Ontario Reign: Three takeaways from 3-2 loss to Tucson

A three-goal deficit after 20 minutes was too much for the Ontario Reign as their four-game winning streak came to an end.

Goal Breakdown

First period:

TUC: SH Austin Pganski (2), ASST: None

TUC: Jan Jenik (3), ASST: None

TUC: Cameron Hebig (4), ASST: Austin Poganski (2), Victor Soderstrom (7)

Second period:

ONT: TJ Tynan (3), ASST: Jacob Moverare (5), Samuel Fagemo (4)

ONT: PP Akil Thomas (4), ASST: Charles Hudon (6), TJ Tynan (18)

Third period:

None

Stats

Goals:

TUC: 3

ONT: 2

Shots: 

TUC: 21

ONT: 33

Power plays:

TUC: 0/3

ONT: 1/4

Here are the three takeaways from Tuesday’s 3-2 loss

Meep, meep

The first period wasn’t a bad one for the Ontario Reign, but it wasn’t their best either. The Reign didn’t allow a shot on goal just past the halfway mark of the period but had only two shots on goal themselves. It was a tight game early on, as neither side could generate any offense.

Ontario had the game’s first power play attempt but gave up a short-handed goal to Austin Poganski 23 seconds into the man advantage to give the Roadrunners a 1-0 lead. Right after that same power play ended for the Reign, Jan Jenik scored on a breakaway while being slashed from behind by Mikhail Maltsev to give the Roadrunners a 2-0 lead 1:47 after Poganski’s goal.

Just over three minutes after Jenik made a 2-0, Cameron Hebig beat David Rittich with a shot from a sharp angle to put the home team in a 3-0 hole. In the blink of an eye, the Roadrunners went up 3-0 in 4:55, a deficit the home team couldn’t overcome.

Back-to-back for Akil

It’s been a slow start for Akil Thomas this season. Thomas had only recorded two assists through his first ten games before breaking through with his first goal of the year, which was against the Tucson Roadrunners back on November 10th. In his last three games, Thomas has recorded four points, including goals in back-to-back games.

Thomas’ power-play goal in the second period was from his sweet spot, below the faceoff circles as the bumper man. It’s the one area on the ice where he is dangerous, as he scored on his good friend, Matthew Villalta. Unfortunately, for the Reign, it was their last time scoring against their former teammate.

Rittich gets yanked

It was a rough night for David Rittich. Were all three goals in the first period solely the fault of the 31-year-old netminder? No, but you can tell he looked shaky and uncomfortable, even with the shots he stopped. After recording back-to-back shutouts last week, Rittich gave up three goals on six shots and probably would like to have that third goal back.

Every player will have an off night, and it happened to Rittich yesterday. Looking to give his team a jolt, head coach Marco Sturm elected to pull Rittich to start the second period as Erik Portillo came on in relief. This is the first time the Reign have made an in-game goalie change all season. It’s only the second time I recall Sturm making a goalie change mid-game in his time as a coach.

Notes

* Matthew Villalta earned his second win against his former team on the road this year.

* Erik Portill0 saw 15 shots and stopped them all to improve his save percentage to .932 and his goals-against average to 1.96.

*This was the Reign’s first regulation loss since November 4th against the Colorado Eagles.

*Samuel Fagemo recorded his 12th point in seven games.

UP NEXT: The Ontario Reign are back in action for a home-and-home series against the Coachella Valley Firebirds. The first game is Friday at Toyota Arena at 7 PM. The game can be seen on AHLTV.

Featured image credit: Ontario Reign

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