Ontario Reign: Three Stars of the Week 2/17 – 2/23

Another week has passed, and it’s time for our Three Stars of the Week honors for the Ontario Reign – who went 3-1-0 in four games. Before we name the three stars, let’s quickly recap last week’s four games for the Reign.

3-2 OT victory over Calgary

The Reign trailed 2-0 after 20 minutes. Like they did two days before this game, they had to claw their way back to grab at least another point. Glenn Gawdin got the Reign on the board with a fluttering backhand attempt by the glove of Devin Cooley for his 100th career AHL goal. Martin Chromiak would score a power-play goal to knot the game up at two 93 seconds into the third period.

That set the stage for another overtime game – the third one in the last four meetings against the Wranglers. Like the game before, the Reign skated away victorious as power forward Jeff Malott walked it off with an overtime winner to give Ontario a road sweep in the Saddledome.

6-4 victory over San Jose

A fast start got the Reign a 3-0 lead after 20 minutes on goals from Chromiak, Aatu Jämsen, and Tyler Madden. Ontario was a step ahead of San Jose all game and took a 6-1 lead after 40 minutes. San Jose would make this game interesting by scoring three goals in the third period, but Ontario held on for a 6-4 road win and swept the three-game road trip. Both teams went 3-for-6 on the power play.

3-1 defeat to San Jose

Ontario and San Jose met again three nights later. This time, the start and outcome of the game were much different. Ontario played well for roughly 14 minutes but at the end of the first period San Jose found their legs and dictated the pace of play. Thomas Bordeleau found the twine less than five minutes into the middle frame on a failed zone exit by Ontario. Ethan Cardwell and Mitchell Russell would score in a span of 2:07 to extend the Barracuda lead to 3-0. Chromiak would break the shutout with 19.7 seconds remaining in the game. It was the third straight game Chromiak would score a power-play goal.

2-1 SO victory over Calgary

The Reign started the week against the Wranglers and finished it against them. Members of the 2015 Manchester Monarchs’ Calder Cup championship team were in the building to celebrate the achievement. While it was a day of recognition on the ice, the Wranglers and Reign battled it out for first place in the division and it had a playoff feel in this one. Calgary struck first as they did in the previous five meetings this season, but the Reign tied it up on Joe Hicketts’ third goal of the season in the middle frame. The game remained tied the rest of the way and overtime was needed. With no scoring in the overtime session, the Reign prevailed in the shootout – scoring on both attempts by Gawdin and Malott – to claim first place in the division at the moment.

Third star

Aatu Jämsen

Stat line: Three games played, two goals, zero assists, two points, -2 rating, three shots on goal

Aatu Jämsen found the twice in the Reign’s 6-4 victory over San Jose. It was his first two-goal game as a pro in North America and his only points during the week. Jämsen also scored his first power-play goal of the season in a 5-on-3 situation as Marco Sturm opted to go with five forwards with defenseman Reilly Walsh in the penalty box due to penalties at the end of the first period. Jämsen is one of the Reign’s better creative forwards in the bottom six but will need to get stronger as he gets muscled off the puck easily at times. That will be something to work on in the offseason.

Second star

Charles Hudon

Stat line: Four games played, zero goals, eight assists, eight points, +4 rating, 10 shots on goal

Charles Hudon racked up the points… I mean assists. Hudon picked up eight assists – four of them coming in the Reign’s 6-4 victory over San Jose – in the four games. Hudon’s four-assist night was the first one of his career. Seven of the eight assists he racked up were secondary assists. The second-year Reign player is on an eight-game point streak with three goals and 12 assists for 15 points. He leads the Reign in scoring with 48 points (17 G, 31 A).

First star

Jeff Malott

Stat line: Four games played, two goals, three assists, five points, +3 rating, nine shots on goal, shootout goal

Jeff Malott bumped up from the second to the first star from last week to this one. Malott started the week with a three-point afternoon in the Reign’s 3-2 comeback victory over the Wranglers – including the overtime winner. All three points in that game were primary. The power forward would add a goal and an assist in the next three games to give himself five points – all primary points – in the week. He also recorded his 100th career AHL assist during the week. As he did to start the week against Calgary, Malott walked off the Wranglers – this time in a shootout – to end the week. The shootout win against Calgary gave the Reign sole possession of first place in the division for now.  Malott has 42 points (17 G, 25 A) in 49 games.

Featured image credit: Jon Huerta/Ontario Reign

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