Ontario Reign: Three Takeaways From 8-1 Win Against Tucson

The NFL season ended this past Sunday, but it didn’t stop the Ontario Reign from putting up a touchdown and two-point conversion on the Tucson Roadrunners on Friday night.

Goal Breakdown

First period: 

ONT: Francesco Pinelli (5), ASST: Jacob Moverare (14), Colton Young (1)

ONT: Steven Santini (1), ASST: Kevin Connauton (10), Samuel Helenius (5)

ONT: Samuel Fagemo (21), ASST: TJ Tynan (32), Charles Hudon (19)

ONT: Steven Santini (2), ASST: TJ Tynan (33), Kevin Connauton (11)

Second period: 

ONT: Akil Thomas (16), ASST: Charles Hudon (20), Jacob Moverare (15)

ONT: SH Tyler Madden (10), ASST: None

Third period: 

ONT: PP Steven Santini (3), ASST: Taylor Ward (14), Samuel Helenius (6)

TUC: Josh Doan (20), ASST: Cameron Crotty (6), Ben McCartney (12)

ONT: Wyatte Wylie (2), ASST: Jacob Moverare (16), TJ Tynan (34)

Stats

Goals: 

ONT: 8

TUC: 1

Shots: 

ONT: 28

TUC: 24

Power plays: 

ONT: 1/4

TUC: 0/2

Here are the three takeaways from Friday night’s 8-1 victory:

Pinelli stands out

Rookie Francesco Pinelli hasn’t had a smooth transition from juniors to the professional level. At times he has shown flashes of the playmaking that made him a threat during his time in the OHL with the Kitchener Rangers, while he has also shown the struggles some prospects go through when making the jump to the pros. He was also a healthy scratch early in the season to get him a different perspective of the game as he continued to get acclimated to the AHL.

Last night was his best game of the season. He finished with four shots on goal, a three-way tie to lead all skaters, and opened the scoring by re-directing Jacob Moverare’s shot 2:45 into the game. The goal was his first goal in his last 17 games (December 30th at Henderson). It had been a while since he found the twine until yesterday.

What also made Pinelli stand out last night was the confidence in his playmaking and play-driving. For the first time all season, Pinelli looked confident in driving play on the rush and looking to create offense. If that confidence continues to grow, perhaps the points will start to come.

Spreading the wealth

Almost everyone got in on the action as each line and defensive pair recorded a point. A total of 13 players recorded a point for the Reign, with six of them recording multi-point games. Jacob Moverare and TJ Tynan each had three assists, while Steven Santini, not known for his offense, recorded his first professional hat trick; two of those goals came in the opening 20 minutes.

From the start of the game, the Reign set the tone by dictating the pace and not allowing Tucson to get their transition game going. The breakouts were clean, the zone entries were perfect, the forecheck was aggressive, and the result was a 4-0 first-period lead with a 16-5 shots advantage. It was a perfect road game with contributions throughout the lineup.

Road success

Playing away from Toyota Arena has been home away from home for the Reign. That success continued last night. Ontario improved their road record to 15-7-1 (.674), which is good enough for 7th for win percentage. Compare it to their win percentage at home, and it’s 29th. Both the penalty kill and power play rank first and second on the road but are 31st and 19th at home in those respective categories. It’s one of those splits where it’s hard to figure out why a team does better on the road than at home. If you look up, the parent club in Los Angeles had the same issue early on in the season regarding their play at home. In the future, maybe the Reign may want to start spending the night at a hotel the night before home games. It wouldn’t hurt to try it.

NOTES:

*Steven Santini recorded his first professional hat trick.

*Erik Portillo recorded 23 saves on 24 shots to improve his save percentage to .919. He now owns a 3-0-0 record on the season against Tucson.

*Samuel Fagemo recorded his 21st goal of the year in the first period to make it 3-0.

*Defenseman Joe Hicketts returned to the lineup after missing nearly four months with an injury. Forward Jacob Doty also returned to the lineup after missing a month with an injury.

UP NEXT: These two teams will meet again tonight. Game time is at 6 PM PT and can be seen on AHLTV. Can the Reign complete the weekend sweep?

Featured image credit: Tucson Roadrunners

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