Ontario Reign: Three Stars of the Week 3/10 – 3/16

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

4-2 victory over Tucson

The Reign got off to a good start in this game but unlike their previous three losses, they trailed 2-1 after the opening 20 minutes. Curtis Douglas opened the scoring for the Roadrunners, Glenn Gawdin responded with the tying goal 7:03 later, and Sam Lipkin closed out the frame to give Tucson the edge. The Reign’s fortunes turned around in the second period for once as Jeff Malott and Luke Rowe scored to give the Reign a 3-2 lead through 40 minutes.

The third period saw Ontario win the special teams battle by killing off a five-on-three for 37 seconds and Malott adding a power-play goal with 2:54 remaining to give the Reign a 4-2 lead. Pheonix Copley made 23 saves in the win.

4-2 victory over Tucson

This game was almost identical to how the first game was played out. Douglas opened the scoring for the Roadrunners for the second time in as many games to give the hosts a 1-0 lead early in the frame. Like the previous game, Ontario found themselves surrendering the opening goal and trailing after the first 20 minutes concluded. Aatu Jamsen scored 95 seconds into the middle frame to tie the game but Max Szuber’s power-play goal midway through the frame gave Tucson a lead they would keep heading into the second intermission.

Just as they did the previous night, the Reign fought back. Marco Sturm juggled the lines and they proved to be an immediate success. Ontario’s bench boss dropped Gawdin from the 1C to the 3C and he tied the game on a two-on-one attempt. The other move was bumping Francesco Pinelli up from the 3C to the 1C and he scored the go-ahead goal with 2:37 to play, which ended up being the game-winning goal. Samuel Fagemo iced the game for good measure with under a minute to play and Copley made 21 saves in the win.

3-2 SO victory over Henderson

Ontario returned home to close the week with their final regular season matchup against the Henderson Silver Knights. This wasn’t a pretty game by any means. However, Ontario led 2-0 after two periods of play on goals from Jack Studnicka (PP) and Martin Chromiak. Henderson pulled within one as Matyas Sapovaliv deflected in Robert Hagg’s shot that came from the right point after a failed clearing attempt by Ontario.

Studnicka, and everyone in the building, thought he iced the game with an empty-net goal…but he missed! That left a crack in the door for Henderson to tie things up late and they did on a goal from Tanner Laczysnki (SH) to force overtime. There would be no scoring in overtime as Copley made big saves to keep the game alive for Ontario.

In the shootout, as has been the case all season, the Reign converted on both attempts from Gawdin and Malott as Copley didn’t surrender a goal on either Henderson attempt to propel the Reign to a 3-2 shootout victory.

Third star

Francesco Pinelli

Stat line: Three games played, one goal, one assist, two points, +2 rating, seven shots on goal

Fagemo and Gawdin got consideration for this week’s third star for the Reign, but ultimately it went to Pinelli. Pinelli started the week recording an assist on Rowe’s game-winning goal in Ontario’s first win against Tucson. The assist extended Pinelli’s point streak to three games. In the second game against Tucson, he played a factor in the game-winning goal again, this time scoring the goal.

Pinelli’s strong play earned him a move up the lineup to 1C and was penciled in that spot in the starting lineup in the Reign’s 3-2 shootout victory against Henderson. Now, it’s up to him to force Sturm’s hand to keep him there for good.

“I think it’s a good learning process for him to jump up those lines and play with really good players. It’s a good experience for him, and hopefully, he can get something out of it,” said Sturm after the Reign’s win against Henderson.

Second star

Pheonix Copley

Stat line: Three games played, three starts, 3-0-0-0 record, six goals against, 64 saves on 70 shots faced .914 save percentage, no shutouts

Copley was solid for the Reign all week. He has played in every game except for one since Portillo went down with an injury. Copley earned the win in all three starts and made multiple big saves to preserve a Reign lead late in a game or keep the game alive in overtime. He stopped 64 of 70 shots in all three games combined en route to his perfect 3-0-0-0 record. He gave the Reign a chance to win in every game, and that is all you can ask from your netminder.

“I’m glad he found his rhythm back after ACL, it’s a big injury. He’s been outstanding,” Sturm said of his Copley after the Henderson game.

First star

Jeff Malott

Stat line: Three games played, two goals, three assists, five points, +4 rating, 10 shots on goal

Malott was last week’s second star and moved up a spot as he is this week’s first star with five points in three games. Malott started the week with a three-point night against the Roadrunners, scoring two goals and registering one helper. All three points he had in the game were primary and his assist was a beautiful behind-the-back dish to Gawdin.

Malott would add two more assists the following night against the Roadrunners, including the helper on Pinelli’s game-winning goal. That play showed how good of a player the power forward is when he has the puck on his stick behind the net (see above in Pinelli’s section). While he didn’t record a point in the Reign’s win against the Silver Knights, he scored again in the shootout with his signature move by starting wide right, cutting to the middle, and ripping the puck top cheddar to the glove side of the net.

The shootout goal improved Malott to 4/4 in the skills competition this year. Talk about being automatic. He has been one of those players who continues to lead the way for the Reign this year.

Featured image credit: Jon Huerta/Ontario Reign

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