The Ontario Reign defeated the Coachella Valley Firebirds 2-1 in front of 6,515 fans at Acrisure Arena capturing a 2-1 series lead in the best-of-five Pacific Division Semifinals. Game four will take place Thursday May 7th in Palm Desert at 7 p.m. PST as the Reign look to close out the series.
Aatu Jämsen tied the game 5:56 into the third period and then Logan Brown scored the eventual game winner 80 seconds later. Erik Portillo made 27 saves on 28 shots in the win.
Coachella Valley led 1-0 after the first period of play as Jani Nyman gave the Firebirds the advantage with just 3:10 left in the frame. Jagger Firkus led a two-on-one up the ice down the right wing and fed Nyman inside the left circle where he sent a wrist over the glove of Portillo sliding across the crease. Shots were 15-9 Coachella Valley.
It was a scoreless second period as the Firebirds held a 1-0 advantage through 40 minutes of play. Each team generated seven shots on net in the middle frame as the Reign killed off a late period bench minor for too many men on the ice.
The comeback began for Ontario in the early stages of the third period. Aatu Jämsen (1st) tied the score from Jack Hughes and Kenta Isogai 5:56 into the frame. From the left circle Hughes fired the puck to the net where Kokko made the initial save but the rebound dropped down right at the top of the crease where Jämsen was able to bang it home. Then just 80 seconds later Logan Brown (2nd) gave Ontario a 2-1 advantage from Glenn Gawdin and Joe Hicketts. Back deep in the defensive zone Hicketts launched the puck out the through the neutral zone where Gawdin got a stick on it deflecting it into the attacking zone. Brown raced after it taking possession in the right circle and snapped a wrister past Kokko. The Reign were assessed a penalty with just 2:12 left in the game but were able to kill it off prevailing by a final score of 2-1.
Erik Portillo made 27 saves on 28 shots in the win while Nikke Kokko suffered the loss making 22 saves on 24 shots. Coachella Valley went 0-for-2 on the power-play while Ontario did not receive a power-play for the second straight game.
Postgame thoughts from Andrew Lord, Erik Portillo, and Logan Brown.
Lord
Portillo
Brown
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