Firebirds goalie Stezka is ‘day-to-day’ after in-game injury

Coachella Valley Firebirds goalie Ales Stezka is "day-to-day with an upper-body injury," team spokesperson Evan Pivnick confirmed to News Channel 3 on Monday morning.

Stezka was hurt late in the third period during Saturday night's game against the Ontario Reign. During the last three minutes of regulation time, Ontario crowded goalie Ales Stezka. Stezka fell to the ice while the Reign pushed the puck past him to score. Stezka would not return; he was replaced by goaltender Chris Driedger.

The refs kept the goal and that led to overtime. Ontario won on a 2-1 goal against Dreidger.

After the game, Coachella Valley Firebirds Head Coach Dan Bylsma said Stezka was still getting checked out. He explained a Firebirds player hit Stezka's head with his hip as he went by "so his head snapped back."

It all happened very quickly. "The sequence of events maybe is one and a half seconds or two seconds by the time that we clip the goalie and he goes down," Blysma recalled, "and our defenseman ends up in the blue paint and they flip it back in there and get the goal."

More: Ontario edges Firebirds in OT to hand CV its fifth-straight home loss

With the loss at home Saturday, the Firebirds fall to 10-7-1 and are back on the ice against Abbotsford on Friday night.

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