Ontario Reign: Three takeaways from 3-2 SO win vs Coachella

The Ontario Reign snapped their six-game losing streak in a 3-2 shootout win on the road against the Coachella Valley Firebirds.

Goal Breakdown

First period:

CV: Tye Kartye (5), ASST: Brogan Rafferty (16), Kole Lind (20)

Second period:

None

Third period:

ONT: Martin Chromiak (1), ASST: Nate Thompson (5), Aidan Dudas (4)

ONT: SHG Tyler Madden (7), ASST: Alan Quine (9)

CV: Jesper Froden (16), ASST: Andrew Poturalski (25), Max McCormick (20)

Overtime:

None

Shootout: 

Round one:

CV: Ty Kartye – NO GOAL

ONT: Lias Andersson – GOAL

Round two:

CV: Jesper Froden – NO GOAL

ONT: Alan Quine – GOAL

Stats

Goals:

ONT: 3

CV: 2

Shots:

ONT: 49

CV: 32

Power-plays:

ONT: 0/6

CV: 0/3

Here are the three takeaways from Sunday’s 3-2 shootout win:

Martin Chromiak scores his first pro goal

Martin Chromiak is in his first professional season and didn’t make his debut until November 13th against the San Diego Gulls. The former fifth-round pick back in 2020 had played in 13 games, recording three assists prior to Sunday’s game. Chromiak loves to shoot the puck and has done so in the games he’s played in Ontario; he just didn’t have anything to show for it.

In the second period, Chromiak had a chance to record his first professional goal on a penalty shot. Chromiak made a good move and went to the backhand but missed the net. However, he would get redemption early in the third, tying the game at one at the 2:30 mark. Chromiak had a wide-open net and made sure to finish his chance for his first professional goal.

Hopefully, this gets Chromiak going as he is still adjusting to transitioning from the OHL to the AHL.

Controlling the play

It’s been a rough stretch for the Ontario Reign recently. Coming into Sunday’s matchup, the Reign played well in spurts but would find ways to lose games instead of closing them out. After a slow start, and a goal given up 17 seconds into the contest, the Reign controlled the game and dictated the pace of play. In the final two periods of regulation and overtime, the Ontario Reign outshot the Coachella Valley Firebirds 40-17.

Their play in yesterday’s win was reminiscent of their play in the third period against the Bakersfield Condors in their 3-2 loss earlier in the week. Even though the Reign had trouble finishing their chances in the middle frame against the Firebirds, they stuck with it and continued to control play.

The losing streak is over

The Ontario Reign finally won their first game since last year – literally. The Reign hadn’t been in the win column since their 2-0 win over the Bakersfield Condors on December 17th. Yesterday evening, it took more than 60 minutes to decide the game. After no score in overtime, the game needed a shootout to declare the winner.

Being the home team, Coachella Valley elected to go first and went with Ty Kartye as their first shooter and he missed the net. Ontario tabbed Lias Andersson as their first shooter and he beat Firebirds’ netminder Christopher Gibson.

On to round two.

The Firebirds tabbed Jesper Froden, who tied the game late in the third period, to tie the score in the shootout. After biting on the fake, Petersen recovered and made a sprawling save to keep the puck out. Now the game was put in the hands of veteran Alan Quine. Quine skated down the left side, cut across the middle, and roofed a backhander glove side to win the game for the Ontario Reign.

The win snapped their six-game losing streak and gave them a well-earned two points on the evening.

UP NEXT: The Ontario Reign travel to Henderson to take on the Silver Knights on Wednesday, January 11th. The game starts at 7:00 PM PT and can be seen on AHLTV.

Featured image credit: Coachella Valley Firebirds

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