📝 by Patrick Williams
HERSHEY, Pa. … Firebirds head coach Dan Bylsma has not budged from his script.
“We set out in this seven-game series to play 420 minutes of hockey,” he said after Game 4, repeating the same sentiment he had after Game 3. “We didn’t expect it to be four games. We expected to be in a hard-fought series with the Bears, and that’s what we got.”
Two convincing wins at home to begin the series did not change Bylsma’s stance. A pair of one-goal losses in Hershey did not, either. The Firebirds faced four elimination games over the first three rounds and came through them all.
After 23 Calder Cup Playoff games and nearly two months of playoff battles, the Firebirds are nothing if not quite tested by now.
“Winning the Calder Cup is a long, drawn-out battle,” Bylsma said after Game 4. “A war of attrition. We’re in one. We’re in that battle. But it’s not something that our guys aren’t ready for. It’s not something that we haven’t anticipated.”
The Firebirds have been getting production from throughout their lineup this series. Austin Poganski, previously without a goal since Mar. 29, scored his second goal of the Finals in Game 4, taking a pinpoint pass from Shane Wright and putting it past Hunter Shepard midway through the first period.
“We give them credit,” Poganski allowed, “but we can be better, and we will be on Saturday.”
Forward Jesper Froden, who picked up the Firebirds’ second goal of Game 4, sounded a confident tone afterward as well.
“It’s about pushing, pushing, and keeping focused on the right things all the way, and we’ve got that in this team,” Froden said. “I’m confident we’re going to bounce back here.”
Keep pushing. That has been another Coachella Valley theme. Bylsma said following Game 3 that a long series would ultimately favor the Firebirds. He stuck to those words last night as well.
“When we’re at our best,” Bylsma explained, “we’re pushing the pace. We’re forcing teams to deal with our speed. We’re forcing teams to play defense. You want to have the mentality that you’re going to wear a team down playing that way, and the longer it is, the better. The longer it goes, the more opportunity you have to do that.
“And yes, we’d like to have gotten this over in four (games), but we didn’t anticipate it being that way. We’ve just got to keep the long perspective and keep pushing it, keep pushing it, keep pushing it, and keep pushing it. Eventually, hopefully, we can get them to break.”
Todd Nelson always makes it a point to temper both his criticism and praise.
“This [was] probably the best game of the series for our team,” the Hershey Bears head coach said following last night’s 3-2 win against Coachella Valley in Game 4, a victory that evened the Calder Cup Finals at two games apiece.
“That being said, they’re still getting dangerous out there. Our guys dug in and got the job done.”
After the Firebirds had picked apart the Hershey penalty kill for five goals in 14 chances across the first three games of the series, the Bears shut down Coachella Valley on four opportunities in Game 4. Along with adjustments to the penalty kill, the Bears also managed to continue to clean up the penalty issues that had hurt them in the opening two games of the Finals.
“I think we’re playing better as the series goes on,” Nelson said, “and we have to, because they’re going to do the same.”
Patrick Williams has been on the American Hockey League beat for nearly two decades for outlets including NHL.com, Sportsnet, TSN, The Hockey News, SiriusXM NHL Network Radio and SLAM! Sports, and is currently the co-host of The Hockey News On The ‘A’ podcast. He was the recipient of the AHL’s James H. Ellery Memorial Award for his outstanding coverage of the league in 2016.
