Martin Chromiak scored twice in the first period, but the Ontario Reign (4-6-0-0) were unable to add any more offense later in the game and fell by a final score of 4-2 to the Coachella Valley Firebirds (6-5-0-0) on Sunday afternoon at Acrisure Arena.
Pheonix Copley made the start in net and stopped 23 shots for Ontario in a losing effort, while Aatu Jamsen produced assists on both of Chromiak’s goals for the first multi-point game of his North American professional career.
Coachella Valley took the initial lead early in the game when Tucker Robertson scored the first goal of the afternoon’s game at 2:40 of the first period, cleaning up a rebound in front of the Reign net.
Ontario tied the contest at 1-1 later in the opening frame during a four-minute double minor power play opportunity that saw Chromiak beat goaltender Ales Stezka with a shot from the right circle at 13:57. Jamsen made a cross-ice pass to set up the shooter, while captain Joe Hicketts added the second assist on the play.
Chromiak then put the Reign in front by a 2-1 score less than five minutes later, taking a feed from Samuel Fagemo and wristing the puck under Stezka’s arm at 18:06 of the first. This time, Jamsen was credited with the second helper and Ontario went into the first intermission with a lead.
Unfortunately they weren’t able to hold that advantage during the middle frame, allowing a pair of goals to the Firebirds who went in front, 3-2.
First, Ville Ottavainen wristed a puck from the left-wing boards that went over Copley’s glove and into the top right corner of the net at 8:14 of the second, before Ryan Winterton put the home team in front off a turnover in Ontario’s own end at 16:01.
The Reign had many looks to tie the game during the third but were unable to convert. During a power play after a delay of game penalty was whistled to Coachella’s Nikolas Brouillard at 6:32, Ontario had two shots that went off the iron, including a bid for a hat trick by Chromiak that hit the crossbar.
There was another chance later on for Fagemo with a lot of net to shoot at, but Stezka made a diving stop on the backhand bid to keep his team in front. Overall, the Firebirds’ netminder stopped 37 Ontario shots on goal and earned the first star of the game for his efforts.
Chromiak’s first period goal was the lone power play tally of the contest, with the Reign finishing 1-for-3 on the man-advantage while holding Coachella Valley 0-for-3.
Below, hear thoughts from Chromiak and head coach Marco Sturm after the game –
Martin Chromiak
On the way the team played overall in the loss
I think it’s a tough loss for us because I think we played pretty good. I think the effort was there. We had a lot of chances. Unfortunately, they didn’t go in and their shot went in. For the future, we have to stick to the details and play until the end. I think we played a good game today.
On playing with confidence
I think the whole line played well. I got two very good passes and luckily they went in. I wouldn’t say it was just me but I think the whole line or the guys I had played with. We were rolling them in their d zone and played a lot of offense.
On his late shot hitting the post
It was a great play by [Studnicka] it was kind of like a three-on-two. I saw an opportunity to shoot. I went short side. Unfortunately, I just hit the crossbar and it didn’t go in. That was close.
On the team’s power play in the game
It was good. We had a lot of chances. I think, like I said, we stick to the details. The puck movement was good today, and a couple of good passes and it went in. We have to do the same thing over and over.
Marco Sturm
On his team having a better 60 minute effort than Friday’s loss
It felt definitely better. You know what’s frustrating was a little bit of the second period. We kind of let it go a little bit. We let them come back with some good shifts and let a little bit of stupidity back in the game, but we turned it up in the third. Probably those 10 minutes in the second period cost us the game tonight.
On switching up the forward lines during the third period
End of the day, it’s always up to the player. The guys who I felt like were going, those were the guys I put out there. They showed me that they were ready to come to play today. We still were missing a few guys today. The guys who played at the end there, I thought they had a solid game tonight.
On Chromiak playing with confidence
As soon as he moves his feet, he’s a totally different player. He scored two nice goals, big goals for us. Even besides that, he was always dangerous, I felt like, and that’s why I moved him up in the lineup.
The Reign complete a weekend set against Coachella Valley with a trip to Acrisure Arena on Sunday afternoon for a 3 p.m. game.
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