Two goals each from forwards Andre Lee and Samuel Fagemo sent the Ontario Reign (27-17-2-1) past the Coachella Valley Firebirds (37-8-4-1) by a score of 4-2 at Toyota Arena Friday night.
It was the first multi-goal game of Lee’s professional career, while both of Fagemo’s tallies came on the power play with assists from TJ Tynan and Jordan Spence. Goaltender Cal Petersen made the start and turned out 20 shots to secure the win for the Reign.
More from head coach Marco Sturm and Lee below.
Lee put the Reign ahead from the get-go with his third goal of the season at 3:17 of the first period. The power forward stole the puck away from a Firebird in the offensive end and quickly fired a low wrist shot past Coachella Valley goaltender Christopher Gibson to make it 1-0 Ontario.
Less than three minutes later, Lee added to the lead and put the Reign in front 2-0 with his fourth tally of the year at 6:06. With possession behind the Firebirds net, Nikita Pavlychev centered the puck for Samuel Helenius who attempted a shot that deflected over to Lee and the rookie gained control to slip it into the net.
Coachella Valley responded 36 seconds later to get on the board for the first time and cut the lead down to 2-1 on a shot by Jesper Froden at 6:42 of the first.
Ontario continued to hold a one goal edge until midway through the second when Fagemo blasted a one-timer past Gibson on the power play off a feed by Spence at 11:55. With the second assist on the play, Tynan registered his 50th assist of the season.
Again, the Firebirds had a quick response and cut the lead back to a single goal 18 seconds later on a quick strike by Tye Kartye at 12:13 to make it a 3-2 game.
Fagemo netted the lone goal of the third on the power play at 8:46 to push the Reign out to a 4-2 advantage. Just like on his first goal, Tynan and Spence earned assists on the strike which gave Ontario late game insurance.
Fagemo’s goals had the Reign finish the night 2-for-3 on the power play. In contrast, the Firebirds went 0-for-1 on the man-advantage. Coachella Valley had a slim 22-21 edge in shots on goal during the game, with Gibson stopping 17 Ontario attempts.
Marco Sturm
Overall thoughts on tonight’s win
All the games against them have been really tight and for some reason, all of them have been some of our best games too. That showed again tonight. I think overall that was our best 60-minute effort and it was against a really good team tonight. Everyone was going. We had a good start, we had a good finish, special teams were really good today and the power play made the difference.
On starting each period strong and getting the early lead
Overall, we are a better team with the lead and that’s shown all season long. Yes, we came back a few times, which is good, but we are feeling more comfortable with the lead. I could tell, even on the bench, that we were focused, we were ready to play, we kept it simple and we didn’t give them much. We usually give too many shots against, but not tonight. That’s how you’ve got to play and I give my guys a lot of credit. They checked really well and were always in good positions.
On Samuel Fagemo’s power play goals
We need him to be at least a threat, even if he doesn’t score. The [top unit] didn’t score on the power play over the last few games, so that’s hurting us too. He is a big part of that power play because of his shot. We were working on it the last few days now in practice and on his shot, and to at least have him hit the net. He scored some big goals [tonight] and I’m really happy for him.
On the Lee-Helenius-Pavlychev line
They have been a huge factor for our success, even last game. Today they kept it really simple. They grind and grind and I trust them. I put them out there against [Coachella Valley’s] big line. What they do in the offensive zone, they can protect. It’s hard to get pucks away from them and they’ve slowly figured that out a little bit. It’s nice to see and I can tell that the guys are really happy. The last two games, that fourth line has had much success.
Andre Lee
The Reign will head south to San Diego on Saturday for a matchup with the rival Gulls at Pechanga Arena beginning at 7 p.m.
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