Ontario Reign: Four Takeaways From 3-0 Loss to Tucson

The Ontario Reign were flat in their first game back from their road trip and fell to the Tucson Roadrunners in a 3-0 loss.

Goal Breakdown

First period:

None

Second period: 

TUC: Montana Onyebuchi (3), ASST: Max Szuber (18), Andrew Agozzino (20)

Third period:

TUC: EN Andrew Agozzino (18), ASST: Cameron Hebig (19), Sammy Walker (20)

TUC: EN Travis Barron (7), ASST: Ben McCartney (15), Max Szuber (19)

Stats

Goals: 

TUC: 3

ONT: 0

Shots: 

TUC: 27

ONT: 24

Power plays:

TUC: 0/4

ONT: 0/6

Here are the four takeaways from yesterday’s 3-0 defeat

No energy

The first game back at home after a week-long road trip can always be a challenge. That is exactly what happened to the Reign last night. From the drop of the puck, you can tell something seemed off. They were flat to start the game, with Tucson being a step ahead and dictating the pace early on. The only time there was energy in the building was when Jacob Doty and Montana Onyebuchi dropped the gloves seconds after the latter opened the scoring in the middle frame.

Copley solid in net despite the loss

Pheonix Copley did everything he could to give the Reign a chance. Right from the opening faceoff, the netminder was tested early and answered the bell. With the Reign having a slow start, Copley did everything he could to keep the Reign in the game while they looked to find their footing and get that first goal. Unfortunately, despite playing very well, Copley would be on the losing end. He made 24 saves on 25 shots faced in the defeat.

Power-less power play

If there is one area to point a finger at in the loss, it would be the power play. The Reign had six power-play opportunities, including a four-minute man advantage in the opening frame, and came away empty-handed on all of them. They couldn’t set anything up or generate any looks, and credit has to be given to the penalty killers of Tucson for applying pressure and not having the Reign execute their plays.

Marco Sturm often states how special teams can be the difference and decide a game, and last night was one of those games with the opportunities the Reign had.

Pinelli injury update

The Reign were without the services of Jeff Malott, with him being called up to the Kings earlier in the day, and were dealt another blow in the second period. Forward Francesco Pinelli didn’t start the second period on the Reign bench and would not finish the game. In his post-game media availability, when asked by Anthony Collazo of MayorsManor to provide an update, Sturm said Pinelli’s injury was upper-body related.

Pinelli’s last shift was in the final minutes of the first period, and it was tough to pinpoint when the injury occurred in that shift or throughout the opening period, so I won’t speculate when it happened. If Pinelli isn’t available in Saturday’s contest, Sturm can have Aatu Jamsen center the third line and insert Kaleb Lawrence into the lineup.

NOTES:

*Matthew Villalta earned his first career shutout as a visitor at Toyota Arena.

*The Reign were shut out on home ice for the fourth time this season and sixth overall.

*Despite the loss, the Reign’s magic number to clinch a playoff spot was trimmed from 10 to nine points with a Bakersfield Condors overtime loss to the Colorado Eagles. The Reign trail the Eagles by eight points for first place in the division. Although the Reign sit alone in second place, they have a three-point lead on the Abbotsford Canucks, Coachella Valley Firebirds, and San Jose Barracuda for the second seed.

UP NEXT: The Reign will be back in action on Saturday, March 29th, in the first game of a back-to-back weekend series at home against the Colorado Eagles. The 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 or ontarioreign.com/radio.

Featured image credit: Mike Zitek/Ontario Reign

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