Ontario Reign

Martin Frk & TJ Tynan combined for seven points, leading the Ontario Reign to a 5-2 win over the Henderson Silver Knights.

After a slow start, the Ontario Reign was able to storm past the Henderson Silver Knights, scoring five goals in the 2nd and 3rd periods en route to a 5-2 win. The win pushes the Reign’s record on the season to 7-0-0-1 as Henderson falls to 3-3-1.

Martin Frk had two goals and two assists, while linemate T.J. Tynan added two goals and an assist. Matt Villalta made 27 saves in the win.

Game Recap

Here’s the lineup for the Reign’s first trip to Henderson – with Vladimir Tkachev making his AHL debut:

For the second game in a row, the Reign were on their heels to start the game. The Silver Knights outshot Ontario 16-7 and out-attempted them 22-16.

They were able to limit the damage, though, as the only one to get by Villalta was a Sven Bartschi goal just 1:24 into the game. Gage Quinney and Jack Dugan picked up the assists.

The second period was much more action-packed. We saw four goals and six penalties. Despite the six penalties, it wasn’t necessarily a chippy period between the two teams, but it was quite sloppy.

While shorthanded, Austin Wagner went to work for the Reign and was eventually able to find Sean Durzi to tie the game:

With a brief 5 on 3 power-play, Tynan gets a pass in the corner from Tkachev and, normally one to pass it, Tynan takes it himself to put Ontario up 2-1:

In what was a chaotic sequence later in the period, Henderson had just missed tying the game on a breakaway that Villalta was just able to clear off the line. In the transition, Frk takes a great feed from Tyler Madden and goes in on a breakaway of his own:

Less than two minutes later, the Silver Knights’ Zack Hayes would get his first of the season off a nice pass from Jermaine Loewen:

Ontario controlled play in the third, outshooting Henderson 13-6. Midway through, the Reign got the insurance goal they needed off the stick of Tynan:

Just over a minute later, Frk put the dagger in:

This was a bit of a strange game. Ontario was very much second-best in the opening period and perhaps the craziness of the second period helped disrupt the Henderson flow enough. As has been the case this season, the Reign’s special teams did the trick in the second period.

Shot Attempts

The Reign were very slow to start this one but recovered in the second and completely controlled the third.

at Henderson Shot Attempts For Shot Attempts Against CORSI CF%
All Strengths 50 46 4 52.1%
All Strengths HD 14 15 -1 48.28%
5v5 37 39 -2 48.7%
5v5 HD 13 14 -1 48.1%

Box Score

The full box score can be found here.

Thoughts & Takeaways

  • Tkachev made his debut tonight for the Reign. He played on a line with Jaret Anderson-Dolan and Samuel Fagemo. At 5-on-5, he did not seem very engaged. He did pick up an assist on Tynan’s 5-on-3 power-play goal, but he hasn’t quite delivered to expectation yet, given how well he played during the preseason.
  • Villalta was excellent tonight. Once again keeping Ontario in it as they took the first 20 minutes to find their legs. There’s no question his play has been a huge breath of fresh air for the Reign.
  • It was another bad start for Ontario. They were outshot 16-6 in the first and a minus-6 in shot attempts. The slow starts haven’t been a problem for the Reign necessarily this season, but this is two games in a row – both on the road – that it’s happened.
  • The special teams came through again. The power-play was 1-for-4, and the penalty-kill was perfect in five opportunities and added their first shorthanded goal of the season.
  • Another game, another dominant performance from the Burke-Tynan-Frk trio. This has to be one of, if not the best line in the AHL. Both Tynan (2nd) and Frk (9th) are in the top-10 in the league in scoring. As a line tonight, they combined for eight points.

The Reign will finish off the road trip on Saturday evening with a 7 p.m. game at Bakersfield.

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