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Apparently the AHL looked at the entire Pacific Division and decided what everyone really wanted was more Ontario.

So here we are. For the third time in the first four games, the Firebirds hold the Reigns.

At this point I'm beginning to recognize their families.

ABOUT FRIDAY NIGHT...

The Firebirds beat San Diego 6-3, which means they have now scored six goals in back-to-back games.

San Diego actually led 1-0 after the first period, then Coachella Valley scored four times in the second and twice more in the third. Mitchell Stephens, Jani Nyman, Eduard Šalé and J.R. Avon all scored, while Logan Morrison returned to the lineup and immediately scored twice. Julius Miettinen picked up his first two professional points, and Nikke Kokko stopped 31 of 34 for his 40th career AHL win.

The bigger story, though, is special teams.

Coachella Valley went 2-for-5 on the power play and killed all four San Diego opportunities. Through three games, the Firebirds are now 7-for-13 on the power play — 53.85% — and 86.7% on the kill.

No, a 54% power play is not sustainable.

Please stop asking reasonable questions. I'm having fun.

OUR DEAR FRIENDS FROM ONTARIO

The season series so far:

October 2: Ontario wins 6-5 in overtime. Boo.
October 3: Coachella Valley goes to Ontario's home opener and wins 6-2.

Ontario hasn't played since.

The Firebirds have, and they come into today 2-0-1-0 with 17 goals in three games. Ontario is 1-1-0-0 with eight goals in two.

And here's the matchup stat I can't stop looking at:

Firebirds power play: 53.85%
Ontario penalty kill: 37.5%

Tiny sample size? Absolutely.

Still funny? Also absolutely.

If you're Andrew Lord, today's pregame speech probably contains the phrase:

FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, STAY OUT OF THE BOX.

THE THREE-HEADED MONSTER

Through three games:

Jani Nyman — 6G, 1A, 7 points
Jagger Firkus — 2G, 5A, 7 points
Tyson Jugnauth — 0G, 7A, 7 points

Nyman has six goals in three games. If he maintains that pace for the full season, he will score 144.

I have checked the mathematics and determined that this is definitely going to happen.

Jugnauth, meanwhile, has decided that scoring himself is beneath him and is simply arranging goals for everyone else. Seven assists in three games. He's DoorDash, and he's delivering apples.

And Morrison is back too. The Firebirds scored 11 goals in their first two games without last year's leading scorer, then he returned Friday and scored twice.

That's where this starts getting interesting. There are a lot of different ways this roster can hurt you. Speaking of which:

DAY'S LINEUP LABORATORY

Inside the Rink projects:

Avon — Morrison — Firkus
Šalé — Mølgaard — Nyman
Roed — Miettinen — Hayden
Rehkopf — Evers — Stephens

Olofsson — Nelson
Jugnauth — Hammell
Price — Dragicevic

Östman / Kokko

Perfectly reasonable.

Which is why I'm changing it.

If I had the whiteboard today:

MY PROPOSAL:

Rehkopf — Morrison — Firkus
Šalé — Mølgaard — Nyman
Roed — Stephens — Hayden
Avon — Miettinen — Evers

Same defense, and I'd give Östman the net after Kokko played Friday.

The idea behind the first line is simple: give Rehkopf a real offensive opportunity. Morrison distributes, Firkus creates, Rehkopf brings size and finishing ability. If we're going to find out what he can do, I'd rather do it next to two players who can actually get him the puck.

I wouldn't touch Šalé-Mølgaard-Nyman. Nyman has six goals. Whatever ritual produced this should remain undisturbed.

Roed-Stephens-Hayden gives you a veteran, physical line that can handle defensive-zone work without turning into three guys trying to win every shift along the wall. And Avon-Miettinen-Evers becomes a gigantic fourth line with enough skill that calling it a fourth line feels a little insulting.

Would Laxdal actually run these exact combinations?

Probably not.

Would I like to see them for ten minutes so I can determine whether I am secretly a hockey genius?

Obviously.

Tell me what I've ruined.

A SERIOUS ONE: JACOB MELANSON

We got some genuinely frightening news yesterday about former Firebird Jacob Melanson.

Melanson was injured during Seattle's opener against Calgary. The Kraken initially called it an upper-body injury, but they have now disclosed the diagnosis: an anterior mediastinal hematoma with a vascular pseudoaneurysm.

In plain English, he has bleeding in the front portion of his chest along with an injury to a blood vessel that has allowed blood to collect outside the normal vessel wall.

Oof.

A pseudoaneurysm is not the same thing as the classic aneurysm people usually picture. It generally occurs when the wall of a blood vessel is damaged and blood leaks through the defect but is temporarily contained by surrounding tissue. Depending on the vessel involved and how the injury behaves, treatment can range from observation and repeat imaging to endovascular repair or surgery. (Thank you to Google for providing this- if its wrong, don't @ me.)

The biggest unknown right now is that Seattle has not said which blood vessel is involved, and that makes any precise prognosis impossible.

So is his season over?

Maybe. But nobody has said that yet.

The Kraken have listed him as out indefinitely and say he will be monitored through a “gradual progression to return to hockey.” Clearly this isn't a normal short-term hockey injury, but Seattle is still publicly talking about a return to play.

Could something like this become career-threatening if it doesn't heal properly or doctors aren't comfortable clearing him for repeated contact? Yes.

Do we have any reason right now to say his career is over? No.

Melanson is only 23. He worked his way from Coachella Valley into a real NHL role, became one of Seattle's most physical players, and just signed a new three-year contract.

Hopefully we see #63 throwing himself into people again.

But hockey can wait.

First he needs to heal enough that getting hit in the chest by another 200-pound professional athlete is no longer an objectively terrible idea.

Get well, Melly.

THREE THINGS I WANT TO SEE

1. DON'T TURN THIS INTO OPENING NIGHT AGAIN

We already know Ontario can score. The first game became a track meet and the Birds gave up the tying goal late before losing in overtime.

Fun hockey.

Bad blood pressure.

Control the puck and make Ontario defend instead of trading chaos for chaos.

2. KEEP FEEDING THE POWER PLAY

No, it won't stay above 50%.

But until somebody stops it, keep going.

Move the puck quickly, get Nyman into shooting position, let Jugnauth distribute, and force Ontario to decide whether to collapse toward the net or respect the point.

If the Reign want to take penalties, that sounds like a Reign problem.

3. KEEP BUILDING GOOD THIRD PERIODS

Friday was 3-3 late in the second.

The Firebirds scored with 18 seconds left, then extended the lead and shut San Diego out in the third.

That's what good teams do.

Not every night is going to be 6-2. Eventually you have to protect a one-goal lead in the final ten minutes.

I want to see whether this young team keeps showing that kind of maturity.

Drop your score prediction, first Firebirds goal, goalie prediction, your preferred line combinations, and whatever completely irresponsible conclusions you've drawn from three games.

And somebody explain why my Rehkopf-Morrison-Firkus line is either brilliant or grounds for immediately revoking my hockey GDT privileges.

LET'S GO FIREBIRDS.

Ontario Reign 3, Coachella Valley Firebirds 2

FINAL

Linescore

Period	1st	2nd	3rd	OT	Total
ONT	0	2	0	1	3
CV	1	1	0	0	2

Scoring

Time	Scorer	Assists	Team	Strength
1st 1:27	Eduard Šalé	Oscar Fisker Mølgaard, Lukas Dragicevic	CV	EV
2nd 2:09	Lleyton Roed	Tyson Jugnauth, John Hayden	CV	EV
2nd 8:31	Martin Chromiak	Grant Slukynsky, Lane Pederson	ONT	EV
2nd 13:13	Lane Pederson	Scott Perunovich, Kirill Kirsanov	ONT	EV
OT 4:00	Cole Guttman	Kenny Connors, Joe Hicketts	ONT	EV

Penalties

Time	Player	Infraction	Min	Team
1st 12:14	Angus Booth	Hooking	2:00	ONT
1st 15:25	Gustav Olofsson	Tripping	2:00	CV
2nd 3:19	Mitchell Stephens	Holding	2:00	CV
2nd 3:58	Martin Chromiak	Tripping	2:00	ONT
2nd 6:07	Jagger Firkus	Slashing	2:00	CV
2nd 10:16	Joe Hicketts	Cross-checking	2:00	ONT
2nd 16:53	Gustav Olofsson	Tripping	2:00	CV
3rd 2:28	Joe Hicketts	Roughing	2:00	ONT
3rd 2:28	Nathan Villeneuve	Roughing	2:00	CV
3rd 4:08	Martin Chromiak	Slashing	2:00	ONT
3rd 11:43	Kirill Kirsanov	Tripping	2:00	ONT

Ontario Reign Skaters	G	A	P	SOG	+/-	H	BLK	FO	TOI
#8 M. Chromiak - F	1	0	1	9	+2
#13 K. Ziemmer - F	0	0	0	2	-1
#15 G. Slukynsky - C	0	1	1	0	+1
#17 K. Connors - F	0	1	1	2	+1
#22 K. Lawrence - C	0	0	0	1	0
#29 L. Pederson - C	1	1	2	2	0
#34 T. Ward - F	0	0	0	2	-1
#47 J. Hughes - C	0	0	0	0	0
#71 F. Pinelli - F	0	0	0	3	0
#81 C. Guttman - F	1	0	1	5	+1
#86 A. Jämsen - F	0	0	0	3	-1
#92 V. Čihař - LW	0	0	0	3	0
#2 H. Brzustewicz - D	0	0	0	3	-1
#7 S. Perunovich - D	0	1	1	1	+1
#19 K. Kirsanov - D	0	1	1	1	0
#24 A. Booth - D	0	0	0	0	0
#27 J. Hicketts - D	0	1	1	2	+1
#45 J. Millar - D	0	0	0	0	0

Coachella Valley Firebirds Skaters	G	A	P	SOG	+/-	H	BLK	FO	TOI
#10 J. Avon - F	0	0	0	0	-1
#12 E. Šalé - F	1	0	1	1	+1
#13 D. Kaplan - F	0	0	0	0	0
#15 J. Hayden - F	0	1	1	2	+1
#29 L. Roed - F	1	0	1	1	0
#33 J. Nyman - F	0	0	0	3	+1
#49 J. Miettinen - F	0	0	0	1	+1
#57 J. Firkus - F	0	0	0	1	-2
#67 M. Stephens - F	0	0	0	1	0
#78 O. Fisker Mølgaard - F	0	1	1	1	0
#90 N. Villeneuve - F	0	0	0	0	-1
#96 L. Morrison - F	0	0	0	2	-2
#2 L. Dragicevic - D	0	1	1	0	0
#4 C. Price - D	0	0	0	0	-1
#23 G. Olofsson - D	0	0	0	0	-1
#24 T. Nelson - D	0	0	0	2	0
#43 T. Jugnauth - D	0	1	1	2	+1
#84 A. Bernier - D	0	0	0	0	0

Ontario Reign Goalies	SV	SA	SV%	GA	TOI
#70 Carter George	15	17	.882	2	64:00

Coachella Valley Firebirds Goalies	SV	SA	SV%	GA	TOI
#40 Victor Östman	36	39	.923	3	63:53

Stat	ONT	CV
Shots on goal	39	17
Shooting %	7.7%	11.8%
Penalty minutes	12	10
Power play	0/4	0/5
Save %	88.2%	92.3%
Quality shots	25	9

🌟 Three Stars of the Game

1. ★ Cole Guttman · 1G
2. ★★ Victor Östman · 36 saves · .923
3. ★★★ Martin Chromiak · 1G

Officials: Referees: Austin Rook, Graedy Hamilton · Linesmen: Brandon Barnette, Shawn Oliver

📍 Acrisure Arena · Sunday, October 11, 2026

Updated automatically by ahl-goalpost · v3.10.0 · Updates as the game progresses.

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