Firebirds advance to conference finals with sweep of Reign | TheAHL.com

The Coachella Valley Firebirds completed a three-game sweep of the Ontario Reign with a 3-2 victory at Toyota Arena on Sunday evening.

With the win, the Firebirds advanced to the Western Conference Finals for the second year in a row, to face the winner of the Central Division Finals between Milwaukee and Grand Rapids.

Kole Lind scored two goals, leading the Firebirds back from a two-goal deficit to post their sixth straight win.

The host Reign took a 1-0 lead 6:17 into the contest there Alex Turcotte he collected a dump on the right wing wall and shot past Chris Driedger for his second goal of the postseason.

Ontario made it 2-0 less than seven minutes later, as Tyler Madden I got a piece Brandt Clarkeshot from mid-range with 6:58 to play in the opening frame.

The Firebirds responded in the second half with two goals of their own. Lind got Coachella Valley on the board at the 5:41 mark, passing the shot Erik Portillo from the left circle to cut the deficit to 2-1.

8:23 left in the second, Jimmy Schultt he took advantage of the traffic ahead and sent a shot to the left that found its way past Portillo, making it 2-2.

Coachella Valley took its first lead 46 seconds into the third period there Andrew Poturalski won a puck battle on the boards behind the Control net and found an open Lind, who scored his second goal of the night.

Driedger made 22 saves on the evening, including stops during a 6-on-4 Reign power play in the final minutes.

Portillo finished with 20 saves for Ontario.

(Coachella Valley wins series, 3-0)
Game 1 – Wed., May 15 – COACHELLA VALLEY 3, Ontario 2
Game 2 – Friday, May 17 – COACHELLA VALLEY 5, Ontario 3
Game 3 – Sun., May 19 – Coachella Valley 3, ONTARIO 2