Ryan Durham 
The Ontario Reign’s nightmarish month of March continues with a 4-1 road loss to the Tucson Roadrunners. The Reign’s last win dates back to February 24th.
Goal Breakdown
First period:
No goals
Second period:
TUC : Josh Doan (1) ASST: Bokondji Imama (8), ASST: Vladislav Kolyachonok (14)
ONT: Tobias Bjornfot (4) ASST: T.J. Tynan (63), ASST: Lias Andersson (24)
TUC: Ronald Knot (3) ASST: Colin Theisen (2), ASST: Michael Carcone (43)
TUC: PP Michael Carcone (27) ASST: Jean-Sebastien Dea (25), ASST: Colin Theisen (3)
Third period:
TUC: EN Jean-Sebastien Dea (20) ASST: Ryan McGregor (6), ASST: Milos Kelemen (15)
STATS:
Goals:
TUC: 4
ONT: 1
SHOTS:
TUC: 34
ONT: 28
POWER PLAYS:
TUC: 1/2
ONT: 0/2
Three Takeaways
Cal Petersen: Coming into the game against Tucson, the netminder was 0-6-0-2 over his last 8 starts, with a goals against of 4.15, and a .849 save percentage. Despite these struggles, Petersen did enough to keep the Reign in the game. He was tested early in the 1st period with several high-danger chances but kept things scoreless until the second period. Given the depth of the offensive struggles the Reign are going through, it may take even more saves like this to get them back into the win column:
Unreal save by Petersen on Milos Kelemen! In desperation, Cal stuck out his paddle and kept the puck out of the net. Could have been a fast start for Tucson.
— Jared Shafran (@ShafReign) March 22, 2023
Neutral zone turnovers:
The Reign struggled most of the evening to gain entry into the Tucson zone, largely due to neutral zone turnovers. Overall, the Reign appeared out of synch in all three zones and their passes lacked the crispness needed to generate offense.
Special teams letdown:
Ontario has been among the AHL’s best on special teams this season but was unable to take advantage of this against Tucson. A timely power-play goal or crucial penalty kill might have turned the game around. Instead, the only offense came on a nice rush play between TJ Tynan and Tobias Bjornfot.
What a little play by Tynes and @Tobiasbjornfot #ReignTrain pic.twitter.com/ZJ2wHPGXRc
— Ontario Reign (@ontarioreign) March 22, 2023
Next up: Ontario Reign at Tucson Roadrunners, Wednesday, March 22, 2023, 6:30 PM, Tucson Convention Center Arena
(Photo Credit: Mike Hooks)