^ Posted by Patrick Williams
Game 1 – Coachella Valley 5, Hershey 0 |
Palm Desert, California. … Dan Bielsma I don’t want to go there before the second game.
With the Firebirds winning 4-0 last night, Bielsma could broach the subject.
“It was important to have the two of them here at home,” said the Coachella Valley veteran. “They won, they’re going home with three games to turn things around in this series.”
Hershey went 23-9-2-2 at Giants in the regular season, a . 694 performance that ranked fourth in the AHL. Although not all of Bylsma’s players played at Hershey, the Giant Center is well remembered from his days with the rival Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins.
“We may not know that yet,” he said, “but we’re going to a place where it’s a really hostile environment.” “It’s a great place for a hockey game.”
A best-of-seven Calder Cup Finals lead two games to none gives the Firebirds a little more room to breathe. They’ll take a cross-country trip today and get a chance to settle in before Game 3 on Tuesday night (7 ET, AHLTV).
Coachella Valley has played a league-high 21 games this postseason, including eight in the last 17 days.
Goalkeeper Joey Dacord He is among a handful of Firebirds who visited Hershey during their days with Eastern Conference clubs. He knows what lies ahead for his team, especially against the Bears who will be even more desperate when Game 3 comes around.
“It was always a fun atmosphere and a great building,” Dacor said. The same reception they received from our fans. It will be hostile there. We have to do our best if we want to succeed there.”
Bielsma called forward Cameron Hughes player earlier this season.
Hughes came to the Seattle Kraken organization as a free agent last summer after parts of five seasons with Providence. The 26-year-old turned his usual steady performance into his first run through the Western Conference, tallying career highs in goals (19), assists (37) and points (56) for the Coachella Valley.
But Hughes can also show off some throwing skills, as he did on Coachella Valley’s fourth goal last night.
“He has a knack for making big plays in big moments and big matches,” said Bielsma. “We’ve seen him do that for us all year.
“He’s got talent in the ‘ESPN’ moment. I think he’s the only guy we’ve got on ESPN this year.”
The first period? Play five on five?
Hershey trainer Todd Nelson I love those parts of his team’s performance in Game 2.
But lure Coachella Valley at your own risk. The Bears paid dearly last night, and fell short nine times. Jesper FreudinThe power play goal kicked off the second half with a four-goal barrage in the second half, quickly derailing the night in Hershey’s favour.
“You can’t take stick offenses,” Nelson said. We cannot afford interference penalties. It’s just a matter of time against a team like this. We killed three penalties in the first period. Sooner or later, they’ll end up getting signed up and taken advantage of, and that’s what happened.”
The first 20 minutes started well for the Bears. Clearly taking Nelson’s message from Friday’s video session and putting those lessons into action in the first period, they outscored the Firebirds, 15-5. Frontal examination looked solid.
Then came the Firebirds second period and five plays. This disrupted Nelson’s bench and the flow of the game.
“Obviously, the sanctions killed us,” Nelson said. “A lot of guys didn’t get a lot of ice time because we were killing penalties. We have to be smart.”
But the first 20 minutes at least proved that there was a scheme to disrupt Coachella Valley’s powerful offense.
“The guys were executing their game plan,” Nelson said of that opening stint. “We looked sharper. That’s more of who we are. We dug ourselves a bit, and Game 3 is very important for obvious reasons.”
Nelson said he toyed with the idea of pulling the starter Hunter Shepard In losing 5-1 in Game 1.
He had to weigh the same decision last night. After 4-0 at the second interval, it might be time Zack Focale Some action, but Nelson ultimately decided against it with the Bears having to kill 1:15 of penalty time to start the third period.
But Nelson made two changes to the lineup after the first game.
Rookie Defender Vincent Yorio He wore after missing five matches with an undisclosed injury and was substituted Jake Massey. Another newbie, forward Ethan Frank, dropped back after sitting out the previous two games; Frank led all AHL rookies in scoring with 30 regular season goals, but did not score in 11 playoff games. With Frank back in the lineup, Shane Gersh went out.
Patrick Williams has been in the American Hockey League for nearly two decades for outlets including NHL.com, Sportsnet, TSN, The Hockey News, SiriusXM NHL Network Radio, and SLAM! Sports, and she is currently the co-host of Hockey news on the “A” podcast. He was awarded the James H. Ellery Memorial Award from the AHL for his excellent coverage of the league in 2016.