The Colorado Eagles and Coachella Valley Firebirds bring the Pacific Division finals to Loveland tonight (8:05 ET, 
) as the puck drops on Game 3 at Blue Arena.
Trent Miner shut out the Firebirds over the first 101 minutes of the series, but Coachella Valley broke through in a big way with four third-period goals to take Game 2 by a 4-0 score on Friday night.
J.R. Avon (7-1-8) scored twice in Game 2, his sixth and seventh goals of the playoffs after a 10-goal regular season. Head coach Derek Laxdal made an in-game adjustment to move Avon onto a line with Logan Morrison and Jani Nyman.
“They responded,” Laxdal said. “Give our guys a lot of credit. That was an outstanding game. It was back and forth, just grinding. They (the Eagles) are a hell of a hockey club. They come at you, they’ve got a lot of skill. Our guys found a way to hang in there and find a win.”
“They’re a great hockey team,” Avon said. “It’s going to be a low scoring game so we’ve just got to wait for our chance and pounce on it.”
Nikke Kokko (6-4, 2.40, .911) made 33 saves to earn his second shutout of this postseason. Over his two seasons with the Firebirds, Kokko has more shutouts in 16 playoff appearances (3) than in 68 regular-season games (2).
Miner (6-2, 1.20, .948) finished with 21 stops in Game 2.
“Playoff hockey’s hard,” Laxdal said. “It’s 1-1. It’s a best-of-three, (now) we play three games in their building. Our goal is to go in there and try and battle for a win [in Game 3]. It’s a great building, the fans are loud… I know our guys are going to be fired up.”
Eleven of the 12 best-of-five series in the division semifinal and division final rounds of this year’s Calder Cup Playoffs have been tied at 1-1 after the first two games. Only the Central Division finals have been 2-0, with Chicago taking that lead over Grand Rapids with a 4-3 overtime win last night.
The Wolves rallied from a 3-1 deficit to pull out the victory, marking the sixth time this postseason that a team has won a game after trailing by at least two goals. It also happened twice on Thursday night, when Toronto erased a 2-0 deficit in Cleveland and Springfield roared back from 3-0 down in Wilkes-Barre.
And Chicago’s Game 2 win also improved road teams to 9-4 in OT games this postseason. Only Springfield (twice) and Henderson (twice) have managed to win in overtime on home ice.
Game 3 winners went on to win seven of the eight series last round.
A2-Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins vs. A6-Springfield Thunderbirds
Game 3 – Tuesday, 7:05 ET,
(Series tied, 1-1)
Game 1 – W-B/SCRANTON 2, Springfield 0 | Recap | Highlights
Game 2 – Springfield 4, W-B/Scranton 3 (OT) | Recap | Highlights
Game 3 – Tue., May 19 – W-B/Scranton at Springfield, 7:05
Game 4 – Thu., May 21 – W-B/Scranton at Springfield, 7:05
*Game 5 – Sat., May 23 – Springfield at W-B/Scranton, 6:05
*if necessary… All times Eastern
N3-Cleveland Monsters vs. N4-Toronto Marlies
Game 3 – Wednesday, 7:00 ET,
(Series tied, 1-1)
Game 1 – Toronto 5, CLEVELAND 2 | Recap | Highlights
Game 2 – CLEVELAND 3, Toronto 1 | Recap | Highlights
Game 3 – Wed., May 20 – Cleveland at Toronto, 7:00
Game 4 – Fri., May 22 – Cleveland at Toronto, 7:00
*Game 5 – Sun., May 24 – Toronto at Cleveland, 3:00
*if necessary… All times Eastern
C1-Grand Rapids Griffins vs. C2-Chicago Wolves
Game 3 – Tuesday, 8:00 ET,
(Chicago leads series, 2-0)
Game 1 – Chicago 2, GRAND RAPIDS 1 | Recap | Highlights
Game 2 – Chicago 4, GRAND RAPIDS 3 (OT) | Recap | Highlights
Game 3 – Tue., May 19 – Grand Rapids at Chicago, 8:00
*Game 4 – Thu., May 21 – Grand Rapids at Chicago, 8:00
*Game 5 – Sat., May 23 – Chicago at Grand Rapids, 7:00
*if necessary… All times Eastern
P2-Colorado Eagles vs. P4-Coachella Valley Firebirds
Game 3 – Tonight, 8:05 ET,
(Series tied, 1-1)
Game 1 – Colorado 3, COACHELLA VALLEY 0 | Recap | Highlights
Game 2 – COACHELLA VALLEY 4, Colorado 0 | Recap | Highlights
Game 3 – Sun., May 17 – Coachella Valley at Colorado, 8:05
Game 4 – Wed., May 20 – Coachella Valley at Colorado, 9:05
*Game 5 – Fri., May 22 – Coachella Valley at Colorado, 9:05
*if necessary… All times Eastern
In yesterday’s action in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, 2021-22 AHL rookie of the year Jack Quinn scored his first two career NHL playoff goals as part of a three-point night as Buffalo defeated Montreal, 8-3, in Game 6 of their series… Rochester Americans captain Zach Metsa scored in his playoff debut for the Sabres, and Tage Thompson added a goal and three assists.
At the 2026 IIHF World Championship in Switzerland, Samuel Hlavaj made 22 saves and Marek Hrivik scored the winning goal in Slovakia’s 2-1 victory over Norway… 2016 Calder Cup champion Dean Kukan recorded a goal and an assist as Switzerland beat Latvia, 4-2… Jesse Puljujärvi scored twice to help Finland past Hungary, 4-1… Cam Talbot made 19 saves as Canada shut out Italy, 6-0… Jan Drozg picked up an assist in Slovenia’s 3-2 overtime win against Czechia… Liam Kirk scored a goal for Great Britain in their 5-2 loss to Austria.
