Ontario Reign: Takeaways From 4-3 Loss to Coachella Valley

The Coachella Valley Firebirds struck twice in the final ten minutes to complete their third-period comeback over the Ontario Reign on Friday night.

Goal Breakdown

First period:

CV: PP Eduard Sale (2), ASST: Jagger Firkus (4), Cale Fleury (3)

ONT: Glenn Gawdin (2), ASST: Jeff Malott (7)

Second period:

ONT: Taylor Ward (2), ASST: Francesco Pinelli (4), Jacob Moverare (2)

CV: Ville Ottavainen (1), ASST: Ben Meyers (5)

Third period:

ONT: Jacob Doty (2), ASST: Luke Rowe (1), Taylor Ward (2)

CV: Jani Nyman (2), ASST: Jagger Firkus (5), Lleyton Roed (3)

CV: Jagger Firkus (3), ASST: Ryan Winterton (3), Gustav Olofsson (5)

Stats

Goals:

CV: 4

ONT: 3

Shots:

CV: 22

ONT: 16

Power plays:

CV: 1/3

ONT: 0/3

Here are the three takeaways from Friday’s 4-3 loss to the Firebirds

Not sharp

In the previous two games, everything went right for the Reign offensively, as they recorded eight goals in both. Last night was the opposite. The Firebirds’ aggressive forecheck, transition game, and speed gave the Reign trouble all night, especially along the boards. The Reign couldn’t make clean breakout passes from their defenseman along the boards, and the forwards couldn’t make tape-to-tape passes in the neutral zone either.

Anytime the Reign turned the puck over in the neutral zone the Firebirds were on the attack. Any time a Reign player lost or turned the puck over on an attempted breakout pass along the boards due to a strong forecheck from a Firebird player it resulted in a scoring chance. Twice it hurt the Reign, as it led to two Firebirds goals, including the game-winning goal.

The Firebirds’ roster isn’t from the previous two years, but the style they play hasn’t changed. A point of emphasis for the Reign in Sunday’s rematch against the Firebirds needs to be puck management. That means clean tape-to-tape breakout passes from the defensemen to the forwards, whether the pass is along the wall or not. If the Reign don’t improve that on Sunday, the result will be the same as yesterday.

A pair of Kraken prospects complete the comeback

Jacob Doty gave the Reign the lead with 13:28 to play in the game. After that, the Reign only recorded two shots on goal for the remainder of the game. For the second time in the game, Coachella Valley found themselves trailing. Just like they did in the second period when they trailed 2-1, they responded. Two Seattle Kraken prospects completed the comeback in the third period as Jani Nyman scored on a wraparound with 8:49 remaining.

With 2:24 remaining in regulation, Jagger Firkus gave the Firebirds the lead by re-directing the puck past Portillo after Joe Hicketts failed to get the puck out of the zone along the boards. The Reign had two points in the palm of their hands slip away in a game that saw them not play their best.

Firkus put his stamp on this game as he factored in on both goals in the third period (primary assist on Nyman’s goal) and had three points. The two second-round draft picks by the Kraken in 2022 started and completed the third-period comeback. All four goals from the Firebirds came from a Seattle prospect, as well.

Erik Portillo gets consecutive starts for the first time this season

Erik Portillo started consecutive games for the first time this season. I thought Portillo played better this game than the last game, however, there were several instances where there were big rebound chances the Firebirds couldn’t convert on. That was something last year that was a problem, and even though it is still early, it still is at times this season.

The one goal that made me scratch my head was Nyman’s wraparound goal. On that goal Nyman was coming down the left wing and got forced wide and behind the net by Reilly Walsh, but Portillo was aggressive in covering the right side of the post and was caught out of position which led to the goal. That’s one he would like to have back.

On to the good.

There was some good in this game for the 24-year-old netminder. As mentioned above, the Reign turnovers in their zone led to high-quality chances from the Firebirds. Two chances came in the low slot that Portillo had to turn away as the Firebirds created the turnover and worked behind the Reign net to set up those chances. Besides the third goal, he did enough to keep the Reign in the game and give them a chance to win a night the Reign coughed the puck up plenty with a few defensive breakdowns in their end.

NOTES:

*Glenn Gawdin extended his points streak to four games with his goal in the first period. He has seven points (2G – 5A) in that stretch.

*Jeff Malott also extended his point streak to four games with a primary assist on Gawdin’s goal. He has seven points (1G – 6A) in that stretch.

*Taylor Ward recorded a goal in back-to-back games.

*Jacob Doty recorded his second goal of the season in the third period.

*Francesco Pinelli recorded his fourth assist (two primary and two secondary) in his last three games. He has looked better since being elevated to the 2C.

*Nyman recorded his second goal of the season for the Firebirds. Both goals have come against the Reign.

*Firkus’ three-point night earned him First Star of the Game honors.

UP NEXT: The Reign and Firebirds meet again tomorrow afternoon in Coachella Valley. The game starts at 3 PM PT. You can watch the game on FloSports or listen on the ESPN LA app.

Featured image credit: Mike Zitek/Ontario Reign

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