Picture: Mike Zitek
For the third 12 months in a row, the top of the Calgary Wranglers’ highway is in Palm Desert, California.
Nikke Kokko made 23 saves and Mitchell Stephens scored his third objective of the sequence because the Coachella Valley Firebirds defeated the Wranglers, 2-0, to finish a two-game sweep of their Pacific Division first-round sequence on Saturday.
The Firebirds have eradicated the Wranglers in every of the groups’ three years of existence, closing out the sequence every time at Acrisure Area.
Recreation 2 was scoreless till the latter levels of the second interval, when Stephens – the triple-overtime hero in Recreation 1 on Tuesday – took a drop cross from Nathan Villeneuve on a four-on-two rush and wristed a shot previous Waltteri Ignatjew with 4:38 to go within the center body.
Kokko and the Firebirds protected the lead till John Hayden stole the puck and hit the empty web with 16.5 seconds left in regulation. It was the primary AHL shutout for Kokko; the 2024-25 AHL All-Rookie Staff goaltender didn’t have one within the common season.
Ignatjew stopped 18 of 19 pictures for the Wranglers.
(Coachella Valley wins sequence, 2-0)Recreation 1 – Tue., Apr. 22 – COACHELLA VALLEY 4, Calgary 3 (3OT)Recreation 2 – Sat., Apr. 26 – COACHELLA VALLEY 2, Calgary 0
