The Kraken’s American Hockey League affiliate Coachella Valley Firebirds came off a 3-0 shut-out loss in Game-1 to post a 4-0 blanking of their own in Game-2 against the Colorado Eagles in the Calder Cup pacific division finals.
All of the scoring came in the third period at Acrisure Arena in the valley. Red hot J.R. Avon scored twice, including the game winner at the 1:20 mark. He shares the Calder Cup playoffs lead with teammate Oscar Fisker-Mølgaard, both with seven postseason goals.
Fisker-Mølgaard’s empty-netter rounded out the scoring at the 18:17 mark.
Firebirds goalie Nikke Kokko, who made three late season appearances for Seattle this spring, picked up the shut-out win while making 33 saves.
Dominance by the clubs’ penalty kills played a key part in this game, especially for the Firebirds. They shut down all four Eagles power plays. Coachella Valley went 0-for-3 with the man advantage.
For the fans in Palm Desert to see another home game this postseason, the Firebirds have to win this best-of-five series. It shifts to Blue Arena in Loveland, Colorado for Games three and four, and Game-5 if necessary.
The Eagles entered as the number-two seed, the Firebirds came in ranked fourth in the pacific.
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