Ontario Reign: Three Takeaways From 4-0 Victory Over Texas

Four different skaters scored a goal as the Ontario Reign skated away with two points in a home-ice victory over the Texas Stars.

Goal Breakdown

First period:

ONT: Aatu Jamsen (3), ASST: Kaleb Lawrence (1), Jack Millar (2)

ONT: Samuel Fagemo (8), ASST: Jack Studnicka (6)

Second period:

None

Third period: 

ONT: Samuel Fagemo (9), ASST: Tyler Madden (6), Jack Studnicka (7)

ONT: Kaleb Lawrence (3), ASST: Martin Chromiak (3), Shawn Element (2)

Stats

Goals:

TEX: 0

ONT: 4

Shots: 

TEX: 27

ONT: 20

Power plays: 

TEX: 0/4

ONT: 0/3

Here are the three takeaways from Friday’s victory:

A pair of seventh-round draft picks find the scoresheet

Depth. It’s what made the Ontario Reign successful last season. It’s been the top-line carrying play for the last five games, but that wasn’t the case last night. Samuel Fagemo scored twice but the Reign also got two goals from their fourth line. Aatu Jamsen and Kaleb Lawrence, two seventh-round draft picks by the LA Kings, found the back of the net to provide secondary scoring for the Ontario Reign last night.

Jamsen’s goal came off the rush while Texas’ backchecking forward tried to tie up his stick. Lawrence’s goal came with some fortunate with Martin Chromiak’s pass getting deflected off a Texas stick, straight into the air, and right to Lawrence in front of the net, whose shot went off the post and in.

Getting goals from your depth players is always a great thing. Teams getting that secondary scoring makes life harder on opposing teams because any line a coach can throw out there has the chance of putting one in the back of the net.

Jamsen and Lawrence have been healthy scratches at points during this season, but making an impact last night and improving each game is a good sign for the confidence and development of both players going forward.

Shutout for Copley

Is Pheonix Copley turning a corner? The last three games would give hope. Yesterday was Copley’s best performance of the season, stopping all 27 shots on goal for his first shutout and third straight win. It’s been a rough go for the journeyman netminder since returning from ACL injury- as expected- but it seems he’s found a groove.

Copley looked comfortable, tracked the puck well, froze the puck when play was hectic on several occasions, and played with confidence. That is a good sign for the Reign moving forward. Look for him to possibly start again tonight against Bakersfield as head coach Marco Sturm hinted he could be back in net.

Penalty kill with another strong performance

The Reign penalty kill has been strong in the last six contests before last night, killing off 18 of their last 19 penalties. The strong penalty kill continued last night as they held the Stars’ eighth-ranked power play in check by going 4-for-4, including killing off a 5-on-3 for 58 seconds in the third period. The penalty killers for the Reign did a good job of blocking shots, breaking up passes, and keeping everything to the outside. When the shots did get through Copley was there to make the save.

Rookie defenseman Jack Millar was a player who stood out on the penalty kill blocking a shot and breaking up a back door pass in the blue paint that allowed Copley to cover the puck. Plays like that are why Millar has earned Sturm’s trust and has been rewarded with top pair minutes with captain Joe Hicketts.

NOTES:

*Lawrence recorded his first professional multi-point game (1G, 1A). Sturm after the game praised the big forward for improving every game and fitting the identity of their fourth line (size).

*Jamsen recorded his first goal since October 27th and received the Reign Train conductor hat after the game.

*Fagemo’s two goals gave him nine on the season; that leads the team.

*Jack Studnicka recorded back-to-back multi-point games for the second time this season (11/2 & 11/6).

UP NEXT: The Ontario Reign will hit the road for a matchup against the Bakersfield Condors tonight. It’s the second night of a back-to-back for the Reign Train. The game starts at 7 PM PST. You can watch on FloSports or listen on the ESPN LA app.

Featured image credit: Mike Zitek/Ontario Reign 

Tags:

Leave a Reply

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