Ontario Reign: Three takeaways from 6-0 win against Coachella Valley

The Ontario Reign came into Coachella Valley and gave the Firebirds a complete thrashing with a 6-0 shutout victory.

Goal Breakdown

First period:

ONT: PP Samuel Fagemo (4), ASST: TJ Tynan (12), Brandt Clarke (10)

Second period:

ONT: Tyler Madden (4), ASST: Samuel Fagemo (2), TJ Tynan (13)

ONT: Francesco Pinelli (2), ASST: Mikhail Mlatsev (8)

Third period: 

ONT: Samuel Helenius (1), ASST: Alex Turcotte (12), TJ Tynan (14)

ONT: PP Samuel Fagemo (5), ASST: Brandt Clarke (11), TJ Tynan (15)

ONT: PP Martin Chromiak (5), ASST: Tyler Madden (1)

Stats

Goals:

ONT: 6

CV: 0

Shots: 

ONT: 36

CV: 24

Power plays:

ONT: 3/4

CV: 0/2

Here are the three takeaways from Tuesday’s 6-0 victory:

Reign over Fire

When it Reigns, it pours. The Ontario Reign piled it on the Coachella Valley Firebirds from start to finish for a 6-0 victory. Samuel Fagemo’s power-play goal late in the first period on a major power-play opened the scoring, and the Reign never looked back. This Reign team is deeper than last year’s team, and it has been on display over the last week as many players have contributed on the scoresheet.

Last night, the big boys again provided the offense as they did on Sunday. Samuel Fagemo led the way with three points (2G – 1A) and was one of four players with multi-point point performances; Tyler Madden, TJ Tynan, and Brandt Clarke were the other three. Overall, nine different skaters recorded at least one point.

Tynan, Turcotte, and Clarke are now point-per-game players after the victory.

Francesco Pinelli slots back in and scores

It hasn’t been the smoothest transition for Francesco Pinelli going from juniors to the professional level, and that’s okay. The game in juniors is different than the professional game, such as the speed and decision-making with the puck. The things you can get away with at the junior level, you can’t at the professional level. Right now Pinelli is slowly adjusting and getting acclimated to the professional game.

After being held out of the lineup as a healthy scratch for two of the last three games, Pinelli returned to the lineup, playing on the second line with Mikhail Maltsev and Martin Chromiak. Pinelli recorded his second of the season after Mikhail Maltsev picked off a pass near the blue line, and found Pinelli all alone in front to give the Reign a 3-0 lead with 2:25 remaining in the middle frame.

On the goal, you can see why Pinelli has some of the best hands out of any of the LA Kings prospects. Just smooth. I believe he’ll be a center eventually, but right now, the Reign have him at the wing, sheltering him and not giving him too many responsibilities in his rookie season.

Back-to-back shutouts

We have to give some love to the goalie, right? While David Rittich was spotted six goals from the offense, he made 24 saves to record the Ontario Reign’s second straight shutout. The shutout was Rittich’s second of the season, both on the road in Coachella Valley. Rittich had to make several key saves early on as the Firebirds’ transition game seemed to give the Reign some trouble as they had good chances in the slot.

Rittich didn’t need to make many spectacular saves as the game progressed, but came up with a big save on Shane Wright’s breakaway attempt, who looked invisible all game, to preserve the Reign’s 1-0 lead. The closest the Firebirds came to scoring was early in the second period, but it was called back as Cameron Hughes knocked the puck in with his glove as he was sprawled out in the crease. This was the Reign’s third shutout of the season, already tying last year’s mark.

NOTE*: Tobias Bjornfot left the game late in the first period after getting hit from behind into the boards. Bjornfot had to be carried off a stretcher and was taken to a local hospital. Per the Ontario Reign, Bjornfot is alert and currently undergoing testing.

UP NEXT: Happy Thanksgiving! The Ontario Reign are back in action Friday at 7 pm as they visit the San Jose Barracuda. The game can be seen on AHLTV.

Featured image credit: Mike Zitek/Coachella Valley Firebirds

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