Ontario Reign: Three Stars of the Week 3/17 – 3/23

Another week has passed, and it’s time for our Three Stars of the Week honors for the Ontario Reign – who went 2-2-0-0 in four games. Before we name the three stars, let’s quickly recap last week’s four games for the Reign.

5-2 loss to Texas

20 minutes was all that it took to decide this game. Texas was all over Ontario in the first period, outshooting them 15-5 and scoring three goals in the process. Matej Blumel, Jack Becker, and Kyle Looft scored 6:43 apart in the latter half of the frame, giving Texas a 3-0 lead after twenty minutes and Pheonix Copley being pulled in favor of Jacob Ingham. Ontario played a much better second period, outshooting Texas 21-4 and getting two goals from Charles Hudon to pull within one.

That’s as close as the Reign would get as Texas added two empty-net goals from Justin Hryckowian and Blumel. Nine skaters from Texas earned a point.

4-1 victory over Texas

Ontario had a much better game in the rematch against Texas, despite having to kill seven penalties. Taylor Ward gave the Reign a 1-0 lead early in the second, which was the only scoring through 40 minutes. Jeff Malott gave the Reign an insurance goal, but the Hryckowian answered back 19 seconds later on a wraparound goal to pull the Stars within one.

Remember when I said the Reign had to kill off 7 power plays? They added two empty-net goals by Caleb Jones and Glenn Gawdin while short-handed on Joseph Cecconi’s four-minute high-sticking penalty to ice the game for the Reign. Copley stopped 30 of 31 shots in the win.

4-2 loss to Iowa

Martin Chormiak got things started a minute into the contest. Chromiak scored the opening goal on the game’s first shot on goal. After that, it was all Iowa. The Wild scored the next two goals in the frame off the sticks from Ben Jones and Travis Boyd. Iowa would outscore the Reign in the middle frame, 2-1, including a goal by Tyler Madden (remember him?) for a 4-2 lead, which was the final score. Madden recorded his first goal and multi-point game in a Wild jersey.

7-4 victory over Iowa

This was a wild (no pun intended) game. The Reign started fast and strong. Malott and Gawdin scored 37 seconds apart to give the Reign a two-goal lead. That two-goal lead would evaporate in the final minute as Michael Milne (penalty shot) and Luke Toporowski tied the game on defensive breakdowns from the Reign. Both teams would score twice in the middle frame and enter the second intermission tied at four.

The Reign played their best in the third period. They scored three times on goals from Samuel Fagemo, Jack Studnicka, and Gawdin and didn’t allow an Iowa shot on goal until the final two minutes (Iowa outshot them 15-3 in the final 20 minutes). Eleven players recorded a point, with seven having multi-point games.

Honorable mention

Martin Chromiak

Chromiak had one goal and four assists during the four-game road trip for the Reign. This is his best stretch of play since early November.

Third star

Caleb Jones

Stat line: Four games played, one goal, four assists, five points, +3 rating, nine shots on goal

Jones is this week’s third star with five points during the Reign’s four-game road trip. Jones recorded his first goal as a member of the Reign on an empty-net goal in a short-handed situation in the Reign’s 4-1 win over the Stars. While the five points are impressive, Jones has quietly been a steady veteran presence on the backend for the Reign. He’s been a reliable defenseman in key situations and on the penalty kill for Marco Sturm’s squad.

Second star

Charles Hudon

Stat line: Four games played, two goals, three assists, five points, +2 rating, 17 shots on goal

Hudon had a shoot-first mentality and found the back of the net twice on the road trip. Both of Hudon’s goals came during the first game of the four-game road trip. It was Hudon’s first time finding the back of the net since February 15th (13 games). And, for those who have been keeping track, those goals were career goals 199 and 200 in his AHL career. That milestone was a big reason he’s this week’s second star.

First star

Glenn Gawdin

Stat line: Four games played, four goals, two assists, six points, +5 rating, 11 shots on goal

The Gawdfather had himself a week. Gawdin recorded at least one point in every game on the road trip and reached the 50-point mark for the second straight season and third time in his AHL career. Gawdin led all Reign skaters in points throughout the road trip. He capped off the week with a three-point game (2 G, 1 A) in the Reign’s 7-4 victory over the Wild and celebrated his 28th birthday yesterday.

Featured image credit: Tim Garland/Iowa Wild

Tags:

Leave a Reply

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