Ontario Reign: Four takeaways from 4-3 OT win in Coachella

A back-and-forth game saw the Ontario Reign come away with an overtime victory to split the weekend series with the Coachella Valley Firebirds.

Goal Breakdown

First period:

ONT: PP Samuel Fagemo (9), ASST: Brandt Clarke (14), Charles Hudon (7)

Second period: 

CV: PP Kole Lind (4), ASST: Andrew Poturalski (6), Shane Wright (6)

ONT: Alex Turcotte (5), ASST: Taylor Ward (6), Akil Thomas (5)

CV: Kole Lind (5), ASST: Jacob Melanson (1), Devin Shore (3)

Third period:

CV: Cale Fleury (3), ASST: Logan Morrison (8), Jimmy Schuldt (3)

ONT: Tyler Madden (5), ASST: Brandt Clarke (15), TJ Tynan (19)

Overtime: 

ONT: Martin Chromiak (6), ASST Mikhail Maltsev (10)

Stats

Goals:

ONT: 4

CV: 3

Shots:

ONT: 31

CV: 32

Power plays:

ONT: 1/3

CV: 1/5

Here are the four takeaways from Saturday night’s 4-3 overtime victory:

Bad blood

The rivalry between these two teams is slowly starting to heat up. While the San Diego Gulls will always be the Ontario Reign’s rivals, the Coachella Valley Firebirds are a close second. While the three previous games were shutouts, the games have been chippy and physical, mixed in with several fights. Last night was no different. Yesterday’s game had moments of those instances, particularly near the end of the first period.

First, let’s rewind the clock. In the first meeting of the year, Firebirds captain Max McCormick caused a few post-whistle scrums after a few slashes on Reign netminder David Rittich. Last week, if you recall, Jacob Melanson received a major penalty for boarding and a game misconduct for a hit on Tobias Bjornfot, which knocked Bjornfot out of the game and the lineup for the following three games. In that same game, John Hayden jumped Samuel Helenius late in the third period as the Reign were up 5-0. Hayden would be suspended one game for his actions. In Friday’s 2-0 loss, Helenius and Melanson dropped the glove 2:27 into the game as a retaliation on the Bjornfot hit the week prior.

Now, let’s dive into last night’s first period. With 1:46 left in the period, Bjornfot found himself on the wrong end of a hit, once again. However, there was no injury this time. Firebirds forward Andrew Poturalski cross-checked Bjornfot from behind, which got everyone’s attention and caused a big raucous, which included Andre Lee getting into his first career fight with Ville Ottavainen. Seven penalties were handed out on the play (Three for the Reign and four for the Firebirds) as the Reign were awarded a power play. In this game, TJ Tynan and Mikhail Maltsev even started a little pushing and shoving after the whistle when Ales Stezka covered the puck. There’s bad blood between these two teams, and the rivalry will only get stronger.

Photo credit: Mike Zitek/Coachella Valley Firebirds

Bjornfot looked solid

Bjornfot hasn’t lived up to the expectations as a first-round draft pick. This season, he hasn’t played many games and has served as the seventh defenseman, as Andreas Englund has played well for the LA Kings. Having not played in a while, the Kings loaned Bjornfot to the Reign on a conditioning assignment to get him into game action. Last night was probably Bjornfot’s best game in a while. He was active in the offensive zone, joined the rush, had a couple of scoring opportunities, and had a solid game defensively on the top pair with Brandt Clarke. He even got rewarded with ice time in the overtime session as he was part of the first shift for the Reign. After missing the last three games due to an unfortunate hit, it’s good to see Bjornfot have a good game.

Timely penalty kills

After having the lead for most of the game, the Reign got tested nearly midway through the third period as Cale Fleury gave the Firebirds their first lead of the game with 12 minutes remaining. After giving up the go-ahead goal, the Reign had to kill off two consecutive penalties to give themselves a chance. The Reign, having the AHL’s eighth-ranked penalty kill at 85.1%, killed off both penalties to keep the game at 3-2. They played with fire, as the Firebirds had possession for most of the time on both power-play attempts. However, Erik Portillo and the penalty kill unit stood tall, which allowed Tyler Madden to tie the game late in the third period.

Chromiak wins it in overtime

Martin Chromiak had been held off the scoresheet for the last three games. His last goal he scored, ironically enough, was against the Firebirds in a 6-0 Reign win back on November 21st. But, as I’ve said with this Reign team, their depth has been the key to their success this season. It’s not just one or two players carrying the offense, as all four lines have contributed. Last night, it was Chromiak’s turn.

After Shane Wight’s pass hit a skate and was collected by Mikhail Maltsev, the Reign had a two-on-one opportunity. Maltsev, an underrated passer, showed great patience and poise when feeding Chromiak the puck. When Chromiak received the puck he had the whole net to shoot at and didn’t miss. Chromiak’s sixth goal of the season gave the Reign two points in the standings and their third win on the road against the Firebirds this season.

Notes:

*This was the first game between the two teams that didn’t end in a shutout.

*The road team has won all four games between the two clubs.

*Kole Lind’s power-play goal in the second period was the first goal scored by the home team in the season series.

*Firebirds netminder Ales Stezka left the game with 3:22 remaining in the third period after taking a knee/thigh to the head from his teammate, Cameron Hughes.

*Samuel Fagemo recorded his ninth goal in nine games since re-joining the Reign.

*Brandt Clarke added two more assists to give him 20 points in 20 games.

*Tyler Madden’s goal was his first point in the last five games.

*Martin Chromiak’s overtime goal was his seventh goal in 11 career games against the Firebirds.

UP NEXT: The Ontario Reign return home Wednesday night to take on the Henderson Silver Knights for the second time this season. The game starts at 7 PM and can be seen on AHLTV.

Featured image credit: Mike Zitek/Coachella Valley Firebirds

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