Overview
- The Colorado Eagles beat the Coachella Valley Firebirds 3-2 to win the Pacific Division Finals 3-1, ending the Firebirds’ season.
- The turning point came in the middle of the second period when Colorado scored three unanswered goals in under five minutes to overturn a 2-0 deficit.
- Gavin Brindley scored the game-winner and was named Player of the Game while Colorado goalie Trent Miner stopped 23 of 25 shots and Coachella Valley’s Nikke Kokko stopped 23 of 26.
- Firebirds coach Derek Laxdal said the team ‘couldn’t maintain the pressure’ but praised his young roster after a 44-win season that included four earlier elimination-game victories.
- The Eagles advanced to the AHL Western Conference Finals for the first time, and the series-clinching win Wednesday in Loveland shifts attention to Colorado’s next playoff matchups.