THOUSAND PALMS, CA – Joey Daccord stopped 36 shots and the Coachella Valley Firebirds scored two goals in the third period, downing the Iowa Wild on Friday, 3-1. Nic Petan scored the only goal of the game for Iowa. Carsen Twarynski had a goal and an assist for the Firebirds.

Coachella Valley jumped out in front 3:57 into the contest when Twarynski scored a shorthanded goal, his 11th tally of the season. Twarynski had the puck behind the Iowa net, trying to pass it out in front, but it hit off the back of Zane McIntyre and in to make it 1-0.

Iowa was outshot in the first period, 15-11, but dominated much of the second, outshooting Coachella Valley 15-5. That allowed the Wild to score the only goal of the frame as Petan netted his 18th tally of the season with 3:10 left in the period. With Iowa on the power-play, Steven Fogarty passed the puck to Marco Rossi along the half boards. He made a perfect pass into the slot, where Petan fired a one-timer by Daccord to knot the game at one.

That sent the contest to the third tied, but the Firebirds put this game away, scoring twice in the frame. The first came at 9:32 one Cameron Hughes scored his 11th goal of the season. Jimmy Schuldt broke up a passing attempt in the neutral zone, knocking it to Twarynski, who then fed Hughes with a shot that beat McIntyre to make it 2-1.

With a little over five minutes left in the contest, Kole Lind scored on the power-play to extend the lead to two. Max McCormick made a pass to Lind at the right face-off circle, who blasted a one-timer by McIntyre for his 25th goal of the year.

Coachella Valley was outshot 11-6 in the third, but came away with the only two goals of the frame. That gave them a sweep of the two-game set with the Wild.

Zane McIntyre stopped 23 shots in the contest. The loss snapped his four-game winning streak.

The Iowa Wild (28-24-9) head to the coast to take on the San Diego Gulls (19-39-1) on Saturday. The puck drops at 9:00 Iowa time.

Gamesheet

by Robert Pannier