Ontario Reign: Three takeaways from 5-3 win against Abbotsford

The Ontario Reign took down the Abbotsford Canucks for their first home win of the season yesterday afternoon.

Goal Breakdown

First period: 

ONT: Cole Krygier (2), ASST: Taylor Ward (3)

Second period: 

ONT: Francesco Pinelli (1), ASST: Steven Santini (2), Kim Nousiainen (1)

ABB: Sheldon Dries (2), ASST: Arshdeep Bains (10), Nils Aman (3)

Third period:

ONT: PP Charles Hudon (3), ASST: Alex Turcotte (4), Brandt Clarke (4)

ABB: Jett Woo (1), ASST: John Stevens (2), Josh Bloom (1)

ONT: Jacob Doty (2), ASST: Nikita Pavlychev (1)

ABB: PP Sheldon Dries (2), ASST: Linus Karlsson (5), Christian Wolanin (12)

ONT: EN Martin Chromiak (2), ASST: Charles Hudon (3), Kevin Connauton (2)

Stats

Goals:

ABB: 3

ONT: 5

Shots:

ABB: 28

ONT: 31

Power plays:

ABB: 1/4

ONT: 1/4

Here are the three takeaways from Sunday’s 5-3 victory

Depth is crucial

Even though the season is only seven games long, this Ontario Reign team has more depth than last year’s Reign team. Last year’s Reign team was too top-heavy at times, and if they got nothing from TJ Tynan or Lias Andersson, scoring was hard to come by. Obviously, injuries play a role, as the Reign lost several members last season to either season-ending injuries or a good portion of the year. During this five-game win streak, the depth has shown for the Ontario Reign.

Cole Krygier, Francesco Pinelli, and Jacob Doty, who scored his second goal in as many games, found the scoresheet for Ontario. Kim Nousiainen, Nikita Pavlychev, Taylor Ward, Kevin Connauton, and Steven Santini all added an assist as well. In total, 12 players recorded a point for Ontario, and they needed every single one against the division leaders in Abbotsford.

Pinelli records his first professional goal

There was a lot of excitement for Pinelli this season. After a 90-point campaign in his final season in juniors with the Kitchener Rangers, Pinelli has played in the bottom six in all seven games for the Reign. Two weeks ago, Pinelli showed his vision in a game against the Gulls on Ryan Francis‘ goal in a 6-4 Reign loss to the San Diego Gulls.

After recording his first career professional point two weeks ago, Pinelli finally recorded his first professional goal by tipping a Steven Santini shot from the blue line by Abbotsford netminder Nikita Tolopilo. Pinelli gets a lot of praise for his two-way game and offensive skill, but he has shown a tendency to go to the front of the net on plays like his goal, and he got rewarded for it.

Goaltending is solid again

After losing their first two games of the season, the Reign have put together a five-game winning streak. The defensive group’s chemistry is improving, and they’re getting solid play from their goalies. David Rittich was solid in the first two games this week, recording a 41-save shutout against the Coachella Valley Firebirds. Sunday afternoon was Erik Portillo’s turn to get a start. While there were a few plays where it looked like Portillo overcommitted on a shot, I thought his overall game was solid, and he made the big saves when needed. After struggling in the rookie faceoff, Portillo has gotten off to a good start through two games in his AHL career.

UP NEXT: The Ontario Reign hit the road as they’ll have a two-game series against the Colorado Eagles. The first game is on Friday, November 3rd, at 6:05 p.m. PT and can be seen on AHLTV.

Adam Johnson

Adam Johnson played with the Ontario Reign from 2020-2022. During his second season with the club, he was traded to the Lehigh Valley Phantoms in February of 2022. This past Saturday, Johnson was involved in a tragic accident as he was playing in a hockey game in England. During the game, Johnson suffered a cut to his neck from a skate blade and was rushed to a local hospital. The game was stopped as fans were asked to evacuate the arena.

Unfortunately, Johnson passed away, and teams, players, and fans worldwide mourned his passing. Before the game, the Reign held a moment of silence. After the game, Johnson was named the number-one star of the game as several members of the Reign, who played with Johnson, put his jersey at center ice, giving it a pat on his number for respect.

On behalf of the crew here at Hockey Royalty, our thoughts and prayers are with the Johnson family as we send them our deepest condolences.

Featured image credit: Ontario Reign

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