Reign Preview - Ontario at Coachella Valley
AHL Ontario Reign

Reign Preview - Ontario at Coachella Valley

Published on January 23, 2026 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Ontario Reign News Release


WHO: Ontario Reign (25-12-1-1, 52pts) at Coachella Valley Firebirds (22-12-4-0, 48pts)

WHAT: AHL REGULAR-SEASON GAME #40/72

WHEN: Friday, January 23 @ 7:00 Pacific

WHERE: Acrisure Arena - Palm Desert, CA

HOW TO FOLLOW: VIDEO: FloHockey - AUDIO: Reign Radio - TWITTER: @ReignInsider & @OntarioReign

TONIGHT'S MATCHUP: The Ontario Reign wrap up a six-game road trip tonight paying their first of the season to Palm Desert at Acrisure Arena this season taking on the Coachella Valley Firebirds who have won six straight games.

HEAD-TO-HEAD SERIES: Tonight marks the 26th all-time meeting between the Reign and the Firebirds as Ontario holds a 12-11-1-1 mark against Coachella Valley including 7-5-0-0 at Acrisure Arena in Palm Desert. Ontario won the lone meeting between the two clubs this season defeating Coachella Valley 3-2 at Toyota Arena on Jan. 3. Andre Lee tied the game in the early stages of the first period with his 14th goal of the season, sixth on the power-play, but the Firebirds held a 2-1 advantage going into the third period. Cole Guttman scored his 8th of the campaign 5:54 into the third period before Kirill Kirsanov netted the game winner with 5:05 to play on his fourth of the year. Pheonix Copley earned the win in night making 19 saves on 21 shots as the Reign went 1-for-4 on the power-play and 3-for-3 on the penalty kill.

ROAD TRIPPIN: After tonight the Reign will play four of their next five games back at Toyota Arena. Ontario has posted a 3-2-0 record on their season long six-game road trip as the they're 12-8-0 away on the road having won six of their last eight. Ontario has been impressive with their road special teams ranking ninth on the power-play at 22.7% and fifth on the penalty kill at 85.5%. Jared Wright has scored six of his nine goals this season on the road while Glenn Gawdin has notched four of his six away from Toyota Arena. Ontario is outscoring their opposition 66-56 on the road this season.

PLAYING FROM BEHIND: After Sunday's 3-1 loss in Texas, Ontario has now trailed going into the third period in three straight games coming away victorious in two of them. Furthermore, the Reign have been behind going into the final stanza in six of their last nine games posting a 4-2-0 record. Collectively, on the season Ontario holds a 5-7-0 record when trailing after the opening 20 minutes of play while posting a 5-10-0 mark when behind after 40 minutes of play.

SPECIAL TEAMS BECOMING SPECIAL: The Reign have a power-play goal in four straight games, 5-for-15 (33.3%), and in nine of their last 10 games, 11-for-38 (28.9%). Their longest stretch with a power-play goal in consecutive games is five from games 30-34 going, 6-for-19 (31.6%). Cole Guttman has a power-play strike in back-to-back contests and four in his last eight games while Martin Chromiak leads the club with 13-man advantage points (6G, 7A) and has factored in on five straight power-play scores (1G, 4A). Ontario is 16-5-1 when scoring a power-play goal this season including 8-4-0 on the road. They sit 12th in the AHL at 20.3%, 30-for-148.

Ontario was 3-for-4 on the penalty kill Sunday in Texas after going three straight games without surrendering a man advantage goal against, 8-for-8. They've now given up a power-play goal against in just three of their last 12 games, 36-for-40, 90%. They rank 10th in the AHL at 82.9%, 102-for-123.

REIGN STRONG IN THE OPENING NUMBER: It's another back-to-back set of games for the Reign this weekend making it the 12th of 19 back-to-back set of games Ontario will play this year. The Reign have put up an impressive 9-1-0-1 in game one of a back-to-back series having one four straight. Collectively, they've outscored their opponents 45-29 but are just 5-6-0-0 in the second game having been outscored 36-25.

LEE MAKES HIS RETURN: Forward Andre Lee was loaned to Ontario on Monday after being recalled by the Kings on Jan.7. During his NHL stint he played in seven games scoring a goal in a 4-3 shootout win in Edmonton on Jan. 10 while recording an assist on Jan. 16 in a 3-2 shootout loss vs. Anaheim. He average roughly 10 minutes of ice time per contest. Prior to his callup he was leading the Reign with 15 goals including seven on the power-play collecting 27 points (15G, 12A) in 32 games. Lee was named to the AHL All-Star Roster last week.

GUTTY KEEPS ON GOING: Forward Cole Guttman has a power-play goal in back-to-back games and three goals in his last two contests. He has seven goals in his last eight games and 11 points (7G, 4A) in his last nine contests. After starting the season with just three points (1G, 2A) in his first 11 games the Northridge, CA native has racked up 24 points (11G, 13A) in his last 24 games.

The 26-year-old totaled 19 points (10G, 9A) in 20 games against Texas as a member of the Rockford IceHogs the previous three years. He led the IceHogs a season ago with 57 points, 23 goals, and 34 assists skating in 70 games while finishing tied for eighth in the AHL with 16 power-play assists. He is third among Reign skaters with 11-man advantage points as he has four power-play scores in his last eight games.

PORTILLO POWERING UP: Erik Portillo made 17 saves on 20 shots in Texas on Saturday improving to 9-1-1 on the season in 13 appearances having won eight straight decisions. He is ninth in the AHL with a 2.33 goals against average, tied for 10th with a .912 save percentage, and tied for eighth with seven wins. He has won four straight since returning from injury after being sidelined from Nov. 12 until he picked up a 19 save shutout on Jan. 4 in a 3-0 win vs. Iowa in his first game back.

SCOUTING THE FIREBIRDS: During Coachella Valley's six-game win streak they've outscored their opponents 25-10. Forward Jani Nyman was named AHL Player of the Week on Monday after tallying seven points (6G, 1A) in four games last week after recording three straight two-goal games. Since being assigned on loan by the Seattle Kraken on Dec. 30 he has posted nine points (7G, 2A) in 10 games. The Firebirds have the third best offense in the league averaging 3.53 goals for per game as Logan Morrison leads the club with 20 scores in 38 games while he is second with 36 points and Jagger Firkus leads the team with 37 points (14G, 23A) in 38 games.

Check out the Ontario Reign Statistics

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American Hockey League Stories from January 23, 2026


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