Ontario Reign: Takeaways From 4-2 loss to Iowa

Despite a fast start, the Ontario Reign fell to the Iowa Wild in their first game in the building since 2019.

Goal Breakdown

First period:

ONT: Martin Chromiak (13), ASST: Charles Hudon (34)

IA: Ben Jones (9), ASST: None

IA: Travis Boyd (18), ASST: Hunter Haight (14), Graeme Clarke (19)

Second period: 

IA: Ben Jones (10), ASST: Tyler Madden (19)

ONT: Glenn Gawdin (19), ASST: Jack Millar (11)

IA: PP Tyler Madden (9), ASST: Michael Milne (11), David Jiricek (8)

Third period:

None

Stats

Goals: 

ONT: 2

IA: 4

Shots: 

ONT: 35

IA: 32

Power plays: 

ONT: 0/1

IA: 1/3

Here are the takeaways from yesterday’s loss:

Fast start

The Reign got off to a quick start in this game. Martin Chromiak scored the game’s first goal on the game’s first shot on goal with great patience in front of the net to outwait Samuel Hlavaj. The goal was Chromiak’s 13th of the year and his third point in the last four games. Unfortunately for the Reign, the strong start in the first period wasn’t good enough as Iowa scored four of the game’s next five goals.

Hello, old friend

It was a homecoming for Joe Hicketts and Joseph Cecconi. Both defensemen played for the Wild within the last three years (Hicketts from 2021-23 and Cecconi half of this season). However, the homecoming for both players was spoiled by a familiar face. That familiar face was Tyler Madden. Madden played against the Reign for the first time in his career and recorded a goal and an assist in the contest.

Extra motivation? Perhaps it was. Madden recorded his first goal and multi-point game since being acquired by the Minnesota Wild in the trade for Joseph Cecconi nearly a month ago. He was also named the game’s second star.

Glenn Gawdin hits the half-century mark

Glenn Gawdin reached the 50-point mark for the third time in his AHL career. Gawdin’s redirection goal came in the second period to pull the Reign within a goal. The first-year Reign needs six points to surpass the career-high he set with the San Diego Gulls last season. Gawdin’s line was the best for the Reign yesterday afternoon. They recorded both Reign goals and all three players combined for 10 shots on goal in the game.

The Reign are a team that relies on their depth and if all four lines aren’t contributing, the offense dries up.

Need a break?

Pheonix Copley has been treated like the number-one goalie since Erik Portillo went down with an injury. Copley started in his sixth game and has manned the pipes in 13 of Ontario’s last 14 games. Marco Sturm has given Copley a breather once this past month and got pulled in the first period in the Reign’s 5-2 loss at Texas earlier this week before being tabbed as the starter the following night.

Every game and point matters at this time of the year, but so does the workload of Copley. I know the Reign will be looking to salvage a split in this weekend’s series and on the road trip this week, so maybe Sturm will give his veteran netminder a rest in today’s matchup. We will see.

Aatu Jamsen moves up to the top-line

Sturm hasn’t been afraid to shake the lines up when the team hasn’t played well. While the Reign had a good start, they played a spotty game the rest of the way. Sturm went to the blender in the third period and moved Aatu Jamsen to the top line while dropping Francesco Pinelli to the fourth line. Sturm has had Pinelli centering the top line the last three games before yesterday and opted to make the switch and bump up Jamsen.

It’s unclear if Ontario’s bench boss will keep the first and fourth line that way into today’s contest but it’s something to keep an eye on. Pinelli has been held scoreless since being promoted to the top line for a full game (four games).

When it Reigns, it pours

It’s been rough sledding for Ontario since their 2-1 shootout win over the Calgary Wranglers on February 23rd. Since that win that moved Ontario to first in the division, the Reign have gone 4-5-1-0 in their last 10 games, playing .500 hockey. Although Ontario is still in second place in a tight Pacific Division race, leaving points on the table to teams at the bottom of the barrel in the league. Every game and point counts with the Reign’s magic number still at 16.

The Reign need to get back to their identity. What is that? Play direct (north to south) and get to work on the forecheck while playing stingy defense. That has to start today.

UP NEXT: These two teams are back at it again today as the Reign will conclude their four-game rodeo. The game starts at 1 PM PST and can be seen on FloHockey and listened to on the ESPN LA app.

Featured image credit: Tom Garland/Iowa Wild

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