The Seattle Kraken’s American Hockey League farm team is preparing for round-two of the Calder Cup playoffs after defeating the Bakersfield Condors in games two and three of their best-of-three first round series.
The Coachella Valley Firebirds beat the Condors 6-2 on Sunday to finish off the comeback series win.
The Firebirds dropped game-one 6-1 last Thursday in “Bako” before winning twice at home. The first win came on Saturday, 5-4.
Names familiar to Kraken fans, Jani Nyman and Oscar Fisker Mølgaard, were prominent in the deciding victory. Both tallied a goal and two assists. Mølgaard’s goal was an empty-netter.
Firebirds goalie Nikke Kokko, also a recent wearer of a Kraken jersey, made 31 saves for the win. The 22-year-old Finn won his first ever NHL start against the Calgary Flames back on April 11th. He lost his next two, playing for a Seattle club that seemed mildly disinterested in finishing out the non-playoff season.
Meanwhile, the Firebirds carry on somewhat of a tradition at the AHL level. The club made the Calder Cup Final in both of its first two seasons in existence before getting bounced in the 2nd round last spring. They’re back to that point again.
4th-seeded Coachella Valley will take on the Pacific Division’s top seed Ontario Reign, farm club of the LA Kings. The Reign earned a bye through the first round.
The best of five series begins in Ontario, with games three and four at the Acrisure Arena in the Valley. Game-5 will be back in Ontario if necessary.
The Reign feature balanced scoring, led by veteran AHL forwards Martin Chromiak and Nikita Alexandrov.
Earlier Kraken:
— Glenn’s Gems; Kraken’s Beniers Leadership Qualities Emerge
Earlier Canucks:
The Winnipeg Jets went from winning the Presidents Trophy with the best record in 2025 to finishing out of the playoffs in 2026. Here’s the NHL postmortem:
