Ontario Reign: Three Takeaways From 4-0 Loss to Colorado

The Ontario Reign got shut out for the second straight night and ended the week empty-handed as they head home.

Goal Breakdown

First period: 

COL: PP Tye Fellhaber (14), ASST: Matthew Phillips (25), Calle Rosen (20)

COL: Chase Bradley (11), ASST: Wyatt Aamodt (9), Oskar Olausson (11)

Second period:

COL: Chris Wagner (9), ASST: Jake Wise (16), Wyatt Aamodt (10)

Third period:

COL: Tye Fellhaber (15), ASST: Jayson Megna (23)

Stats

Goals:

ONT: 0

COL: 4

Shots:

ONT: 26

COL: 22

Power plays:

ONT: 0/1

COL: 1/2

Here are the three takeaways from last night’s defeat:

Different night, same story

It didn’t matter what day it was. The Colorado Eagles struck first and never looked back en route to back-to-back 4-0 shutout victories. For Ontario, it was the same story. They had a stretch where they had chances but couldn’t convert. Other than that, it was all Colorado this weekend. The Eagles controlled all three zones and showed that their size, speed, skill, special teams, defense, and goaltending were no match for the Reign. It took two breakdowns, one on the penalty kill and the other at five-on-five where Reilly Walsh lost his man in coverage, to put the Reign behind the eight ball in the opening frame.

Ontario has fared well against Calgary and San Jose, and won four of the last five meetings against Coachella—three of the top four teams in the division—but run into a brick wall in their matchups against Colorado this season. The good news is they don’t play in Colorado the rest of the regular season. The bad news, however, is they face the Eagles three more times in the final 21 games, and perhaps the playoffs at any point within the first three rounds.

Offensive slump

Ontario’s offense has dried up in the last four games. The lack of finish has seen Ontario only find the back of the net twice in the last 14 periods and no goals in their last eight periods. They’ve had looks but haven’t been able to find the twine. It’s no coincidence the offense has dried up when their skaters in the top-six forward group have been held off the scoresheet.

Glenn Gawdin and Jack Studnicka, Ontario’s number one and two center on the depth chart—although Studnicka played as the 3C this weekend—have gone scoreless these last four games. Taylor Ward and Andre Lee have also been held off the scoresheet these last four games, and Martin Chromiak and Francesco Pinelli haven’t lit the lamp in their last three and six games respectively. After getting shut out back-to-back games, Ontario will need everyone to get out of this slump, but particularly those veterans or players who have been on the team for the last two-plus seasons to lead the way.

Jakub Dvořák slowly improving

Jakub Dvořák is only 19 years old and is going through the ups and downs as every rookie goes through their first professional season in North America. Dvořák will take time as he is a raw product and is projected to be a big shutdown defensive defenseman.

One area the rookie defenseman has made a slight improvement in is his poise with the puck on his stick, something assistant coach Chris Hajt noted after the Reign’s shootout victory over Calgary last Sunday. There were two or three instances this weekend where Dvořák didn’t force a pass or panic under pressure, something we were accustomed to seeing early in the year.

With the Reign banged up on the backend, he’ll be getting more playing time and a chance to be relied upon more. These last four games have been a good trend in the right direction, but he’ll still need more time with his development.

NOTES:

*This marked the first time Ontario has been shut out in back-to-back games in their AHL history.

*Pheonix Copley made his fifth consecutive start for the Reign.

*Ontario has a record of 12-7-1-0 after a loss.

*With the back-to-back losses this weekend, the Reign have dropped to fourth place in the division.

*Trent Miner stopped all 26 shots to earn his second shutout of the season (both against Ontario).

*Tye Fellhaber recorded two points in each game against the Reign this weekend.

UP NEXT: The Ontario Reign return home on Wednesday, March 5th, for a matchup against the Tucson Roadrunners. That game starts at 7 PM PST and can be seen on FloHockey and KCAL+ (channel 9.6). You can also listen to the game on the ESPN LA app and ontarioreign.com/radio.

Featured image credit: Ashley Potts/Colorado Eagles

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