Firebirds, Eagles open Pacific Division finals with contrasting playoff styles

Game 1 in Palm Desert carried the kind of leverage that can shape the whole Pacific Division finals. Coachella Valley arrived after another rescue act, Colorado came in with the round’s cleanest numbers, and the first meeting of a best-of-five series was set to show whether late-game survival or early control would travel better into late May.

The Firebirds had just beaten Ontario 3-2 in double overtime in Game 5 on May 10, with J.R. Avon scoring 1:47 into the second extra period. Avon, who had 10 goals in 45 regular-season games, scored his fourth goal of that series and his fifth of the postseason, the latest example of Coachella Valley finding the right goal at the right time. That kind of finish has become part of the Firebirds’ playoff identity, one that has already carried them to the Western Conference Finals in 2023 and 2024.

Oscar Fisker Mølgaard was the other name Colorado had to track. Through eight playoff games, Mølgaard had six goals and 10 points, both AHL highs entering Game 1, and he had added six points in five regular-season games against the Eagles. When Coachella Valley needed offense without much margin for error, Mølgaard had been the player driving it.

Colorado, though, entered the series with a different kind of case. The Eagles had outscored opponents 23-7 in six playoff games, then finished off Henderson with a 6-2 win in Game 4 on May 10 to take that semifinal series three games to one. Tristen Nielsen and Alex Barré-Boulet were part of the balanced scoring that let Colorado control game scripts instead of chase them, and the Eagles reached the Pacific Division finals for the third time in five years after qualifying for the Calder Cup Playoffs in each of their six seasons since joining the AHL in 2018.

That contrast made the opener more than a formality. Coachella Valley had become the first AHL team to reach the league semifinal round in each of its first two seasons since the Houston Aeros in 2002 and 2003, a reminder that the Firebirds have already built a serious postseason résumé in a short time. Colorado has been winning with structure, depth and a stingy defensive profile. Coachella Valley has been winning by hanging around until someone blinks. Game 1 was scheduled for 10 p.m. ET / 7 p.m. PT Wednesday in Palm Desert, and it had the look of a series that could turn on the first team to impose its style.