Palm Desert, Calif. — The San Jose Barracuda (21-13-1-2) fell to the Coachella Valley Firebirds (22-12-4-0), 4–3, on Wednesday night at Acrisure Arena, as rookie Carson Rehkopf recorded a hat trick to lead the Firebirds to their sixth consecutive win.
Coachella Valley jumped out to an early lead in the first period when Tyson Jugnauth (6) opened the scoring just 1:08. Rehkopf (6) then doubled the advantage at 5:16, giving the Firebirds a 2–0 edge after one despite San Jose holding an 11–7 shots advantage.
The Barracuda responded in the second period, striking twice to erase the deficit. Colin White (10) got San Jose on the board 58 seconds in with a power-play goal, ripping in a shot upstairs from atop the right circle. Oliver Wahlstrom (10) tied the game at 5:15, converting on a miscue by Victor Östman. Coachella Valley answered late in the period, however, as Rehkopf (7) scored his second of the night at 16:38 to restore the Firebirds’ lead.
Rehkopf (8) completed the hat trick at 8:01 of the third period, pushing Coachella Valley ahead 4–2. San Jose continued to press and cut the deficit to one at 15:12 when Cam Lund (6) buried a five-hole shot. The Barracuda generated pressure late, but were unable to find the equalizer.
San Jose outshot Coachella Valley 29–18 and went 1-for-3 on the power play. Laurent Brossoit made 14 saves in the loss, while Östman stopped 26 shots for the Firebirds.
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