Coachella Valley Firebirds Theme Nights 2024-25
These are the theme nights at Acrisure Arena for Coachella Valley Firebirds games in 2024-25
In the game of leapfrog being played at the top of the Pacific Division of the American Hockey League, the Coachella Valley Firebirds landed on top Tuesday.
The Firebirds scored four times in the first period, with two goals by Tye Kartye, to dominate the Calgary Wranglers on the way to a 6-1 victory in Calgary.
The two points for the win allowed the Firebirds to jump over the Colorado Eagles with 68 points, with idle Colorado at 67, Calgary at 66 and the Ontario Reign at 65.
The shuffling at the top of the division could continue Wednesday as the Firebirds will take on the Wranglers again, again in Canada, with Colorado and Ontario also playing Wednesday.
The Firebirds and the Wranglers might have been tied entering the game, but the teams were on different paths recently. The Firebirds had won seven of their last 10 games, while struggling Calgary had just one win in its last 10 starts.
Those two trends continued in the first period with the Firebirds scoring four times. The first of those goals came just 3:31 into the game when Tye Kartye, a Firebirds star in their 2023 run to the Calder Cup Finals, scored on a wrist shot near the front of the Calgary goal. Kartye is on a conditioning loan from the parent Seattle Kraken.
Just over five minutes later, Jacob Melanson made it 2-0 Firebirds, firing in a rebound from the front of the net. Later in the period, when the Firebirds went on the power play for the first time in the game, it took Kartye just seven seconds to push a shot from the left circle past Calgary goalie Devin Cooley. The goal was not only Kartye’s second of the game but also marked the fifth straight power play to produce a Firebirds goal dating back to four power-play goals in Coachella Valley’s 6-5 win over San Diego last Friday.
David Goyette completed the big period for the Firebirds with a rebound goal with 6:17 remaining in the first period. The period featured assists from seven different Firebirds, including two by Nikolas Brouillard. The Firebirds added a short-handed goal in the third period on a shot by Ryan Winterton on a pass from Melanson as well as Cale Fleury’s second assist of the night. Jani Nyman added his 26th goal of the season on a power-play goal late in the third period on Brouillard’s third assist of the game.
The four first-period goals were more than enough for Firebirds goalie Nikke Kokko, back with the Firebirds after a short assignment to the Kraken that saw him get into one NHL game. The Wranglers didn’t score against Kokko until less than two minutes were left in the second period on a close-in shot from Dryden Hunt. With the Coachella Valley defense playing well and blocking shots in front of Kokko, the Wranglers managed just 20 shots.
Ice nuggets
Rookie forward Jani Nyman was named the American Hockey League’s rookie of the month for February. In his 10 games in the month, Nyman had nine goals and four assists for 13 total points.
The Firebirds continue to see a musical chair of goalies. Kokko started Tuesday because he had been sent back from a short stint with the parent Seattle Kraken, with former Kraken goalie Philipp Grubauer going back up to the big club. In addition, the Firebirds were assigned goalie Viktor Ostman from Kansas City of the ECHL.
