The Ontario Reign (15-8-0-0) extended their season-long winning streak to five games with a 4-1 victory over the Coachella Valley Firebirds (13-10-1-3) on Friday night. All five wins have been in come-from-behind fashion, with the latest coming after the Reign allowed the first goal in the second period before scoring four straight.
Samuel Fagemo led the way with two tallies in the contest including the game-winner on the power play in the first minute of the third, while Charles Hudon added a goal and an assist and goaltender Pheonix Copley stopped 32 of the Firebirds’ 33 shots on net.
The win moved Ontario into a three-way tie for third place in the Pacific Division standings along with Coachella Valley and Tucson, each having secured 30 points.
Jani Nyman gave the home team an initial 1-0 lead with a goal at 12:32 of the first period that got by an outstretched arm of Copley.
Ontario evened the contest with just over four minutes to play in the first when Jacob Doty and Shawn Element executed a successful forecheck in the Coachella Valley zone and got the puck to Francesco Pinelli for a quick release that beat goaltender Nikke Kokko. Pinelli’s goal was his fourth of the 2024-25 campaign, and the teams headed into intermission even at 1-1.
A scoreless second period featured three consecutive unsuccessful breakaway chances for Ontario, two of which came on the same penalty kill. The Reign also killed three minor penalties in the frame, part of a 4-for-4 night that kept Coachella Valley’s power play off the board.
Ontario began the third period with a man-advantage of its own after a late tripping penalty was whistled to Firebirds forward Mitchell Stephens. That resulted in a tic-tac-toe finish by Fagemo 48 seconds into the final frame off a cross-ice feed by Hudon and the Reign never looked back. A second assist on the strike was credited to Reilly Walsh, his ninth helper of the year.
Hudon and Fagemo tacked on empty-net goals in the final minutes to give Ontario insurance and secure the victory. Hudon now has tallies in four consecutive contests for the Reign, while Fagemo leads the club with 14 goals on the season.
Kokko finished with 26 saves in a losing effort for Coachella Valley
Postgame reactions from Doty, Pinelli and head coach Marco Sturm are below –
Jacob Doty
On the team’s performance overall in the win
It was just a good group effort. I think it started with goaltending. Cops was very good all night. Our PK was good and just went from there. It’s just a complete effort up and down the line.
On the goal scored by Pinelli and his line
Just getting on the forecheck and having good sticks. Able to knock the puck loose, and [Element] made a good play to find Frankie coming late and Frankie buried it. It’s always nice and I think that’s a huge part of our team is our forecheck so whenever we can do that, that’s great.
On the play of Shawn Element and what he means to the team
It’s huge. I liked the look of that signing when it was made and it’s been huge for us. He’s done nothing but come in here and do good things. Works so hard, does all the right things, he’s been very good for us.
On what the message is going into the rematch tomorrow
I think that just needs to be our M.O. every night, you know, just playing simple, playing the way you need to play to win games. So I think when we stray from that, we’re not very good, to be honest with you. When we keep it simple, get pucks deep and get pucks to the net and play physically, we’re a tough team to beat.
Francesco Pinelli
Marco Sturm
On the message coming into the game, having not beaten CV yet this year
Yeah, no, pretty much the same. We talked about the teams we had to win, and we did it, and now we wanted to see where we’re at against the good teams. Beating San Jose and Calgary the other night, so I think that was the only team left before Christmas that we hadn’t won against yet and they were just better than us, but glad we pulled one out today for a solid win.
On if there is concern heading into the rematch tomorrow
No, I mean, listen, I think that the first game back-to-back, for me it’s always the crucial one. You want to win it, and you don’t want to go into tomorrow a little bit upset then hoping for a big night. I think at least it feels good tonight and now we just want to finish it tomorrow.
On the play of his team and not getting down when things don’t go their way mid-game
You know, just like the other night, our third period was our best period. We knew we took way too many penalties in the second. We knew if you’re going to play in five on five and we also knew if you’re going to get a power play, we’re going to score, and that’s exactly what happened.
On how it felt to see the power play score a picture perfect goal
These guys are working so hard, and the power play is always a tricky one. We talked about it in the past, but it was just a great play to the right guy, too to the right spot, and a nice finish.
Ontario will play its final game before the league’s holiday break to complete a home-and-home series with the Firebirds on Saturday night at Toyota Arena. The game will feature the Reign’s annual Teddy Bear Toss and is set to begin at 6 p.m.
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