Max McCormick’s 3-point night helps Coachella Valley Firebirds move up in standings
Coachella Valley Firebirds captain Max McCormick had three points to help the AHL team win on the road over the Ontario Reign 4-2 on Saturday night and move into second place in the Pacific Division standings.
The Firebirds scored four unanswered goals en route to their 22nd victory of the season.
Ontario netted two goals in the game’s first 6:19. Tyler Madden tallied a powerplay goal that was followed up by Jacob Moverare’s first of the season. Coachella Valley responded shortly after a powerplay expired to cut the Reign lead to 2-1. Cameron Hughes lasered a shot over the shoulder of Erik Portillo to extend his point streak to eight games in a row. Connor Carrick and Jimmy Schuldt earned the assists on Hughes’ 12th of the season.
The Firebirds tied the game 56 seconds into the second period on a tic-tac-toe passing play from Andrew Poturalski, Kole Lind, and Max McCormick. McCormick tapped in the backdoor pass to make it 2-2 with his team-leading 16th goal of the season.
Coachella Valley went to the powerplay three minutes into the third period and cashed in thanks to Shane Wright. Poturalski put the puck behind the goal line for McCormick, who located Wright at the hashmark to give the Firebirds their first lead of the game. Kole Lind sealed the victory with an empty net goal with 32 seconds left for this eighth of the season. McCormick and Fleury were awarded the assists.
With the win, the Firebirds are now 22-12-3-1 on the season and leapfrog the Ontario Reign in the standings, putting them into sole possession of the Pacific Division’s second place spot.
Cale Morris made 27 saves for his second win of the season. The Firebirds finished 2-for-3 on the penalty kill while going 1-for-4 on the powerplay.
The Firebirds will resume their road trip on Wednesday at the Henderson Silver Knights. Puck drop is set for 7 p.m. Coachella Valley returns home to face the Calgary Wranglers on Thursday, Jan. 31.
This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Max McCormick’s 3-point night helps Coachella Valley Firebirds move up in standings
