REIGN FINAL – Reign 4, Firebirds 3 (SO) – Malott, Sturm

A 3-for-3 performance in the shootout gave the Ontario Reign (17-8-0-1) a 4-3 win on the road over the Coachella Valley Firebirds (14-11-1-4) on Saturday night at Acrisure Arena.

Jeff Malott and Samuel Fagemo each recorded goals in both regulation and the shootout, while Francesco Pinelli tallied his third goal of the weekend in the victory for Ontario that was backstopped by 19 saves from Pheonix Copley in the crease.

BOX SCORE

Luke Henman kicked off the contest by finding the back of the net on the first shot of the game for the Firebirds 3:09 into the first, triggering the team’s Teddy Bear Toss.

When the stuffed animals were cleared and Ontario emerged with the win, it helped the team improve to 4-0 in games that involved a Teddy Bear Toss this season.

Coachella Valley held on to its lead until 5:26 of the second period when Pinelli found the back of the net on a wrist shot from the top of the zone to even the score at 1-1 with assists by Taylor Ward and Joe Hicketts. Pinelli’s third tally in the past two nights was also his seventh of the season.

The Firebirds went back in front 2-1 later in the frame at 13:22 when John Hayden scored a power play goal with four seconds remaining in a hooking penalty to Luke Rowe.

But the Reign got even once again less than two minutes later when Malott redirected a shot by Caleb Jones past goaltender Jack LaFontaine for his fifth strike of the season at 14:47. Reilly Walsh picked up the second helper on the play, his tenth assist of the year.

In the final minute of the period, Glenn Gawdin sent a stretch pass behind the Coachella Valley defense right to the stick of Fagemo, who moved in on a breakaway and beat LaFontaine to give Ontario its first lead of the contest, 3-2, with 24 seconds left on the clock.

Ryan Winterton got the Firebirds back in the game five minutes into the third, scoring from beneath the goal line by banking the puck into the net off of Copley. The contest remained even at 3-3 for the remainder of third period, despite Ontario out-shooting Coachella Valley 18-5 in the stanza.

After a scoreless five-minute overtime frame, the game headed into a shootout. Ontario got tallies from Gawdin, Malott and Fagemo in the skill session, while Copley came up with a stop on Firebirds’ forward Jani Nyman in the third round to help secure the win for the Reign.

Ontario held a 39-22 shots-on-goal edge overall in the game despite earning only one power play in the contest, with LaFontaine stopping 36 of the attempts in a losing effort. Coachella Valley ended at 1-for-3 on the man-advantage.

With the win, the Reign took sole possession of third place in the Pacific Division standings with 35 points from 26 games played.

Postgame reactions from Malott and head coach Marco Sturm are below –

Jeff Malott

Marco Sturm

Ontario heads back out on the road for a New Year’s Eve matchup in Henderson against the Silver Knights on Tuesday night at 5 p.m. inside Lee’s Family Forum.