Coachella Valley Suffer OT Loss in Penalty-Filled Battle Against Tucson
The Coachella Valley Firebirds, proud American Hockey League affiliate of the National Hockey League’s Seattle Kraken (@SeattleKraken), were defeated by the Tucson Roadrunners in overtime on Saturday night at Tucson Arena by the final score of 4-3. Oscar Molgaard, Logan Morrison, and John Hayden each scored in the overtime defeat that earned Coachella Valley three of a possible four points on the weekend in Tucson.
The Firebirds opened the scoring for the second straight game as Oscar Molgaard fired a wrist shot past Matt Villalta for his third goal of the season. John Hayden picked up the lone assist at the 10-minute mark of the first period. 40 seconds later, Logan Morrison was sprung on a semi-breakaway by J.R. Avon. Morrison slid the puck five-hole on Villalta to put Coachella Valley up by a 2-0 lead. Tucson converted on a 5-on-3 powerplay to cut the Coachella Valley lead in half on a goal from Daniil But.
John Hayden regained the Firebirds’ two-goal lead with his third goal of the season, finishing off a feed from Lleyton Roed at 4:01 of the second period. Daniil But’s second powerplay goal of the game pulled Tucson within a goal with 1:25 remaining in the middle frame. The second period also featured a trio of highlight reel saves from Firebirds’ netminder Victor Ostman.
Ryan McGregor tied the game for Tucson late in the third period, beating Ostman blocker side with 2:45 left in regulation. The game needed overtime to decide a winner and But netted his third goal of the game to earn the extra point for the Roadrunners just 1:30 into the extra session.
Victor Ostman finished the night with 30 saves on 34 shots as the Firebirds’ record moves to 5-4-2-0 on the 2025-26 season. The game featured three fights (Caden Price, Ville Ottavainen, Ian McKinnon) and the most amount of penalty minutes the Firebirds have racked up in a game this season (27).
Coachella Valley finished game 0-for-1 on the powerplay and 3-for-5 on the penalty kill. The Firebirds were outshot by the Roadrunners 34-27.
