Kyle Garcia 
On Friday night, the Ontario Reign put up a dud in an 8-1 loss to the Colorado Eagles. Ontario has lost six of its last eight games.
Goal breakdown
1st period:
COL: Jason MacDonald (5) ASST: Stefan Matteau (5)
COL: PP Martin Kaut (14) ASST: Dylan Sikura (34), Dylan Gross (45)
COL: Kiefer Sherwood (29) ASST: Mikhail Maltsev (25)
2nd period:
COL: Kiefer Sherwood (30) ASST: Jayson Megna (15), Jacob MacDonald (10)
COL: PP Dylan Sikura (24) ASST: Jordan Gross (46), Kiefer Sherwood (31)
COL: PP Martin Kaut (15) ASST: Kiefer Sherwood (32), Jayson Megna (16)
COL: Jayson Megna (9) ASST: Dennis Gilbert (15), Martin Kaut (10)
3rd period:
COL: PP Jacob MacDonald (6) ASST: Roland McKeown (13), Alex Beaucage (7)
ONT: PP Samuel Fagemo (24) ASST: T.J. Tynan (71), Helge Grans (14)
Goals:
COL: 8
ONT: 1
Shots:
COL: 33
ONT: 32
Power-plays:
COL: 4/6
ONT: 1/4
Takeaways from last night’s matchup:
1. Samuel Fagemo racks up another point
There is nothing that you can point out as a bright thing in an 8-1 loss at home. It was a forgettable night for the Reign as they got thumped by a red hot Colorado Eagles team. But, one thing that can be pointed out was that Samuel Fagemo added another point and continues to be on a hot streak. His power-play goal with 6:45 left in the 3rd period guaranteed there would be no shutout last night. It also gave him at least one point in 13 of his previous 16 games. Let’s see if that stretch continues tonight.
There won't be a shutout tonight. Fagemo scores #24 on the year! pic.twitter.com/2Yy0CS3oha
— Ontario Reign (@ontarioreign) April 2, 2022
2. Colorado’s scorching power-play
The Eagles’ power play looked remarkably identical to their parent club’s power play (Colorado Avalanche). They had six power-play opportunities last night and went 4-for-6 in those opportunities. The penalty kill has been a question mark all season for the Reign, although it has shown improvements at times throughout the year. Last night it reared its ugly head again. Just like the parent club, the Eagles’ power play is no joke. I’m sure acting coach Chris Hajt will put a point of emphasis on staying out of the box in tonight’s matchup.
3. Matthew Villalta gets pulled
It was a rough night for everyone on the Reign. It was their first meeting against Colorado since early November and the Eagles looked like a different team from that game compared to last night. Their speed and quickness led to quite a few turnovers from the Reign. Those turnovers led to dangerous scoring chances or directly in the back of Ontario’s net. After Colorado went up 4-0, I thought Chris Hajt would pull Villalta to try and give his team a spark. Just over six minutes after Colorado went up 4-0, Dylan Sikura made it 5-0 Eagles promptly ending Villalta’s night early.
Goalie swap from Villalta to Parik didn't help.
Eagles now up 7-0.
— The Mayor | Team MM (@mayorNHL) April 2, 2022
Lukas Parik relieved Matthew Villalta to finish the game for the Reign. As you can see by the final score, the goalie change to Parik didn’t fare well either. I would expect Villalta to get the night off tonight as the Reign’s next game after tonight is against the Stockton Heat next Friday. They will definitely need him for that game.
The Reign will look to avoid the weekend sweep tonight and put up a better performance than yesterday. The puck drops at 6:00 PM PT and can be seen on AHLTV.