella Valley once again had the Wranglers hemmed into their own defensive zone, where Firebirds defenseman Nikolas Brouillard sent a puck towards net from just within the blue line but it couldn’t make it to the goal with speed behind it because David Goyette had tipped it from the middle of the slot, forcing it to skitter slowly towards the crease. Waiting just outside of the blue paint was Jacob Melanson, who steered the puck towards the side of the net where Mitchell Stephens was waiting patiently. Stephens lifted the puck over the glove side of Ignatjew to build a three-goal lead for Coachella Valley.
“Just getting it low to high, bodies to the net, got the rebound there.”
The third period saw the Calgary Wranglers mount a fierce comeback with three goals to force overtime against the Coachella Valley Firebirds in their game one, Pacific Division First Round series on Tuesday, April 22nd, 2025 at Acrisure Arena. (Photos by Mike Zitek/Coachella Valley Firebirds)
Wranglers come roaring back late to force overtime
For as good as the Firebirds looked in the first 40 minutes of this game, things can change quickly in the playoffs and that was the case in this third period. Coachella Valley’s inability to score on the man advantage, a whopping six power plays squandered in regulation, came back to bite them as their three-goal lead didn’t ward off Calgary’s push in the final 20 minutes. The Firebirds appeared to be playing back more in an effort to just defend to close this game one of the three-game first round series out, and that sort of gameplan leaves plenty of open ice for a Wranglers team that needs precisely that to make a comeback attempt. Calgary’s first goal of the period came a little under seven minutes into the frame, as Wranglers winger Dryden Hunt sent a puck on net from just within the blue line that found it’s way through traffic to break up Nikke Kokko’s shutout bid and start the comeback for the visiting side. As mentioned previously, the Firebirds were playing back and giving up open ice, which gave Hunt plenty of room to collect the puck off a pass and fire away a shot as two of his teammates had created the traffic in front of Kokko.
Eight minutes after the first Wranglers goal of the night, as it appeared that Calgary’s comeback effort would fall just short with how the game had slowed down and since they hadn’t been able to get a second goal to keep their comeback effort going, Coachella Valley’s passive defensive play resulted in another score. As Firebirds goaltender Nikke Kokko was without his stick, having it sit helplessly in the trapezoid behind the goal, Coachella Valley didn’t opt to perhaps send the puck down for icing so that their netminder could get his stick back. The Wranglers took advantage of this, as they were able to keep the puck in the offensive zone for some sustained time as Calgary defenseman Jonathan Aspirot drove towards the low slot before finding teammate David Silye in the faceoff circle to the left of Kokko in net. The pass to Silye from Aspirot drew the attention of three Firebirds skaters, leaving a Wranglers skater wide open backdoor for an easy tap in to bring Calgary within one score. Former Seattle Thunderbird Lucas Ciona was all alone just to the side of the crease, and Silye’s pass to him made it so that Ciona just had to redirect the puck gently past Kokko who wasn’t aware he was all alone just to his side. From there, the Wrangler pus went late into the final period of regulation and it appeared as though Coachella Valley was going to escape with a one-goal lead to win it as the Calgary net was open for the additional skater and there was less than a minute left to play.
The Wranglers didn’t relent in their pursuit of an equalizing goal and they were rewarded for that effort with just five seconds left to play in regulation, as another Calgary skater had been left wide open to the side of the Firebirds goal. The Coachella Valley skaters were caught puck watching, as they kept their attention on Dryden Hunt which led him to send a cross ice pass to a wide open Martin Frk. Frk slid a nifty pass through the legs of Firebirds defenseman Cale Fleury, who did the splits in an attempt to block the pass, which found Rory Kerins wide open to the left hand side of Kokko to redirect the puck in and tie the game in the dying moments of the third period. Coachella Valley’s inability to press the issue and add to their lead and or force more pressure on a Wranglers team that was desperate for scoring resulted in a third period collapse, giving us free hockey in the desert.
Not only would this game one in a best of three series head to overtime, it wouldn’t be decided until the third overtime. Thankfully for everyone involved, perhaps except Calgary, the deciding score came just two minutes into the period. Despite great looks and even a power play in the first overtime, Coachella Valley couldn’t beat Waltteri Ignatjew in net after the first three goals that they’d score in the first two frames of regulation. Great looks created by strong passing and hard shots weren’t enough, as even a few misplays of the puck by Ignatjew gave the Firebirds chances but no luck bounce went their way. Instead we had to wait until that third overtime, when Coachella Valley was working on some sustained offensive zone time in an effort to put this extravagantly long contest to rest. The puck went along the blue line from the pairing of Nikolas Brouillard to Ville Ottavainen, where the big Finnish defenseman sent a wrist shot on net where he had a teammate battling down low. That teammate was veteran forward Mitchell Stephens, who redirected the puck down and through Ignatjew’s five-hole. Elation came over everyone in a Firebirds jersey, capping a wild first game of Coachella Valley’s third postseason run in franchise history.
The Coachella Valley Firebirds won their game one, Pacific Division First Round series contest against the Calgary Wranglers behind a Mitchell Stephens goal two minutes into triple overtime on Tuesday, April 22nd, 2025 at Acrisure Arena. (Photos by Mike Zitek/Coachella Valley Firebirds)
What’s next?
Following tonight’s triple overtime win to give them the early series lead in this best of three series, our Coachella Valley Firebirds will have a few days off before game two of this Pacific Division First Round series against the Calgary Wranglers. That game two of the series comes on Saturday, April 26th when these two teams will once again meet at Acrisure Arena, set for a puck drop time of 6PM PDT. This game will be broadcast live on AHL TV on FloHockey, so fans who enjoyed this game being broadcast live for free on Facebook and YouTube will either need to purchase a subscription or sail the high seas to watch this one. The next few days will surely be used for both teams to regain their legs and get some rest following this grueling game one, and the Wranglers will have their backs against the wall in an elimination game as the Firebirds look to punch their ticket to the next round. If Calgary is able to force a winner advance game three, that would happen the very next day on Sunday, April 27th with a puck drop time of 5PM PDT.
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Check out our previous CSS Futures articles here
Check out our previous Coachella Valley Firebirds articles here.
Check out our previous articles with writing by Charles Hamaker here.
Cover photo and photos in this article by Mike Zitek, Coachella Valley Firebirds photographer.
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