Reign crumble against Firebirds in third straight overtime loss
The Sporting Tribune
Host · Writer
ONTARIO, CA. — When the Ontario Reign and the Coachella Valley Firebirds match up on the ice, one thing that can be guaranteed – it will be a thrilling, action-packed battle.
And tonight was no different. The fights, multiple lead changes and high intensity play-making ended in the Reign falling in a 4-3 overtime loss to the Firebirds at Toyota Arena Saturday night.
After winning seven games in a row, Ontario has now lost three straight games, something they haven’t experienced all season.
The shootout loss to Colorado on Wednesday and back-to-back overtime losses to the Firebirds puts Ontario on a losing streak, and with only 12 games remaining in the regular season, this isn’t the most optimal time.
“Tonight we just weren’t in the races obviously,” Ontario coach Andrew Lord said. “We looked exhausted, didn’t play our game, turned the puck over far too much. And credit to them (Coachella Valley), they were really desperate all weekend, they got a great team.”
Eduard Šalé kicked off the scoring for Coachella Valley (32-20-5-0; 69 points; 5th place) but 46 seconds later, Andre Lee would slide his puck between the legs of Firebirds goalie Victor Östman for his 24th goal of the season, with an assist from Kenta Isogai.
The second period was tough for the Reign as they spent the first 10 minutes, and a majority of the period in their defensive zone, as the Firebirds strategically passed the puck to one another, hardly giving the Reign a chance to play any offense.
Ontario finished with 21 shots on goal compared to Coachella Valley’s 39 shots.
“They’re (Coachella Valley) a good team,” Koehn Ziemmer said. “They’re fast, they’re connected, their transition game is really good … and we knew that going into it.”
Lleyton Roed found the back of the net to give the Firebirds the lead but after a long fought 19-minute defensive effort from the Reign, they were finally rewarded with a game-tying goal from Ziemmer, as Francesco Pinelli and Angus Booth were credited with assists.
Andrei Loshko scored for Coachella and just 15 seconds later Ziemmer evened the score once again, sending the game to overtime.
“I think (we) didn’t have many shots through two periods,” Ziemmer said. “So just trying to get some more to the net, kind of create some havoc there. Fortunately those two (goals) go in but obviously neither here nor there.”
During the five-minute, 3-on-3 overtime period, Ty Nelson slid his puck past Erik Portillo to hand the Firebirds their fourth straight victory and the Reign their third straight defeat.
Portillo finished with 35 saves on 39 shots.
Ontario remains in first place in the AHL Pacific Division with 81 points and a record of 38-16-3-2.
The Reign take three days off before they host the Abbotsford Canucks (22-32-3-3; 50pts; 10th place) Wednesday at 7 p.m. for their last home game of March.
