Kyle Garcia 
A four-goal first period is all that the Ontario Reign needed to take down the Colorado Eagles in a 5-2 home victory on Tuesday night.
Goal Breakdown
First period:
COL: Alex Galchenyuk (10), ASST: Sampo Ranta (7), Jean-Luc Foudy (19)
ONT: PP Jordan Spence (3), ASST: Martin Chromiak (9), TJ Tynan (46)
ONT: Frederic Allard (2), ASST: Jordan Spence (28), TJ Tynan (47)
Tre bien! @fredallard3 #ReignTrain pic.twitter.com/9ieqnIj1zM
— Ontario Reign (@ontarioreign) February 1, 2023
ONT: Taylor Ward (7), ASST: Alan Quine (14), Hank Crone (1)
ONT: Aidan Dudas (9), ASST: Taylor Ward (12), Alan Quine (15)
Second period:
None
Third period:
COL: Nate Clurman (1), ASST: Josh Jacobs (6), Spencer Smallman (6)
ONT: EN Taylor Ward (8), ASST: Aidan Dudas (12)
Stats
Goals:
COL: 2
ONT: 5
Shots:
COL: 45
ONT: 22
Power-plays:
COL: 0/2
ONT: 2/2
Here are the three takeaways from Tuesday’s 5-2 win:
Make it Reign
While it wasn’t raining outside, Ontario made it reign in the first period by scoring four goals in the first period, with three of them coming in a span of 3:28. Just like they say, put the puck on the net and anything can happen. The Reign found themselves trailing 1-0 early and were awarded a power play when the Eagles took an interference penalty. It took the Reign only 28 seconds to find the back of the net when Jordan Spence fired a wrist shot just above the left circle that beat Justus Annunen to tie the game at one.
What a shot by Joran Spence on the Power Play#ReignTrain pic.twitter.com/DPharFOMbN
— Ontario Reign (@ontarioreign) February 1, 2023
After that, it was all Reign for the next 12 minutes. Frederic Allard gave the Reign the lead at the 12:19 mark and Taylor Ward got a great pass from behind the net by Alan Quine that just squeaked by Annunen on the short side to give the Reign a 3-1 lead. Both goals were scored 56 seconds apart.
UP 3 – 1 now which is SICK#ReignTrain pic.twitter.com/OGdv5GT5sF
— Ontario Reign (@ontarioreign) February 1, 2023
Colorado would then make a goalie change and it didn’t matter as Aidan Dudas scored off a rebound 2:34 after Ward’s goal to give the Reign a 4-1 lead to cap off a dominant 20 minutes for the home team. That second line of Dudas, Quine, and Ward provided great energy for the Reign putting up a combined five points in the first period after not having much “puck luck” the last few games.
When you look up Hustle in the dictionary you find a picture of @AidanDudas #ReignTrain pic.twitter.com/Z4VoG7Zq5i
— Ontario Reign (@ontarioreign) February 1, 2023
Matthew Villalta gets the win in his 100th AHL game
The Ontario Reign needed every save from Matthew Villalta in the second and third periods. After the first period, the Eagles came with a push and had the Reign hemmed in their zone for the most part in the final 40 minutes outshooting them 30-11. Villalta turned away every shot but one in that span and had a season-high of 43 saves on the night, one short of his career-high of 44 which he achieved last season against the Stockton Heat.
If Villalta isn’t on his game, it’s possible the Reign don’t hang on and win. When they needed a save he gave them one and earned himself the victory and first star of the game honors in his 100th career AHL game.
Three stars of the game:
1. Matthew Villalta (ONT)
2. Taylor Ward (ONT)
3. Jordan Spence (ONT)#ReignTrain— Kyle Garcia (@Kopitar4HOF) February 1, 2023
Not a bad performance to cap off a milestone night. After all, it was great to see a team in the LA Kings organization hold a 4-1 lead heading into the third period last night.
Big series coming up
The Ontario Reign have a big series that awaits them this weekend. The Tucson Roadrunners, who just lost last night, come to town for what should be an exciting series. Also, the Reign could possibly have some reinforcements on the way as Tobias Bjornfot, Samuel Fagemo, and Alex Turcotte have all been assigned to Ontario as the NHL heads into the all-star break. Whether those players get playing time remains to be seen. A lot is at stake as the Reign are two points behind the 3rd-seed Abbotsford Canucks in the division while holding a four-point lead over the 5th-seed Tucson Roadrunners. All three games against the Roadrunners have been physical, fast, and very close. I expect the same this weekend between the two clubs. Also, the series will feature the top two scorers in Michael Carcone and TJ Tynan. It should be fun.
UP NEXT: The Ontario Reign are back at it Friday against the Tucson Roadrunners. The game starts at 7 PM PT and can be seen on AHLTV.
Feature image credit: Mike Zitek/Ontario Reign