Ontario Reign, Firebirds Split First Two in Ahl Playoffs Series
Ontario and Coachella Valley are tied 1-1 entering Game 3 of the ahl playoffs Pacific Division Semifinals at Acrisure Arena. The Reign answered a 3-0 loss in Game 1 with a 5-1 win in Game 2, and the series now shifts to Palm Desert with both teams one win from control.
Pheonix Copley steadies Ontario
Pheonix Copley stopped 34 of 35 shots in Game 2 and earned the victory. Ontario needed that kind of response after Erik Portillo allowed three goals on 33 shots in Game 1, when the Reign were outshot 33-25 and left with a shutout loss.
Copley’s line through the regular season gives the Reign a stable number to lean on. He appeared in 33 games and went 21-11-1 with a 2.59 goals-against average and a.901 save percentage.
Ontario’s five-goal burst
The Reign did their damage in layers. Logan Brown scored his first career AHL playoff goal with 75 seconds left in the first period, Glenn Gawdin followed with 4:43 remaining in the second, and Cole Guttman struck 15 seconds into the third.
Francesco Pinelli added a short-handed goal 2:19 after Guttman, then Martin Chromiak finished with an empty-net goal just inside three and a half minutes left in regulation. Ontario scored five goals by five different skaters, and 10 players recorded at least one point in the win.
Acrisure Arena and Kokko
The setting matters for Ontario because the Reign were 3-0-1 against Coachella Valley at Acrisure Arena during the regular season and finished 5-1-2 overall in the matchup. They also had only one regular-season game without a power-play opportunity, a 3-2 overtime win at Acrisure Arena on Jan. 23.
That history meets a Firebirds team that has leaned on Niklas Kokko throughout the postseason. He has started all five playoff games for Coachella Valley, but Game 2 showed Ontario could turn the series with pace, pressure and depth rather than one scorer carrying the load.
Tuesday’s Game 3 at 7:00 Pacific gives the Reign a chance to take control on the road, while the Firebirds get home ice and a goalie they have trusted every night. With the series level, the next game is the one that can separate momentum from a long best-of-five fight.
