PACIFIC DIVISION SEMIFINALS PREVIEW, GAME 2 – 5/1

WHO: Ontario Reign vs. Coachella Valley Firebirds (CV Leads Series 1-0)
WHAT: 2026 Calder Cup Playoffs – Pacific Division Semifinals, Game 2
WHEN: Friday, May 1 @ 7:00 Pacific
WHERE: Toyota Arena – Ontario, CA
HOW TO FOLLOW: VIDEO: FloHockey – AUDIO: Reign Radio – TWITTER: @ReignInsider & @OntarioReign

TONIGHT’S MATCHUP: After dropping Game 1 on Wednesday, the Reign look to even the series when they battle the Coachella Valley Firebirds in Game 2 of a best-of-five Pacific Division Semifinals Calder Cup Playoff series at Toyota Arena in Ontario.

HEAD-TO-HEAD: Firebirds netminder Nikke Kokko posted his second career shutout in the Calder Cup Playoffs, first against Ontario on Wednesday evening, stopping all 23 shots that came his way to lead Coachella Valley in a Game 1 victory. J.R. Avon scored a pair of goals in the 3-0 win, the first career goals of his career against the Reign, while Oscar Fisker Mølgaard had the other tally, also the first of his career against Ontario. Erik Portillo suffered the loss for the Reign making 30 saves on 33 shots and is now 0-4-0 in his playoff career against the Firebirds.

3 TO WATCH FOR ONTARIO:

– The shutout loss on Wednesday night for the Reign was just their fourth time being shutout through 73 games this season but they have now been held off the scoresheet in back-to-back games after falling 2-0 in the final game of the regular season on Apr. 18, a 2-0 loss vs. Abbotsford. During the regular season Ontario ranked ninth in the AHL averaging 3.29 goals for per game.

– A loss tonight would mark three straight for the Reign which only happened once during the regular season when they went 0-0-2-1 from Mar.11-14, games 57-59 of the 72-game regular season. As a matter of fact, the Reign lost two in a row on just four occasions outside of that three-game losing streak.

– The Reign were 0-for-2 on the power-play Wednesday while going 3-for-4 on the penalty kill. During the regular season in the head-to-head series against the Firebirds, Ontario had the upper hand going 5-for-24 on the power-play and 17-for-18 on the penalty kill.

3 TO WATCH FOR COACHELLA VALLEY:  

– After falling 6-1 in their first game of the playoffs, Coachella Valley has won three straight games outscoring their opponents 14-6. The Firebirds had three-win streaks of four or more games during the regular season.

– Coachella Valley ranked just 26^th on the power-play during the regular season clicking at 15.7%. They were 0-for-6 in game one of the playoffs but have since scored a power-play goal in three straight games, 4-for-11.

– Nikke Kokko has started all four games in the playoffs for the Firebirds. In games one and two he allowed 10 goals on 38 shots but has since made 54 saves on 56 shots in his last two contests.