Ontario Reign: Three Takeaways From 4-1 Win Over Tucson

The Ontario Reign managed to pull away late in the third period and take two points despite not having their best game.

Goal Breakdown:

First period: 

None

Second period:

ONT: Samuel Fagemo (37), ASST: TJ Tynan (46)

Third period: 

TUC: Josh Doan (25), ASST: Colin Theisen (6), Steven Kampfer (15)

ONT: Akil Thomas (18), ASST: Taylor Ward (18), Tyler Madden (12)

ONT: EN Taylor Ward (7), ASST: TJ Tynan (47)

ONT: EN Tyler Madden (13), ASST: Taylor Ward (19), Akil Thomas (20)

Stats

Goals: 

TUC: 1

ONT: 4

Shots: 

TUC: 33

ONT: 23

Power plays:

TUC: 0/1

ONT: 0/3

Here are the three takeaways from Wednesday’s 4-1 victory:

A Dell comes in handy

No, I’m not talking about the computer, I’m talking about the goalie. The score doesn’t indicate how close the game was. The Reign didn’t have their best offensive game and needed every save from Aaron Dell in this one. While Ontario had a 1-0 lead through 40 minutes, they weren’t in control of the game. Tucson may not have the firepower as some of the teams in the division, but they fight (literally and figuratively) every shift, play hard, and are aggressive. That aggressiveness put the Reign on their heels to start the third period as the Reign sat back and were on their heels.

Dell answered the call and stopped eight of nine shots faced in the final frame as Tucson outshot Ontario 9-5 in that period. Two of the five shots from Ontario came with the net empty, so they needed Dell in this one. He was arguably the Reign’s best player in this one. The only shot that beat him was in the third period by Roadrunners’ leading scorer, Josh Doan (son of former Coyotes legend and captain, Shane Doan), who placed a perfect shot top corner over Dell’s glove.

Second line comes up big

With not much offense in total for the Reign through 56 minutes, the second line provided a boost in the final four minutes by scoring the game-winning goal and two empty-net goals to put the game on ice.

The first goal came on a two-on-two rush from Taylor Ward and Akil Thomas. Ward drove wide on Roadrunners’ defenseman Steven Kampfer but couldn’t get a clear lane to the net. Instead of forcing a weak backhand attempt on the net, Ward put the breaks on at the bottom of the left circle and made a button hook pass to Thomas, who snuck in behind the other Roadrunner defenseman Max Szuber, back door for an easy tap in to give the Reign a 2-1 lead with 3:36 left to play.

The Reign wouldn’t relinquish the lead as Ward and Tyler Madden added empty-net goals in the final minute (38 seconds apart) to put the game on ice. The trio of Thomas, Madden, and Ward combined for seven points. Those three have gained Marco Sturm’s trust when defending a lead late and that trust showed last night.

Power play struggles continue

The power play continues to be an issue for the Reign. They are 1-for-21 (4.8%) in their last six games. They’ve also given up a short-handed goal in that span. It hasn’t been a pretty stretch for a power play that has been top ten most of the season. The zone entries and setups haven’t been clean and when they do get set up, there aren’t many shot attempts or lack thereof.

The Reign need to have a shot-first mentality instead of looking for the perfect play. That perfect play the Reign are looking for is the one-timer for Fagemo from the left circle and it becomes too predictable at times. Shot-first mentality needs to be the way of thinking going forward.

NOTES:

*The magic number for the Reign to clinch a playoff spot is 12 points.

*Aaron Dell made 32 saves for his fifth win of the season.

*Akil Thomas recorded his sixth goal of the year against Tucson. Overall, he has 38 (18G-20A) points in 58 games. He previously had two goals in his last 12 games before last night.

*Taylor Ward recorded his first three-point game of the season.

*Samuel Fagmeo recorded his 37th goal of the season and is now tied with Adam Gaudette for the league lead in goals.

UP NEXT: The Ontario Reign are back in action tomorrow as they take on the Calgary Wranglers for the final time this season. The game starts at 7 PM PT and can be seen on AHLTV.

Featured image credit: Ontario Reign 

Tags:

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *