The Ontario Reign got out to a 2-0 lead in the first period and never looked back as they defeated the San Jose Barracuda, 6-1.

Goal Breakdown

First period:

ONT: Jordan Spence (4), ASST: Samuel Helenius (11)

ONT: PP Alan Quine (6), ASST: Taylor Ward (13), Martin Chromiak (11)

Second period:

None

Third period:

SJ: SH Jeffrey Viel (8), ASST: Andrew Agozzino (24), Patrick Sieloff (10)

ONT: Samuel Fagemo (17), ASST: Jacob Moverare (12), TJ Tynan (55)

ONT: Jacob Moverare (4), ASST: Martin Chromiak (12), Frederic Allard (5)

ONT: EN Tyler Madden (13), ASST: TJ Tynan (56), Lias Andersson (18)

ONT: PP Kim Nousiainen (2), ASST: Jacob Moverare (13), Samuel Helenius (12)

Stats

Goals:

SJ: 1

ONT: 6

Shots:

SJ: 35

ONT: 29

Power-plays:

SJ: 0/4

ONT: 2/5

Here are the three takeaways from Friday’s 6-1 victory:

Happy birthday Jordan Spence

Jordan Spence celebrated his 22nd birthday in style yesterday. Spence opened the scoring at the 9:53 mark of the opening frame with a beautiful goal.

A great move at the blue line by Spence allowed him to have time to skate in and stick handle before going forehand on Strauss Mann to give the Reign a 1-0 lead. Spence had time to blow out the candles on his birthday cake with all the space he had after making that move at the blue line before getting the goal. What a way to celebrate your birthday.

Contributions throughout the lineup

Everyone got in on the act last night for the Ontario Reign. Jacob Moverare led all skaters in points with three and was one of four Ontario Reign players to have a multi-point game. Martin Chromiak, TJ Tynan, and Samuel Helenius each recorded two assists. Alan Quine even chipped in with a power-play goal in the first period which was his first goal since January 28th.

Samuel Fagemo scored his 17th goal of the season in the third period and for good measure, Kim Nousiainen added a power-play goal before the final buzzer sounded in the third period.

It wasn’t just the stars that provided the offense last night. The secondary scoring and depth players got in on the act as well. Getting contributions throughout the lineup will be key down the stretch.

Matthew Villalta solid between the pipes again

Matthew Villalta was dialed in from the start last night. The Reign got off to a great start in the first period scoring two goals and killing off two penalties. But after taking their foot off the gas in the second period, they needed Villalta to come up big. The Barracuda outshot the Reign 18-7 in the second period and needed every save from Villalta. Going forward the Reign may not want to sit back as you don’t want to put a lot of pressure on your netminder.

On the night, Villalta made 34 saves on 35 shots faced en route to his 5th straight victory. During those five starts, Villalts has a save percentage of .931, .956, .949, .900, and .971 in those games. His 2.36 goals against average and .921 save percentage on the season are both ranked 5th in the AHL among qualified goalies. He’s been locked in and has gotten better as the season has progressed and last night was no different.

UP NEXT: The Ontario Reign are back in action Sunday afternoon as they take on the San Diego Gulls for the final time this season. The game starts at 3 pm PT and can be seen on AHLTV.

Featured image credit: Mike Zitek/Ontario Reign

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