money Marathon win! Firebirds play 3 overtimes to beat Wranglers in nearly 5-hour game
There was a crowd of 8,198 inside Acrisure Arena on Monday. But by the time Ryker Evans scored the game-winning goal just five minutes before midnight, only a couple hundred were still on hand to see it.
The Coachella Valley Firebirds' 3-2 marathon triple-overtime win over the Calgary Wranglers in Game 3 of their Calder Cup Playoffs series was one to remember. It was the longest game in the arena’s brief history, and the only to extend to three overtimes this year in the American Hockey League.
The first period puck drop came at 7:09 p.m. The final goal was scored at 11:55 p.m. By the end, the shifts were shorter, players were cramping up, moving slower and having trouble getting their shots on goal.
But after nearly five hours of hockey, Evans, a rookie defenseman from Calgary, managed to find a clean look at the net from 20 feet out, and he one-timed it past Wranglers’ goaltender and league MVP Dustin Wolf.
"It was pretty exciting to see it go in," said Evans, who was mobbed by teammates in celebration after the goal. "We were just so happy with how we played for each other, so it was definitely rewarding to get that."
After the celebration had ended, players marveled at what they had just accomplished.
"That was nuts," Firebirds goaltender Joey Daccord said. "Last year in Charlotte we played a double overtime game. I played double overtime in prep school, I think, and that's it. So, my first time playing three, and it's way more fun when you win."
The Firebirds now hold a 2-1 lead in the best-of-five Pacific Division finals series and could end the top-seeded Wranglers' season with a win on either Wednesday or Friday.
In addition to securing a big win that puts the Firebirds in control of the series, Monday also marked the return of AHL all-star Andrew Poturalski, who had not played since Jan. 26. Poturalski suffered a left leg injury that required surgery and instead of simply waving the white flag on the season, the 29-year-old Buffalo, New York native worked his way back in an effort to help the Firebirds in their quest for the Calder Cup.
"I take four months off and that's my first game," Poturalski said, smiling. "It's pretty crazy. I was definitely feeling it at the end."
After playing almost two full games Monday, the Firebirds and Wranglers must now prepare to return to Acrisure Arena for Game 4 on Wednesday. Fortunately for the Firebirds, some reinforcements could be on the way.
With Coachella Valley’s NHL affiliate, the Seattle Kraken, losing Game 7 of its Stanley Cup Playoffs series Monday in Dallas, the Firebirds could have forwards Tye Kartye and Jesper Frödén back for Wednesday’s game. The two combined for 55 goals and 54 assists this season before being recalled by the Kraken and playing a role in Seattle’s postseason run.
After the game, Firebirds head coach Dan Bylsma said that he did not immediately know which players, if any, will be headed to the Firebirds from the Kraken. He said that he had not had a chance to even come down from what he described as an "emotional high."
The coach added that despite the length of Monday's game, the result will surely rejuvenate his squad for Wednesday.
“We’ll take a rest and try to recover from the time we spent on the ice tonight," Bylsma said. "But I think the positive outcome will provide us with all the energy we need.”
The goals
1-0, Wranglers: Adam Klapka scored first, on a power play, with his deflected shot finding its way into the net at the 8:25 mark in the first period. The shot was deflected in front of the cage but spun over the right shoulder of Daccord to give Calgary the early lead.
2-0: Jakob Pelletier added a second first-period goal for the Wranglers at the 15:23 mark. The goal came on one of Calgary’s 15 shots in the period.
2-1: Gustav Olofsson cut the deficit with the Firebirds’ first goal of the game at the 5:28 mark of the second period. Alexander True dished the puck to Max McCormick, and McCormick found Olofsson wide open about 25 feet out. Olofsson one-timed it past Wolf, who finished with 48 saves on the night.
2-2: McCormick tied the game with a goal at the 2:59 mark in the third. Evans and Cameron Hughes assisted on the play.
3-2: Evans' goal was just his eighth of the season and his second in the postseason. McCormick and Kole Lind assisted on the play.
"We've been working for this all year," Evans said. "That showed in the third overtime there. We were able to find a way to get the puck toward the net on a great (pass) from Max."
Firebirds' player of the game
Evans scored the game-winning goal but the nod here goes to Daccord, who recorded a career-high 60 saves in the win. His previous career-high was 46 saves in a game.
Daccord didn't allow a single goal in the final two periods of regulation and in nearly three periods of overtime. That's an unbelievable feat versus the Wranglers, who were the AHL's best team during the regular season.
The Firebirds were outshot 19-3 in the first overtime, but thanks to Daccord they somehow kept the Wranglers out of the goal. Daccord made every kind of save imaginable.
"This one felt like it was going to go even longer than it did," Bylsma said, "because of both goaltenders. It just didn't look like anything was going to get by these two guys."
Ice nuggets
Melanson makes debut: Lost in the drama of the game was the AHL debut of Jacob Melanson, a 20-year-old forward who was drafted by the Seattle Kraken in the fifth round in 2021.
Melanson, a 6-foot-1 forward from Nova Scotia, spent the season with the Acadie-Bathurst Titan and the Sherbrooke Phoenix of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, where he scored 50 goals and recorded 49 assists in 59 games.
Andrew John covers then Firebirds for The Desert Sun and the USA TODAY Network. Email him at andrew.john@desertsun.com
This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: AHL playoffs: Firebirds defeat Wranglers 3-2 in marathon triple-overtime win
