Hello Hershey. We meet again. It's down to the Calder Cup Finals for the Coachella Valley Firebirds and the Hershey Bears. Game 3 of the best-of-seven series begins at 7 p.m. PT Tuesday at Acrisure Arena in Palm Desert. The series is even at 1-1 after Hershey won 5-2 on Sunday.
Check back here for game analysis, scoring updates and behind-the-scenes moments as the Coachella Valley Firebirds continue their quest to win the AHL Calder Cup.
- Firebirds vs. Bears: Calder Cup Finals primer, facts, stats and a prediction
- Next Firebirds coach?: Burning Coachella Valley Firebirds question: Who will be the next head coach?
- Firebirds last dance?: Coach Bylsma and many key players may not return, so team has a last-dance mindset
Third period recap
After losing 5-2 just 48 hours earlier, the Coachella Valley Firebirds returned the favor Tuesday night, beating the Hershey Bears 6-2. Max McCormick completed the hat trick and scoring with a late goal for the Firebirds.
Thanks to a 42-24 advantage in shots on goal, the Firebirds now hold a 2-1 series lead in the best-of-seven series.
Game 4 is at 7 p.m. PT Thursday at Acrisure Arena.
Shane Wright gave the Firebirds a three-goal cushion with 12:59 remaining when he skated from end to end and beat Hershey goalie Hunter Shepard. The goal was Wright's third of the playoffs and increased the Coachella Valley lead to 5-2.
Hershey ended up changing goalies with 13 minutes, sending Shepard to the bench after the fifth goal.
Second period recap
Hershey evened the score at 2-all when Alex Limoges cashed in on a power-play goal just 1:29 into the second period.
Both teams have now scored power play goals Tuesday evening.
The Firebirds responded and retook a 3-2 lead when Lleyton Roed, inserted into the lineup for Game 2 for the injured Andrew Poturalski, netted his first playoff goal with 15:54 remaining. Ryker Evans and Jacob Melanson were credited on the assist.
Ryan Winterton gave the Firebirds a 4-2 lead when he scored an late-period goal with 4:00 minutes remaining. Cameron Hughes and Logan Morrison assisted on Winterton's fourth playoff goal.
The Firebirds were on attack much of the period, outshooting Hershey 23-6. That is the most shots for the Firebirds in a single period.
First period recap
Coachella Valley jumped out to a 2-0 lead about six minutes into the game thanks to Max McCormick.
Max McCormick got the Firebirds started quickly when he scored a leaker through Hershey goalie Hunter Shepard on the power play just 2:20 into the period. The goal was McCormick's sixth of the playoffs. Kole Lind and Shane Wright had assists.
The game started in bizarre fashion when the Bears were penalized for an improper starting lineup, which is a very rare bench minor the occurs when a team's starting lineup contains a player not listed in the lineup submitted before the game began. Hershey's Ethen Frank went to the penalty box.
McCormick netted his second goal of the night with 6:03 gone with the help of a Shane Wright assist. That sent the Firebirds to a 2-0 lead.
The Hershey Bears capitalized on a Firebirds mistake near the blue line to trim their deficit to 2-1. Henrik Rybinski netted his fifth playoff goal with 11:10 remaining in the period.
The Firebirds took a 2-1 lead into the first intermission thanks in part to a 10-9 shot advantage.
Light show at Acrisure
All fans in attendance at Acrisure Arena were given a light-up wrist band for Game 3 that glows in a coordinated fashion at certain times in the game. During the pregame intros they created a sea of flashing orange and red. During the national anthem they lit up red, white and blue.
It's similar to something they tried at the BNP Paribas Open tennis tournament in March, but it didn't work well that night. It was planned for a Rafael Nadal match, but he pulled out with an injury earlier that day, so the crowd was too sparse for it to be effective.
A full Acrisure Arena proved to be the right setting.
Later in the first period, they had a creative contest for a prize from Spotlight 29 Casino in which they slowly turned off everybody's wristband until there was just one person left in the building with a lit-up wristband and she was the winner. Kind of a neat, futuristic way to do in essence a simple fan drawing for a prize.
Puck drops on Game 3 between Firebirds vs. Hershey Bears
Acrisure Arena is rocking as the pucks drops on a pivotal Game 3 between the Coachella Valley Firebirds and Hershey Bears.
Both teams have won one game in the series, essentially making the Calder Cup Finals now a best-of-five series. The next 60 minutes of action could have a big say in who hoists the Calder Cup.
Firebirds had fun with team-bonding AirBnB trip in Hershey
After defeating Milwaukee on Saturday, June 6, the Firebirds decided to hop on a plane Sunday and head to Hershey even though their Calder Cup Finals opponent hadn't been decided yet. With a couple of days off, the team decided to do a players' only stay at an AirBnB just outside of Hershey where they had a big grill out, watched Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Finals together and just generally forgot about the rink for a night.
"Yeah, that was nice to have some team time like that," Shane Wright said Tuesday after the team's morning practice ahead of Game 3. "We cooked out, watched the Stanley Cup. Any time you have a chance to relax a little bit and recover your body, it's huge. Just to kind of reset the mind and reset the focus."
Logan Morrison said the menu for the cookout was extremely meat-forward, with ribeye being the anchor. He agreed that it was a needed respite.
"We're a really tight group, and we have been all year having that camaraderie, but it's been a long year and we all love each other and being together like that only builds on it," Morrison said. "People could've gone their own way on their off day, but this kind of shows how tight we are."
Have you tried The Potsy?
Coachella Valley Firebirds goaltender Chris Driedger had a signature sandwich named after him last month, and now it’s star forward Andrew Poturalski’s turn.
Baby's Marché, a shop that sells specialty sandwichess and meats in Indian Wells at 75270 CA-111 Suite 200, is at it again. Last month, it was The Driedger. Last week and this week, it’s The Potsy.
The panini sandwich is made with roasted chicken, fermented Buffalo aioli, roasted shish*to peppers, carrots, pickles and provolone cheese. Poturalski collaborated on the sandwich with private chef and owner of Baby’s Marché, Justin Snyder, to make it unique to Poturalski’s upbringing in Buffalo, New York.
With the Firebirds on the road the last two weeks until late Sunday night, Poturalski said that he hasn’t yet had the opportunity to try the sandwich. But he’s looking forward to giving it a try this week when Games 3, 4 and 5 of the Calder Cup Finals are in town.
“I trust Justin,” Poturalski said over the phone. “I know it’s going to be great.”
Andrew Poturalski to miss Game 3 with injury
Head coach Dan Bylsma confirmed Tuesday after a morning skate that veteran star Andrew Poturalski will not play in Game 3 of the Calder Cup Finals against Hershey. Poturalski who was injured early in Game 1 of the series did not play in Game 2 with an undisclosed injury. Poturalski was not on the ice during the team's skate-around session Tuesday morning.
In Game 2, Poturalski's spot as the center on the No. 1 line was taken by Shane Wright who stepped in to play with Kole Lind and Max McCormick. Rookie Lleyton Roed was added to the rotation, playing in his first-ever playoff game and acquitted himself well. Coach Bylsma did not divulge whether it will be Roed again or someone else filling Poturalski's spot in Game 3.
How to watch Game 3 on TV
Local TV/radio: Game 3 of the Calder Cup series will be televised locally on Fox 11. The rest of the games of the series will all be televised locally as well: Game 4 (CW-5), Game 5 (ABC-3), Game 6 (Fox 11) and Game 7 (Fox 11). All Coachella Valley Firebirds playoff games air live on The Eagle 106.9 radio station.
AHLTV.com: AHLTV is a subscription service that allows viewers to buy a one-day pass ($8.99) or a full-playoffs pass ($29.99). All the Calder Cup finals games will be available at AHLTV.com.
NHL Network: Of note, NHL Network will not air Game 3 as it coincides with the Stanley Cup Finals between Edmonton and Florida. Games 4, 5 and 7 of the Calder Cup Finals will be on the NHL Network, as will Game 6 if there is no NHL game that night.
Are tickets available for Game 3?
Tickets remain available for Games 3, 4 and 5 of the Calder Cup Finals to be played this week at Acrisure Arena. Game 3 is at 7 p.m. Tuesday, with Game 4 at 7 p.m. Thursday and Game 5 at 6 p.m. Saturday.
Single tickets are available at Ticketmaster.com as well as the box office at Acrisure Arena. The box office is open on event days only from 10 a.m. to an hour before the event. The box office is located on the northeast side of the venue, directly adjacent to the main entrance.
Firebirds like the home ice
The Firebirds are 6-0 inside Acrisure Arena during these Calder Cup Playoffs, which is an encouraging statistic heading into Game 3 of the Calder Cup Finals on Tuesday.
What’s perhaps even more encouraging is the 18-4 home record the Firebirds have during the last two postseasons.
The Firebirds were 12-4 at home during the 2023 playoffs, with the last home playoff loss coming to the Hershey Bears in Game 7 of the Calder Cup Finals.
During this year’s postseason, the Firebirds have averaged 3.83 goals in home games, while allowing just 2.0 per game. They have outscored opponents 23-12.
Hayden watch
Veteran forward John Hayden leads the Firebirds this postseason with nine goals, and a chunk of those goals have come at home.
Hayden has scored three goals in the Firebirds’ three most recent home games, and he’s scored four times in six postseason games inside Acrisure Arena.
