Coachella Valley falls 3-2 against Ontario Reign in hard-fought game

PALM DESERT, Calif. (KESQ) – The Coachella Firebirds finished off a "home-and-home" series against the Ontario Reign Saturday with a 3-2 loss.

The Firebirds have dealt with numerous injuries to finish off the season, and have even had players called up to the Seattle Kraken. Logan Terness came in from Kansas City on Saturday to fill in at goalie, continuing a consistent theme of guys stepping up for the Firebirds.

"Logan this morning and he flew in today and ended up playing today," head coach Derek Laxdal said. "So I give the kid a lot of credit and it's his first game."

"I think it was honestly helpful for it [transition from ECHL to AHL] to be so quick," Terness. "You don't have any time to build up in your head. I got in at 1:00. Got a little bit of a nap, and then I was right to the rink. It was nice."

The Reign started the night on top, going up 2-0 in the first period. Koehn Ziemmer was the first to put points on the board at 6:23 and Martin Chromiak followed at 10:59.

Mitchell Stephens came in for a short-handed goal in the second period to decrease the Reign's lead at 13:58 for 2-1. Acrisure Arena was packed for the Saturday night game, and roared for Stephens' goal, but even more so when Tyson Jugnauth tied the game at 16:45 at 2-2.

Lleyton Roed came in for a game-winning goal with less than five minutes left in the game, but it was recalled for goalie interference, sending the teams into overtime. The Ontario Reign ultimately took the victory at 3-2 in overtime.

"[To] finish that ending the way it finished. It's kind of suck for our guys," Laxdal said. "Our guys really worked hard to get two points, and they probably deserved it."

Stay with News Channel 3 for all of your Coachella Valley Firebirds coverage.