With Saturday’s dramatic double overtime win in Ontario, the Coachella Valley Firebirds are in the divisional finals for the third time in four years and face the Colorado Eagles, starting Wednesday.
The last time these two teams played in the Calder Cup Playoffs, in 2023, the Firebirds won a pair of elimination games to beat the Eagles 3-2 in the best-of-five series.
This season, the two teams tied their head-to-head series, 4-4, but the Firebirds won the most recent two games, both in Colorado.
Here’s a breakdown of how the two teams match up heading into this series, and everything you need to know:
Schedule for Firebirds vs. Colorado Eagles
*If necessary, all times Pacific
How to get tickets for home games
How does parking work at Acrisure Arena?
ParkWhiz App: Download the ParkWhiz App and you can buy parking for the Firebirds’ playoff games ahead of time for $20. If you wait until you arrive on site it will cost more.
Where to watch on TV or streaming
Firebirds’ key players
Oscar Fisker Mølgaard leads all players in the Calder Cup Playoffs with 10 points and six goals. He scored in each of the last two games.
Jani Nyman has eight points and three goals in the postseason, Jagger Firkus has seven points and three goals and J.R. Avon has six points and five goals.
Nikke Kokko has a 2.74 goals-against average in these playoffs. He has an .893 save percentage. Against Ontario, however, he allowed just 2.0 goals per game and a .925 save percentage.
Projected Firebirds lines
Key Eagles’ players
While the Firebirds have required four elimination games to stay alive in these playoffs. the Eagles have faced no such drama. They swept San Diego 2-0 in the first round and put away a hot Henderson team 3-1 in the second round. Here are some of their key players:
Forward Tristen Nielsen and Alex Barre-Boulet both have seven points in just six playoff games, and Nielsen has five goals.
Trent Miner has been the top goalie in the playoffs, yielding a miniscule 1.1 goals per game while going 5-1 including an amazing three shutouts.
Firebirds’ playoff history
Series prediction
Maybe I’m naïve to how tough this is going to actually be for Coachella Valley, but I’m taking the Firebirds to win in four games.
I think that the Firebirds, with their current momentum and the first two games being played inside Acrisure Arena, will take a 2-0 lead in the series and put all the pressure on Colorado to win three consecutive at home.
For what it’s worth, this isn’t a homer pick, I don’t think. I picked the Firebirds to lose to the Reign in five games. That nearly happened. But the Firebirds, instead, won Game 5 in overtime and I think with that win and with how well they played in the series they have a ton of momentum heading into a pair of home games.
Colorado could win a game here in the Coachella Valley, but the Firebirds have won multiple games in Colorado already this season and with the current lineup at full strength I don’t think they’ll have much fear about having to win there again to win this series.
Andrew John covers the Firebirds for The Desert Sun and USA TODAY. Email him at andrew.john@desertsun.com.
This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Can the Firebirds beat the Colorado Eagles? We break down the matchup
Reporting by Andrew John, Palm Springs Desert Sun / Palm Springs Desert Sun
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