A Great recovery!…But the ending of this one might make Game 3 a gong show.
The Highlights!
Game Notes
- To think this actually started pretty quiet. Through the first 30 minutes, both sides were actually pretty sedate…and then from Kole Lind’s opening tally and especially the 3rd period, was a track meet that the Firebirds happily kept up with.
- But the big thing coming out of this will almost certainly be how Coachella actually won this. Devin Shore made a strong wraparound move to the front of the net, attacked the puck from his belly, got it through Wolf, and the Wranglers promptly lost their goddamn minds about it. Here is what I gather is their concern: Shore may have interfered with Wolf (he didn’t), there was a missed penalty (probably lmao), and that they were offsides (they…might’ve been, honestly), and it did not matter because the Refs just decided that those edge cases…did not count. And you cannot challenge that in the AHL. It had the Calgary broadcast heated, it had the Wranglers players heated to the point that they actively went looking for the refs who bid a hasty retreat after all was said and done, and had to be corralled back into the locker room. What do I think? Well, the Firebirds won, so I think there are certain infallible things we have to acknowledge about playoff refereeing. They get things wrong, they miss stuff, and you need to leave no room for doubt. Firebirds left room for doubt, and look what happened last year against Hershey! It can happen to anyone, and it can happen to Calgary.
- However in all seriousness, Game 3 is going to be either a breaking of wills or a tire fire as a result of this game. The Firebirds need to be ready for it.
- Hard to bring up goaltending in this one because it was great for exactly 30 minutes, and then both sides stopped putting in the work to defend. Driedger ended up with an on-the-money .900 SV%, and given how both sides suddenly decided it was a track meet, that’s pretty good!
- Of course, I say all that about the defense in the “big picture”; there was an incredible assisting stop in OT with Driedger down and out and the defender falling down. Still got a hell of a poke check off to keep Calgary from taking advantage of a yawning cage! Great work when the chips were down!
- Finally, the Firebirds get to go home and potentially set up taking control of this series for good. Better make it count.
At long last, the series leaves Alberta and returns to Palm Desert, CA. Game 3 is on Wednesday, back in the Pacific Timezone, and it starts at 7pm.
We’ve got a Draft Lottery to pay attention to, but once we’ve gotten the Kraken’s space on the board? We’ll happily get you back on track to enjoy it. Keep an eye out!
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