Panic is not a term in the Firebirds’ vocabulary this postseason, which is why they have a 7-1 record.
The Coachella Valley Firebirds maintained a precarious one-goal lead for most of Wednesday night’s Western Conference Finals series opener. It was the kind of fragile lead where it felt like they should have been further ahead, yet a talented Milwaukee team remained in contention.
Predictably, the Admirals tied the game. Postseason scoring dynamo Zach L’Heureux equalized midway through the third period. Uh oh. The momentum had shifted. Time to panic, right?
Not for these Firebirds. This year’s squad seems immune to panic. Just minutes later, Devin Shore outmaneuvered a pair of Admirals near center ice, found himself in the clear, and passed to John Hayden at the doorstep. Order restored, Firebirds up 2-1. Firebirds win 2-1.
Goalkeeper Chris Driedger, who had an excellent night with 37 saves but felt he should have stopped the one that got through, described his unusual reaction when the Admirals tied the game.
“It’s funny, I got scored on in the third, and in my head I thought, ‘For sure we’re scoring back,'” Driedger said, adding with a laugh, “It was almost like I needed to let one in just to spark the offense. Fortunately, I was right. We have good confidence, and it doesn’t really matter what happens or what’s on the scoreboard. We believe we have the tools we need, and we like to think that we’re relentless.”
It’s that type of mindset that allows you to win seven straight playoff games, come back from two goals down at Ontario, and secure close victories. This year’s Firebirds are different—different from Calgary, different from Ontario, and, on Wednesday night at least, different from Milwaukee. Good teams can win, but great teams expect to win, and right now, the Firebirds are a great team.
This mindset is what sets them apart from last year’s Firebirds. They haven’t faced any elimination games yet because they haven’t lost enough to reach that point. This team is too connected and too focused to allow that to happen.
John Hayden, who scored both goals on Wednesday night, including the game-winner in the third period, echoed Driedger’s confidence. Tie game? No problem.
“We know in a long series we’re not going to be perfect,” Hayden said. “We try to always have an even keel, not too high, not too low. Generally, this season, we’ve shown that resilience. Whether it’s a goal against in a game or even a loss, we’ve bounced back all season.”
The Firebirds are 7-1 this postseason. They’ve trailed in five of those eight games, not including Wednesday night’s battle that was tied 1-1 late. This team arrives at the rink expecting to win, and that confidence never wavers during the 60 minutes of a game.
Coach Dan Bylsma, fresh from a quick trip to Seattle to accept the head coaching position with the NHL’s Kraken, summed it up: “It wasn’t relief when we scored, it was like, ‘Yup. Here it comes. And it came.'”
He put it simply: “Not just the five guys on the ice, but we all just, yeah, we expected to keep going, keep going. We planned on scoring more than one goal, and it was just like we know it’s going to come.”
And it did, bringing a valuable Game 1 win in the Western Conference Final. The team expected nothing less.
