Ontario Reign drop home opener to Coachella Valley Firebirds

ONTARIO, CA. – New uniforms. New season. New team.

But for the Ontario Reign, tonight ends the same way last season did – with a loss to the Coachella Valley Firebirds.

The 2026-27 American Hockey League season has officially emerged and the Reign fall 6-2 to the Firebirds during their home opener Saturday night.

Jani Nyman led the Firebirds with three goals while the Reign team as a whole couldn't find the back of the net three times.

Rest assured – at least the Reign aren’t starting off winless. 

On Friday night, Ontario squeaked by in a 6-5 overtime victory in Coachella Valley for Game 1 of the AHL Opening Weekend series between the Reign and Firebirds.

And tonight the Firebirds came prepared and disciplined – qualities the Reign seemed to lack.

When asked about the differences between last night and tonight, Ontario forward Koehn Ziemmer said:

“Just consistency. We gotta put more than one shift together.”

After seven minutes passed in the opening period, Ziemmer scored the first goal for Ontario. Kirill Kirsanov and Lane Pederson were credited with assists.

But Nyman’s first power-play goal came within the first three minutes of the game and that would only be the beginning for him – as he scored another eight minutes later.

With assists from Vojtech Čihař and Jack Hughes, Jared Wright scored the game-tying goal nearly immediately following Nyman’s second power-play goal.

The Reign went 0-for-4 on the power play and 1-for-4 on the penalty kill.

Both teams had six total penalties with four power play advantages, but only one team made up for their faults.

Coachella Valley killed all four penalties and went 3-for-4 on the power play.

“We know they (Coachella Valley) have an elite power play,” Ontario coach Andrew Lord said. “We were able to fend it off last night. But a few of their different looks, a few of their different shapes, gave us some trouble tonight.”

The second and third periods would consist of four more goals scored by the Firebirds.

Jagger Firkus found the back of the net twice and had two assists while Oscar Fisker Mølgaard and Nyman would score empty-net goals to finish off the final period.

Tyson Jugnauth ended with four assists for the Firebirds.

“Their (Coachella Valley) first-step quickness is elite,” Lord said. “Maybe some of the best in the division to a man, when you go through their roster it’s really impressive. The first-step quickness, their illusiveness, their cutbacks, they know how to maintain possession really well and that does give us trouble. But when we stay connected and we play as a five-man unit in all three zones, it looks pretty good."

Ontario goalie Hampton Slukynsky had 25 saves on 31 shots while Coachella Valley goalie Victor Östman saved 28 of 30 shots.

The Reign stand at 1-1 and will have a week off before heading back to the desert to face the Firebirds Sunday October 11 at 3 p.m. PT.