All good things must come to an end, and Ontario’s 6-0-1 streak came crashing down on Wednesday night at home. Things were going just fine through the first 20 minutes, yet a barrage of goals by the visiting Firebirds in the middle frame had Coachella Valley up 4-1 after 40 minutes and they cruised to a 6-1 defeat of the Reign.
On a more positive tip, Martin Chromiak’s first period goal was his fifth in six games against the Firebirds this season. The two clubs will play twice more in the final few weeks of the 2022-23 regular season.
Coachella Valley outshot Ontario 37-25 and converted on one of their six power play opportunities. Meanwhile, Ontario went 0-for-3 with the man advantage.
In net, Cal Petersen had to be frustrated. He was left hanging by the players in front of him on multiple occasions, as evidenced by an excessive amount of odd-man rushes, particularly in the second period. Petersen later showed some rare emotion after giving up the fifth goal of the evening, breaking his stick after yet another defensive breakdown by the Reign defenders.
Equally of note was the officiating. Late in the third period, the Reign had had enough. When Ontario was tagged with a questionable tripping call, captain TJ Tynan appeared to have said something under his breath while skating by an official. He was then hit with a game misconduct, essentially ending his night.
A simple look at the box score would suggest to some Petersen played poorly. That wasn’t the case. If not for some spectacular saves, the score could have easily been much worse.
The Reign will return to action on Friday vs. San Jose.
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