In his comeback from major surgery, goaltender Chris Driedger has settled in with the Kraken’s affiliate in the American Hockey League.
Driedger stopped 29 of 30 shots in Wednesday’s 4-1 victory against the Iowa Wild that clinched the Coachella Valley Firebirds (40-11-4-2) a spot in the Calder Cup Playoffs. Driedger made several challenging second-chance stops as Coachella Valley built a 3-0 lead and cruised to the finish line.
Max McCormick scored two goals in a benchmark win of the Firebirds’ inaugural season.
Driedger carried a .917 save percentage and 2.62 goals-against average heading into Sunday’s 8-4 victory over the San Diego Gulls. That game was kinder to the forwards’ stat lines, but Driedger still made it two wins in a row with a 16-save performance. He sits 4-2 in his time with the Firebirds after clearing waivers Feb. 24.
Wright update
As the Windsor Spitfires wrap up the regular season, a healthy Shane Wright is rolling.
The fourth overall pick of the 2022 NHL draft spent time with the Kraken this fall before being returned to the Ontario Hockey League after captaining Canada’s World Junior team. He was plagued by a lower-body injury in January and February but hasn’t missed a game in March.
Wright had a hat trick in a 6-3 comeback win over the Kitchener Rangers on March 11, capping the three-goal effort with an empty-netter. He has nine multipoint performances and has been held off the scoresheet just once in 17 games. Nineteen-year-old Wright has 13 goals — five of which came on the power play — and 18 assists.
The OHL playoffs are set to begin March 30.
Elsewhere, Kraken prospects Tucker Robertson (2022 fourth round, 36 goals, 59 assists) David Goyette (2022 second round, 40 goals, 46 assists) and Kyle Jackson (2022 seventh round, 31 goals, 50 assists) are poised to finish in the top 20 in OHL regular-season points. Robertson is second in the league with nine game-winning goals. A third-rounder in 2022, Ty Nelson is fifth in shots on goal (290) and the only defenseman in the top 15.
Ryan Winterton, a 2021 third-rounder, has been a point-per-game player in the latter half of this season for the London Knights. Through 32 games, he has 12 goals and 20 assists. He secured his first hat trick of the season Friday against the Kingston Frontenacs.
Firkus back at it
Jagger Firkus is 14th in the Western Hockey League in points with 81 (37 goals, 44 assists). After an extremely productive stretch that included a 20-game point streak, he went through a relative dry spell in early 2023 with the Moose Jaw Warriors. However, he has eight goals and 13 points in seven March games, including a hat trick Friday against the Regina Pats. Projected 2023 first-overall pick Connor Bedard also had a hat trick that night.
On that note, Firkus is tied with Bedard for first in the WHL with 11 game-winning goals.
Melanson can’t stop
With a goal Saturday, 2021 fifth-rounder Jacob Melanson’s point streak hit 29 games for the Sherbrooke Phoenix of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. He broke the franchise record for longest point streak nine games ago.
It’s the longest such run in the QMJHL since 2014-15, when current Winnipeg Jets winger Nikolaj Ehlers had a 33-game streak. According to the league website, Mario Lemieux holds the record at 61 games, set in 1983-84.
Acadie-Bathurst Titan traded Melanson to the Sherbrooke Phoenix on Jan. 2. Between the Acadie-Bathurst Titan and Sherbrooke, Melanson has 94 points in 56 games. He is fourth in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League with 48 goals. His seven short-handed goals are good for seventh.