It came in dramatic fashion, but the Coachella Vallery Firebirds clinched home ice advantage for the first round of the American Hockey Leage playoff Saturday with a thrilling 6-4 victory over the San Diego Gulls.
Logan Morrison scored his team-leading 29th goal on a scramble in front of the net with just 1:37 left in the game, ending a San Diego rally and giving the Firebirds a 5-4 lead. Jacob Melanson scored his second goal of the game with just 52 second left into an empty net for the final score.
The win improved the Firebirds to 41-24-6-0, with the two points giving the team 88 points for the season, meaning that the Bakersfield Condors are relegated to fifth place in the division. The Firebirds and the Condors will face each other in the first round of the playoffs. The three-game series will begin at Acrisure Arena in Palm Desert, with Game 2 in Bakersfield and Game 3, if needed, played in Palm Desert. In the four-year history of the Firebirds, the team has always had home-ice advantage in their opening round, Dates for the games will be announced soon.
Needing a win in either of their final two games, the Firebirds dropped behind by two goals in the first period on the road against the Gulls. But the Firebirds roared back with four consecutive goals.
San Diego jumped to the lead in the game with a pair of goals against Firebirds starting goalie Nikki Kokko, just back from a stint in the NHL with the Seattle Kraken. But the Firebirds began their rally with a goal by Eduard Sale of a rebound on a power play from the center of the circles with just 2:05 left in the first period.
The rally continued when Melanson was credited with a goal just 27 seconds into the second period on a puck that rolled behind San Diego goalie Tomas Suchanek and into the net. Cooper Marody put the Firebirds ahead with a goal at the 9:12 mark off assists from Oscar Fiskar Molgaard and Ty Nelson. Just 90 seconds later it was Nelson’s turn to score a goal, his 11th goal of the year and third points of the night. Jagger Firkus and Gustav Olafsson had the assists.
San Diego fought back with a goal at the 16:26 mark by Matt Basgall, his first professional goal. That remained the score until the 11:35 mark of the third period with Stian Solberg beat Kokko with a slapshot to even the game at 4-4.
Then came the late flurry by the Firebirds, with Morrison pushing the puck into the net on a wild scramble that included Tyler Jugnauth breaking his stick on a shot. Jugnauth had the second assist on the winning goal, with Lleyton Road getting the first assist.
Melanson’s empty net goal came off a shot from deep inside the Firebirds defensive end.
The Firebirds end their regular season Sunday with a 3 p.m. home game against Abbotsford.
This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Firebirds rally late against Gulls, clinch home ice for first round of AHL playoffs
Reporting by Larry Bohannan, Palm Springs Desert Sun / Palm Springs Desert Sun
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
