Reign Thump Coachella Valley, Right Back in Series
Published on May 2, 2026 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Ontario Reign News Release
The Ontario Reign defeated the Coachella Valley Firebirds 5-1 in front of 6,242 fans at Toyota Arena to even the best-of-five Pacific Division Semifinals up at one game apiece. Game three will take place in Palm Desert at Acrisure Arena on Tuesday May 5th with puck drop at 7 p.m. PST.
The Reign fell behind 1-0 midway through the first period then Logan Brown tied the game with 75 seconds remaining in the first period. Glenn Gawdin provided the eventual game winner making it 2-1 late in the second period. Cole Guttman doubled the advantage just 15 seconds into period three before Francesco Pinelli scored a short-handed goal 2:19 later making it 4-1. Martin Chromiak tacked on an empty netter late in regulation as Pheonix Copley made 34 saves in the victory.
The score was even at 1-1 through the opening 20 minutes of play. Lleyton Roed gave the Firebirds a 1-0 lead at 7:52 burying a rebound home at the crease after a shot from the right wing by Oskar Fisker Mølgaard. With just 75 seconds left in the frame Logan Brown (1st) provided the equalizer from Francesco Pinelli and Jack Millar. In front of the penalty box Brown played the puck to his right for Pinelli who attacked into the offensive zone down the center lane. Once he hit the blue line, he snapped it back to his left for Brown who sent a shot to the net from below the face-off dot. He followed up the play and was able to cash in with a rebound tally with lots of traffic at the crease. Shots were 10-9 Ontario.
Ontario led 2-1 after 40 minutes of play as Glenn Gawdin (1st) found the back of the net on a beautiful setup from Angus Booth and Andre Lee with just 4:43 left in the second period. From the left circle Lee curled the puck over to Booth at the right circle. Just below the face-off dot Booth dealt it to Gawdin at the top of the crease where he got around the Coachella defender and deflected it home with his backhand. Shots were 15-9 Coachella Valley.
The Reign opened the game up early into the third period receiving a pair of goals 2:19 apart from one another to capture a 4-1 lead. Cole Guttman (1st) made it a 3-1 game just 15 seconds into the third period when Andre Lee from the left corner gave him a feed above the high slot. From there Guttman wasted no time and rifled a wrist shot low past the glove of Kokko. Ontario went to the penalty box just 25 seconds later and with one second left in the penalty kill Francesco Pinelli (1st) scored short-handed on a beautiful setup from Jack Hughes and Joe Hicketts. Hughes drove the puck across the blue line down the right wing and deked around a sliding Firebirds defender through the right circle then slid the puck backdoor for Pinelli who lifted it over the left leg of a sliding Kokko. With 3:19 left in the contest Martin Chromiak (1st) provided and empty net tally to seal a 5-1 win for the Reign.
Pheonix Copley earned the win making 34 saves on 35 shots while Nikke Kokko suffered the loss making 19 saves on 24 shots. Ontario went 5-for-5 on the penalty kill while they did not receive a power-play.
Postgame thoughts from Andrew Lord, Pheonix Copley, and Francesco Pinelli.
Lord
On the team's performance
We were back to ourselves. We were faster. Execution was far better. Compete was far better. It was a fun game. The first was really solid. Even though we gave up the first one, I thought we stayed the course really well, stayed composed. Then the goal late in the first by Brown was a huge one. The one early in the third was a huge one. Those are two big momentum goals for us. So good night, and we move on.
On the game plan before Tuesday
Just like we always do, a little bit of rest, a little bit of recovery, get back to it here as well. We're going to need to be that much better. You know, they will be. And this is going to be a long series.
Copley
On tonight's win
I think as a team, we played a lot better game. From the defensive zone out, and we got rewarded offensively because of that so it just looked like a complete team game from my vantage point.
On going into Coachella with this win
It's big. Obviously home ice advantage is huge. So giving away the first one obviously isn't ideal. So this one was that much more important, and now we got to go there and get the job done in Coachella.
On the depth in scoring
That's kind of been one of our strengths all season. Is having four lines, our depth is a huge advantage for us. Tonight it showed and it was a huge part of getting this win. So obviously it's a strength, and we want to keep using that going forward.
Pinelli
On evening the series
That was huge for us. Obviously, coming into this game, we wanted to really show our dominance and get back to our game. I thought we did a good job and executed our game plan. We're going to continue to build off of that.
On bouncing back after Game 1
Just a lot more speed, a lot more you're connected, just playing as a team. I think we were a little more physical too, which helped free up some space for us.
American Hockey League Stories from May 2, 2026
- Wolves Knock off Stars, 2-1, to Take Lead in Central Division Semifinals - Chicago Wolves
- Stars' Comeback Comes up Short in Game Three - Texas Stars
- Bears Even Series with 2-1 Game 2 Win over Penguins - Hershey Bears
- Moose Eke out Game 1 Behind 39-Save Shutout - Grand Rapids Griffins
- DiVincentiis, Moose Shock Grand Rapids - Manitoba Moose
- Reign Thump Coachella Valley, Right Back in Series - Ontario Reign
- Atlantic Division Semifinals Game 2 Preview: Bears at Penguins, 6:05 p.m. - Hershey Bears
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