Ontario Reign: Three Stars of the Week 11/4 – 11/10

Another week has passed and it’s time for our Three Stars of the Week honors for the Ontario Reign, who went 1-2 in three games. Before we name the three stars, let’s quickly recap the last week’s three games for the Reign.

8-4 victory over Abbotsford

This game provided a bunch of offense. The Reign scored four goals in the first period en route to a 4-1 lead at intermission. The four goals were scored were scored by four different scorers. Abbotsford would outscore the Reign 2-1, which saw the latter hold a 5-3 lead through two periods. In the third period, goals by Tyler Madden, Jack Studnicka (PP), and Samuel Fagemo (EN) put the finishing touches on a wild 8-4 Reign win.

Erik Portillo started this game and made 29 saves on 33 shots, but wasn’t sharp in the net like he was in his previous start against the Henderson Silver Knights (11/1/24). 12 different players recorded a point for the Reign with eight of them having a multi-point game. It was the second straight game Ontario scored eight goals.

4-3 loss to Coachella Valley

The Reign weren’t sharp with the puck in their zone this game. The Firebirds’ speed and forecheck along the wall caused a lot of turnovers. Despite the sloppy play with the puck, the Reign had a chance to win this game as they took a 3-2 lead in the third period.

The hopes of grabbing two points vanished when Jani Nyman tied the game on a wraparound goal and Jagger Firkus re-directed a puck past Portillo with 2:24 to play to give Coachella Valley a 4-3 win. The Reign couldn’t score with the goalie pulled and Coachella won the second meeting between the two clubs teams season.

4-2 loss to Coachella Valley

The Firebirds and Reign met again less than 48 hours, this time in Coachella Valley, after the Firebird’s late game-winning goal. The Reign didn’t get off to a strong start as Tucker Robertson gave the Firebirds an early 1-0 lead.

After killing off a penalty, the Reign started to move their legs and generate offensive zone time, which led to two goals by Martin Chromiak giving the visitors a 2-1 lead after 20 minutes. The second period mirrored Friday’s game for the Reign and it cost them as Ville Ottavainen and Ryan Winterton scored goals in the middle frame to give the Firebirds a lead they wouldn’t give back.

Lleyton Roed would add an empty-net goal with 11 seconds remaining in the third period to give the Firebirds a 4-2 win and a weekend sweep against the Reign.

Here are your Three Stars of the Week

Third star

Angus Booth

Stat line: Three games played, zero goals, two assists, two points, +/- 0, five shots on goal

Angus Booth has been decent in his first ten games. Like any rookie, he has had some good and some bad. For his game, Booth keeps it simple and I like his gap control when the opposition has the puck. Last week, he added his first two professional points in his career. Both of his points were assists and came in the Reign’s 8-4 victory against the Abbotsford Canucks. Watching Marco Sturm’s postgame interview on the Reign YouTube channel, and seeing Anthony Collazo’s (The Hockey News) tweet, after the game, he said that the team had an internal vote for the Player of the Month for October, and Booth won (for the full interview, click HERE).

Second star

Charles Hudon

Stat line: Three games played, two goals, zero assists, two points, +3 rating, eight shots on goal

Charles Hudon carried his hot stick over from the weekend against Henderson (11/1 – 11/2) into Wednesday’s matchup against the Canucks. Hudon scored two goals and recorded his fifth point in three games. He was one of eight players to have a multi-point game in the Reign’s 8-4 victory. While he was held scoreless in the other two Reign games I thought he was one of the best Reign forwards in their 4-2 loss in Coachella Valley as he was tied with his teammate Jack Studnicka for a game-high with six shots on goal.

First star

Martin Chromiak

Stat line: Three games played, two goals, one assists, three points, -3, six shots on goal

Martin Chromiak is this segment’s First Star of the Week. Chromiak recorded an assist in the Reign’s 8-4 win over Abbotsford and the only two goals for the Reign in their 4-2 loss to Coachella Valley. Like Hudon, Chromiak was another Reign forward who was solid in all three games. Chromiak’s numbers in his first ten games this year are nearly identical to last year’s first ten games. The difference this season with Chromiak is his engagement in the offensive zone. If he continues to have a shoot-first mindset he could have a big season for Ontario.

Featured image credit: Mike Zitek/Ontario Reign

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