Palm Desert, Ca. – The San Jose Barracuda (38-20-2-2) fired 42 shots on goal Saturday night but fell to the Coachella Valley Firebirds (36-21-5-0), 4–2, at Acrisure Arena.
With the win, Coachella Valley extended its overall winning streak to four games, pushed its home winning streak to six, and moved within three points of the Barracuda in the Pacific Division playoff race.
The Firebirds struck twice late in the first period to take control, as Jani Nyman (21) converted on the power play at 14:56 with a short-side snipe before Lleyton Roed (10) added another at 17:40 on a breakaway. Despite outshooting the Firebirds 17–8 in the opening frame, San Jose trailed 2–0 after one.
The Barracuda broke through in the second period when Quentin Musty (17) shoveled in a backhander from in tight at 13:46 to cut the deficit to one heading into the third.
In the final frame, Ty Nelson (10) restored Coachella Valley’s two-goal lead at 7:29 with what would stand as the game-winner, beating Gabriel Carriere on a three-on-two rush. San Jose responded midway through the period when Colin White (15) finished a wraparound off a feed from Nolan Allan at 10:25 to make it 3–2, but that’s as close as they would get. Cooper Marody (9) sealed the game with an empty-net goal at 19:47.
Carriere made 19 saves in the loss, while Nikke Kokko stopped 40 of 42 shots to earn the win. San Jose went 0-for-3 on the power play, while Coachella Valley finished 1-for-2 with the man advantage.
