The Firebirds are rolling!
…But at what cost?
The Highlights!
Game Notes
- Shane Wright was on one tonight. He got the 2nd star of the night after a goal and two assists. Great night for him in general…but it came at a miserable cost. Late in the third period, Ontario’s Hayden Hodgson got a misconduct for absolutely trucking Wright, who did not finish the game. Hopefully, Wright was just winded and he gets back into it once they’re on the road…but the Reign were struggling with him all night. If they could take him out of this series, it would be a blow.
- Tonight was a penaltyfest. Both sides finished with 2 goals on the man advantage, but CV got 2 more than the Reign…though frankly Ontario decided to goon it up big time after goal 1, and effectively dug their own grave in the first 20 minutes.
- Chris Driedger had a reasonable .914 SV% on 35 shots against, and most of Ontario’s goals were on the power play so I can’t fault him for that. Most of them were in high danger parts of the ice so…yeah. Keep up the good work, Driedge.
- The real person we should be talking about is Portillo, who finished with an .821 SV% and let in three shots from a looooooong way out. Most of the time you’re supposed to attack goalies right out front in order to force them to make a move but man… this kid may have serious puck tracking issues. It’ll be interesting to see how the Reign respond to this.
- Congrats to Jani Nyman for his first playoff goal with the Firebirds!
The Firebirds leave the Desert to head out to San Bernadino County, where they will face the Ontario Reign on their home turf on Sunday with a chance to close the series out. That game drops the puck at 7pm PT.
We’ll see you there! Keep Calm, and Post The Phoenix When We Win!
…and hope Shane Wright’s okay.