A Firebird is supposed to represent a creature that has risen from its ashes, symbolizing growth and perseverance. This weekend, the Ontario Reign could certainly use a little of that mythical storytelling when taking on Coachella in a pair of back-to-back games.
Thus far in 2024-25, coach Marco Sturm’s squad has dropped all three contests (by a combined score of 13-7) when facing their Pacific Division foes from Palm Desert. Likely adding salt in the wound is the fact they haven’t extracted any sort of revenge for being swept out of the Calder Cup Playoffs by Coachella last year. In total, the Reign have lost eight straight times to them and haven’t beaten them in regulation since a Nov. 2023 contest.
Where was that game played?
At Acrisure Arena, the same building the two teams will square off in tonight as part of the opening game of a home-and-home series taking place on consecutive nights.
Sturm has his team flying high at the moment. They’ve earned victories in 10 of the last 12 games overall and are riding a four-game winning streak.
Ontario’s bench boss told us on Wednesday that he isn’t expecting rookie sensation Aatu Jamsen to play in either game this weekend. He sat out Wednesday’s game after being a little banged up the game before.
Perhaps the only real lineup question at this point will be who starts Game 1 in net. Sturm had already revealed that he plans to give each goaltender one game of this set with Coachella.
It was a little bit surprising to see Erik Portillo between the pipes on Wednesday, only because Phoenix Copley had been sidelined for quite some time, and the expectation was Sturm would want both guys fresh for this weekend.
“He’s been getting better and better every week, I feel,” Sturm said regarding his choice to play Portillo on Wednesday. “We just wanted to get him in that little rhythm. They’re going to split [starts] for the back-to-back games. But, we decided to go with Ports because we wanted to get him going and he did well. … At the end of the day, it’s always up to the player too. If he’s going to continue playing well, then it’s easy for me. We have a really good duo with Cops and him. But, again, we want to push Ports to get to the next level too. So far, everything has worked out well.”
Up front, Friday will likely serve as Kaliyev’s second-to-last game with Ontario. Barring an extension after the Christmas break (which is still possible), he’ll play these two games against Coachella and then return to the NHL.
The second game of a conditioning assignment can often be the most difficult; an idea Kaliyev largely agreed with in the audio clip above.
“Usually, that’s what happens,” added Sturm. “With the puck, and in general, I think he felt a little bit more comfortable too. He had a few chances to score and one of them usually [goes] in. He’s probably more confident and a little bit looser. [That was] only his second game in a long time. Hopefully he’s going to continue to get better and better.”
REIGN PROJECTED LINEUP vs. FIREBIRDS
If there are any key changes during pregame warm-ups, this article will be updated.
Hudon – Gawdin – Malott
Kaliyev – Studnicka – Fagemo
Chromiak – Pinelli – Ward
Element – Madden – Doty
Hicketts – Millar
Jones – Walsh
Booth – Rowe
Copley (starter)
Portillo
Other roster options include: (F) Jamsen (D) Krygier, Parker-Jones
Puck drop is scheduled for 7:00 pm Pacific Time and the game can be viewed on FloHockey. An audio only feed is also available on the ESPN LA app.
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