It's official. For the third straight year, the Coachella Valley Firebirds are headed to the playoffs.
Despite not playing on Sunday, the Firebirds officially clinched a playoff spot due to the result of the game between Tucson and Bakersfield. In a weird confluence of the teams' records and remaining games, it didn't actually matter who won the game between the Roadrunners and Condors, which ended in a 5-2 win for Tucson.
Both Tucson and Bakersfield would have had to win all their remaining games for the Firebirds to lose their postseason berth, and since the two happened to be playing each other Sunday, that was impossible.
So with a playoff spot now confirmed, the Firebirds will look to gain the highest possible seed in the remaining five games of the regular season, four of which are at home. In all, seven teams will be in the Pacific Division playoffs.
The Firebirds are currently 36-24-2-5 on the year and in fourth place in the division with 79 points. They are four points behind third-place Abbotsford and four points ahead of Calgary and San Jose, who are tied for fifth place. Colorado is in first place with 88 points, meaning mathematically the Firebirds could still catch them by winning all their remaining games and having the Eagles lose all of their remaining games, but that's unlikely.
More important for the Firebirds will be to try and stay in one of the top four spots because that comes with a home-ice advantage in the first round of the playoffs.
As Firebirds fans are well aware, the first two playoff runs for the team were quite lengthy, going all the way to the Calder Cup finals, falling short both times. Those same fans can now start thinking about a year-three playoff run. And the 2023 playoffs came in the first year of the Firebirds' existence, meaning the team has never missed the playoffs.
The next game for the Firebirds is a crucial one at home on Wednesday at Acrisure Arena against San Jose, their nearest pursuer. The puck drops on that game at 7 p.m.
Firebirds remaining regular-season games
- Wednesday: Home vs. San Jose, 7 p.m.
- Saturday: Home vs. Bakersfield, 6 p.m.
- Sunday: Home vs. San Diego, 5 p.m.
- Friday, April 18: Home vs. Abbotsford, 6 p.m.
- Saturday, April 19: Away at San Diego, 6 p.m.
This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Coachella Valley Firebirds clinch spot in AHL playoffs
