Ontario Reign: Four Takeaways From 5-2 Win Over Iowa

The Ontario Reign split the weekend series against the Iowa Wild with a 5-2 home win on Sunday evening.

Goal Breakdown

First period:

ONT: PP Tyler Madden (5), ASST: Jack Studnicka (10), Martin Chromiak (9)

IA: Travis Boyd (5), ASST: Michael Milne (9), Brendan Gaunce (8)

Second period: 

IA: Joseph Cecconi (1), ASST: Liam Ohgren (10), Hunter Haight (9)

ONT: Glenn Gawdin (11), ASST: Reilly Walsh (13), Charles Hudon (15)

ONT: Charles Hudon (12), ASST: Glenn Gawdin (21), Caleb Jones (6)

Third period: 

ONT: Glenn Gawdin (12), ASST: Luke Rowe (4), Jeff Malott (21)

ONT: EN Jack Studnicka (8), ASST: Samuel Fagemo (8), Caleb Jones (7)

Stats

Goals:

IA: 2

ONT: 5

Shots: 

IA: 23

ONT: 33

Power plays: 

IA: 0/3

ONT: 1/2

Here are the four takeaways from Sunday’s 5-2 victory:

Injury updates

We have injury updates for you. In his media availability after the game, Marco Sturm said Joe Hicketts, who has missed the last two games with an injury, will not travel with the team for their upcoming two-game trip to Abbotsford. Sturm also mentioned Hicketts’ injury may be ‘a little bit longer term than short’ but will take it week by week with him.

As for the good news, Sturm confirmed that Aatu Jamsen, who has not played since December 15th because of an injury, will make the trip with the team. Paraphrasing what Ontario’s bench boss said, the young forward has been on the ice with the team in a red jersey. While Sturm admitted he doesn’t know the timeline for his return the fact he is traveling with the team is good news.

That was better

Yesterday’s result was better than Friday’s. The Reign couldn’t get anything going and were out of sync with their passing, receiving of passes, and their five-on-five play defensively. The passing on Sunday didn’t start great but improved as the game progressed.

“I thought it was so much better […] It’s something we talked about with our D and into the second and third, I thought our breakouts were so much better,” head coach Marco Sturm said after the game.

Those clean breakouts showed on the Reign’s third and fourth goals from Charles Hudon and Glenn Gawdin. Clean breakouts by the defensemen to clean zone entries from the forwards to glove side, top-shelf goals on Samuel Hlavaj. Their five-on-five play was also something Sturm said the team touched on after Friday’s loss.

Solving Hllavaj

After getting blanked on the scoreboard in Friday’s game, the Reign finally solved Hlavaj by scoring four goals. Tyler Madden got the party started by sneaking in a shot low side from the bottom of the right circle by the Iowa netminder.

Gawdin would record his 11th goal of the season in the second period by redirecting in a shot that came from the blue line from Reilly Walsh, and Hudon would snipe one top cheddar just over three minutes later to give Ontario a lead they wouldn’t relinquish.

After getting five goals, all at five-on-five, dropped on them Friday night, the Reign responded with five of their own to return the favor.

Angus Booth gets the top pairing role again

With Hicketts missing both games this weekend with an injury, Sturm once again went with Angus Booth on the top pairing.

“You can’t replace a guy like Hicketts, but if anyone can do it’s going to be [Booth] […] I think he did better than the other night and hopefully, it’s going to grow his game,” Ontario’s head coach said after the game.

Sounds like Sturm has confidence in his rookie defenseman to fill the void vacated by Hicketts’ injury. Sturm didn’t mention the word patience but referenced it by saying ‘You got to give him time too.’

We’ll see if Sturm still has Booth on the top pair with Jack Millar as the team travels to Abbotsford for a two-game set.

NOTES:

*Ontario’s top line of Glenn Gawdin, Jeff Malott, and Charles Hudon combined for six points.

*Gawdin recorded his first multi-goal game since November 30th. He recorded three points (2 G, 1 A).

*Tyler Madden scored his first goal since November 15th.

*Caleb Jones recorded two assists. He has seven assists in 12 games since being assigned to the Reign.

*10 players recorded a point for the Reign and four had a multi-point game.

*Tate Singleton recorded his first fight as a member of the Reign.

*Erik Portillo made 21 saves on 23 shots for his 11th win of the season.

UP NEXT: The Ontario Reign will travel to Abbotsford for the first time since the Calder Cup playoffs. They begin a two-game series with the Canucks on Tuesday.

Featured image credit: Jon Huerta/Ontario Reign

Tags:

Leave a Reply

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