The Colorado Eagles traveled to Coachella Valley for the first two games of the Pacific Division Championship. The Firebirds (SEA) are on a roll, having defeated the number one team in the Pacific Division — the Ontario Reign (LAK) — in double overtime in the division semifinals.

The Eagles have lost only one game so far in the Calder Cup Playoffs. Goaltender Trent Miner has been outstanding, having posted three shutouts. However, the Eagles were without their number one defenseman Jack Ahcan, who was called up to play with the Avalanche. Sean Behrens was also out of the lineup with an undisclosed injury. As a result, Bryan Yoon got his first playoff start. Colorado was also without their captain, Jayson Megna, who had to leave the last game after taking a puck to the face. As a result, Gavin Brindley moved to center, and Danil Gushchin stepped in at wing. Gushchin started the season as one of the Eagles’ leading scorers, but never quite found his pace again after being sidelined by an injury. It was his first game back in the lineup since April 10.

Recap

In the previous series against the Henderson Silver Knights (VGK), the Eagles played a tight, disciplined game. They refused to be goaded into unnecessary penalties. Coachella Valley seemed determined to test that resolve early. Only four seconds into the game, a player grabbed Alex Gagne and attempted to start a fight. A few minutes later, Tristen Nielsen got punched in the face. It happened well after the whistle, right in front of the ref, but no call was made. A few minutes after that, another player tried to goad Gushchin into a scuffle during a faceoff. The Eagles refused to take the bait, choosing instead to stay focused on defense (something Coach Mark Letestu talked about in the last series). Colorado smothered the Firebirds in the first period. Not only did they outshoot them, they kept most of the Firebirds’ shots well to the outside.

Shots on goal for first period.

Shots on goal for first period.

They went to first intermission tied at zero. The second period started much as the first had been, with the Eagles smothering and vastly outshooting the Firebirds’ offense. Nikke Kokko made some amazing saves, but the Eagles finally broke through with a shot from Ronnie Attard from the top of the circle.

It was Attard’s second goal of the playoffs. Exactly 4:55 later, T.J. Hughes had a two-on-one breakaway. He ripped the puck over Kokko’s shoulder, scoring his second of the playoffs.

The Eagles only allowed Coachella four shots on goal in the second period and took a 2–0 lead to intermission.

At 7:32 of the third, Nielsen went to the box for slashing. The Firebirds had their best chance of the night on the power play, but Keaton Middleton made an amazing stick save.

Coachella pushed late in the game, getting as many shots on net in the third as they had in the first two periods combined, but Miner made save after save. In the end, Tye Felhaber tacked on an empty net goal to make the final score 3–0.

Takeaways

The Eagles won this game the same way they won the series against the Gulls and Silver Knights: with a smothering defense, the discipline to (mostly) stay out of the box, and an outstanding performance from Miner. This was his fourth shutout in seven postseason games. If the Eagles can keep playing like they did on Wednesday, it’ll be tough for any team to beat them.

The ice at the Acrisure Arena seemed to be bad. It looked and sounded soft, and players definitely fell more often than usual. Maybe this was an intentional choice to slow the Eagles down. Maybe it’s just hard to keep ice frozen in the middle of the desert. Either way, it’s probably safe to assume it will be bad again on Friday. The Eagles will undoubtedly be happy to get home to their own barn in Colorado.

Up Next

Game two will be played on Friday, May 15 at 8:05 Mountain Time. AHLTV on FloHockey.com will stream the game.