ONTARIO, Calif. — In desperate times like the playoffs, there’s a desperate need to win.
In a five-game series, every game matters.
With the possibility of falling 2-0 and losing two home games, the Ontario Reign understood the importance of a win tonight – and they took action.
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The Reign defeated the Coachella Valley Firebirds 5-1 on Friday night, tying the series at 1-1 overall.
Pheonix Copley saved 34 shots and Ontario went 5-for-5 in the shootout.
“That win meant a lot to us,” Francesco Pinelli said in his post-match interview. “Obviously, coming into this game, we wanted to really show our dominance and get back into our game. I thought we did a good job and executed our game plan, so we’re going to continue to build on that.”
The Firebirds scored first for the second consecutive game, which didn’t help Ontario’s already lackluster momentum from their previous loss.
Coachella Valley took an early 1-0 lead when Lleyton Roed scored 7:52 into the game with an assist from Oscar Fisker Mølgaard.
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The Reign were knocked out 3-0 in their first game on Wednesday night and were in desperate need of a goal late in the first period.
Fans need one too – something to cheer about.
The Firebirds are doing things their way and are in a better position with a win at home in Ontario.
“The home ice advantage is huge,” Copley said. “It’s obviously not ideal to give up the first one, so this one is even more important. Now we have to go out there and get the job done at Coachella.”
Logan Brown came to the rescue, scoring the Reign’s first goal in 78 minutes of play, including a scoreless 60 minutes in Game 1 with assists from Pinelli and Jake Miller.
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Ontario took the lead for the first time in the series as Angus Booth and Andre Lee assisted Glenn Gaudin to put the Reign up 2-1, their first lead of the series.
Cole Guttman’s goal with 15 seconds left in the final period and Pinelli’s shorthanded goal two minutes later gave the Reign a comfortable three-point lead.
When Coachella Valley got desperate themselves, they added an extra attacker by taking Nikke Kokko off the line.
Martin Chromiak scored an empty-net goal to tie the series at 5-1 for the Reign.
“We were rusty in the last game,” Ontario coach Andrew Lord said. “We were just slow, and when you’re slow you can’t hit the ball. When you don’t take care of the puck and put it in good spots, you’re not going to be able to finish checks. Our puck management was better tonight and our execution was better.”
The Reign will travel to Coachella Valley looking to take a 2-1 lead in Game 3 on Tuesday at 7 p.m.