Ontario Reign: Three Takeaways From 5-3 Loss to Texas

Antonio Stranges’ third-period goal broke a 3-3 tie as the Texas Stars got their revenge on the Ontario Reign in a 5-3 victory.

Goal Breakdown

First period:

TEX: Arttu Hyry (5), ASST: Cameron Hughes (5), Alex Petrovic (7)

ONT: PP Samuel Fagemo (11), ASST: Jeff Malott (15), Reilly Walsh (7)

ONT: Francesco Pinelli (3), ASST: Taylor Ward (4)

Second period:

TEX: Alex Petrovic (4), ASST: Emilio Pettersen (7), Justin Hryckowian (12)

ONT: Angus Booth (2), ASST: Francesco Pinelli (5), Martin Chromiak (4)

TEX: Arrtu Hyry (6), ASST: Kyle Looft (2), Kyle Capobianco (9)

Third period:

TEX: Antonio Stranges (7), ASST: Justin Hryckowian (13), Kole Lind (8)

TEX: EN Matej Blumel (6), ASST: Arrtu Hyry (7), Kyle Capobianco (10)

Stats

Goals: 

TEX: 5

ONT: 3

Shots: 

TEX: 22

ONT: 33

Power play: 

TEX: 0/3

ONT: 1/4

Here are the three takeaways from Tuesday’s 5-3 loss:

The Stars shine bright

This game saw the Stars shine bright. Texas’ leading scorer, Justin Hryckowian (undrafted), recorded two assists. Antonio Stranges, drafted in the fourth round in 2020 by Dallas, scored the game-winning goal and showed off his speed all game. Arrtu Hyry, another undrafted player in the Dallas Stars system, recorded three points and Matej Blumel added an empty-net goal to seal the deal. With Dallas (Texas’ NHL affiliate) having a good track record of player development it wouldn’t surprise me if one or two of these players can be effective NHLers for them.

Back to the game.

To cap it off, veterans Alex Petrovic (two points), Kyle Capobianco (two points), Kole Lind (one point), and Cameron Hughes (one point) also factored into the scoring. Ten different Texas skaters recorded at least a point.

Unlike the last meeting, Texas’ speed, spacing, and stretch passes put the Reign on their heels multiple times, especially in the second period when they were hemmed in their zone quite a bit, and were able to generate quality scoring chances from it. A good team win for them.

Francesco Pinelli gets on the board

Francesco Pinelli finally found the scoresheet after going scoreless for six games. Entering the season I had high expectations for Pinelli with the roster turnover and him possibly getting a bigger role because of it, but it hasn’t played out that way consistency-wise. Yesterday was probably his best game of the season, recording his second multi-point game and being engaged in all three zones. The second-year forward recorded his third goal of the year with a blast from the slot in the first period and a primary assist on Angus Booth’s goal in the second.

Although the production and consistency haven’t been there for Pinelli there has been one noticeable added element to his game this year. That element is grit, physicality, or whatever you call it. It’s a surprising one he’s added to his repertoire and we have seen more than last year. He got into his first fight two weeks ago against Henderson, has been in scrums after the whistle in some games, and isn’t afraid to throw a hit here and there. When things got chippy in the middle frame Pinelli was seen giving a mini cross-check jab to Emilio Pettersen away from the puck.

Offensively, he’s going to have to start producing more. When engaged he can impact the game. The problem is we have only seen it in spurts.

Missed chance

The Reign had a chance to tie and even take the lead in the third period with a four-minute power play. Things could not have ended worse in that power play. The passes in the neutral zone upon zone entry weren’t connecting. Texas was quicker to every puck on the Reign dump-ins which resulted in easy clears. The Reign never got set up and didn’t get a quality shot on goal during those four minutes. If there is one moment the Reign will look back on it would be that one. A missed chance to capitalize on in a 4-3 game.

NOTES:

*Eight of the Stars’ ten leading scorers recorded at least one point.

*Magnus Hellberg stopped 30 of 33 shots faced for his eighth win of the year.

*Angus Booth recorded his second goal of the season in the second period. He is currently third in scoring among defensemen on the team.

*The line of Pinelli, Martin Chromiak, and Taylor Ward was the only forward line to end the game with a positive +/- rating (+2 for all three).

* Pinelli is now up to eight points in 18 games with his multi-point game.

*Samuel Fagemo had a game-high eight shots on goal and recorded a power-play goal in the opening frame.

*After having a red-hot November, Glenn Gawdin had a rough start to December going scoreless and a -4 rating in last night’s loss.

*Jacob Doty returned to the lineup after missing the last five games with an injury. He played right wing on the fourth line, replacing Kaleb Lawrence and moving Aatu Jamsen to center. We’ll have to see how Sturm gets all three of them playing time going forward.

UP NEXT: The Ontario Reign’s next game is on Saturday, December 7th, at 6 PM PST against the San Diego Gulls. You can watch the game on FloHockey or listen on the ESPN LA app.

Featured image credit: Ontario Reign

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