Coachella Valley topples Hershey in game three of the Calder Cup Finals, with future of the Kraken on full display
By Silvia Leija Rosas, edited by Charles Hamaker
Palm Desert, CA - After falling to the Hershey Bears over the weekend in Game of the Calder Cup Finals, splitting the first two games of the series in Pennsylvania, the Coachella Valley Firebirds welcomed their opponents to their home ice at Acrisure Arena with a 6-2 win on Tuesday night, June 18th.
Photos as the Coachella Valley Firebirds arrive for game three of the Calder Cup Finals in California against the Hershey Bears, and during pregame warmups. (Photos by Mike Zitek)
Coachella Valley had a flying start after they were granted a power play 30 seconds into the first period. Hershey’s coach Todd Nelson put out a different lineup than what was shared with AHL officials, and the ensuing delay-of-game penalty resulted in a sneak goal for Firebirds captain Max McCormick.
During the post-game media scrum, Firebirds head coach Dan Bylsma called it the fastest period of hockey this year.
Coachella Valley Firebirds forward and team captain Max McCormick scored in the early portion of the first period, getting things started the right way in game three of the 2024 Calder Cup Finals. (Photos by Mike Zitek)
But, McCormick wasn’t done there and scored on a rebound off Shane Wright’s shot (Wright’s second assist of the night). He put the Firebirds up by a score of 2-0, six minutes before the end of the first frame of this game three. The returning Cup champions wouldn’t be held back, though. The first 20 minutes ended with Coachella Valley’s lead halved 2-1, before the Bears tied it early in the second period during a power play coming off a high-sticking penalty on veteran Firebirds forward Kole Lind.
Coachella Valley, obviously energized by the 9,034 attendees in their home crowd at Acrisure Arena, took the lead again with Lleyton Roed’s first goal of the playoffs in his second-ever AHL postseason game, seventh game overall with Coachella Valley at the AHL level. Roed signed with the Firebirds as a amateur tryout this spring out of Bemidji State after signing his entry level contract with the Seattle Kraken. He found his place in the lineup after alternate captain Andrew Poturalski was injured in Game one, opening space for him and pushing Shane Wright into the top line.
Coachella Valley Firebirds forward Lleyton Roed scored his second goal at the AHL level, and first of the postseason, in the second period to give his team the lead back over the Hershey Bears in the third game of the 2024 Calder Cup Finals. (Photos by Mike Zitek)
Roed’s goal added to the 17 different Firebirds who have scored a goal this postseason in 15 games. Bylsma praised the goal as representative of the team’s depth and their ability to trust their young talent to get the job done.
Ryan Winterton reclaimed the Firebird’s two-goal lead with his fourth goal of the playoffs but even with the lead, Coachella Valley wasn’t going to make it easy for the Bears. The Firebirds set a franchise-record 23 shots on goal in the second period and left Hershey’s struggling offense in the dust.
Coachella Valley Firebirds forward Ryan Winterton scored in the second period to help further his teams lead over the Hershey Bears in game three of the 2024 Calder Cup Finals. (Photos by Mike Zitek)
Coachella Valley defenseman Cale Fleury landed some big hits on a few Hershey players before passing the puck up to Kole Lind, who set Shane Wright up to beat Hershey’s Hunter Shephard, the AHL’s Best Goaltender award winner, for a highlight reel goal.
Hershey made a final push with less than five minutes in the final frame after a 4-on-4 turned into a 22-second man advantage for the Bears. Unfortunately for Hershey and their fans, Max McCormick ended what he started and completed the hat trick on an empty netter.
The shot count ended in Coachella Valley's favor at 40-24 and the Firebirds now lead the series, 2-1 with the next two games being played at Acrisure Arena.
Shane Wright couldn’t be more ready
Wright’s third period goal had first-round pick written all over it and was exactly the thing Kraken fans have been waiting to see in Seattle since his 2022 draft, giving them something to look forward to when the Burlington, Canada native is a full time player with the Kraken next season.
Fans received a small taste of what Wright can do in early April when during one of several call-ups the 20-year-old had, including his first two-goal game in the NHL to defeat the Anaheim Ducks by a score of 3-1.
Wright now has nine points (3G-6A) in nine postseason games after he missed six due to an injury.
O Captain! My Captain!
Max McCormick’s hat trick was the first in the Calder Cup Finals since 2009. The Firebirds were able to play his first goal off the boards in the D-zone and send it back down to the offensive as a five-man group. It was a team goal as much as it was McCormick’s individually.
Head coach Dan Bylsma called his final goal one of the best plays of the game.
McCormick’s good mood doesn’t end on the ice, though. The 32-year-old and his wife welcomed their first baby girl on June 2nd, and he credits his team at home for letting him take care of business on the ice.
“[My wife] is taking care of business at home. We’ll have all the time together in the summer but for now…it’s, you know, prioritize hockey and take care of things on the ice.”
The captain has 11 points (8G-3A) in 15 playoff games.
The postgame celebration for the Coachella Valley Firebirds after defeating the Hershey Bears in game three of the Calder Cup Finals at Acrisure Arena started with the hats on the ice for Max McCormick’s hat trick, and ended with kisses and head bumps to goaltender Chris Driedger. (Photos by Mike Zitek)
What’s Next?
The Hershey Bears and our Coachella Valley Firebirds will meet again for Game four of the Calder Cup Finals on Thursday, June 20th at Acrisure Arena at 7PM PDT, 10PM EDT. If the Firebirds are able to come through for a third straight victory in these Finals, after splitting the first two games of the series in Pennsylvania, it will put the Firebirds in a big position to be able to take the series potentially considering that the next game of the series are in Coachella Valley. To view these games, you can purchase a daily pass on AHL.TV for $8.99 or pay about $30 for a pass that will span the length of this series, that originally gave you access to the entirety of the AHL playoffs. Circling Seattle Sports will have game recaps of every game from the series, brought to you by Silvia.
The remainder of the series schedule is as follows (all times in PST):
Game 4 – Thursday, June 20 at Coachella Valley’s Acrisue Arena, 7PM PDT
*Game 5 – Saturday, June 22 at Coachella Valley’s Acrisure Arena, 6PM PDT
*Game 6 – Monday, June 24 at the GIANT Center, 4PM PDT
*Game 7 – Wednesday, June 26 at the GIANT Center, 4PM PDT
*If necessary
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Check out our previous Coachella Valley Firebirds articles here.
Check out more articles by our Seattle Kraken beat writer Silvia Leija Rosas here.
Cover photo and photos in this article by Coachella Valley Firebirds photographer, Mike Zitek.
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