Ontario Reign: Three Takeaways From 2-1 OT Win Over San Jose

The Ontario Reign took the rubber match in their three-game series against the San Jose Barracuda with an overtime victory.

Goal Breakdown

First period: 

None

Second period:

ONT: Akil Thomas (3), ASST: Francesco Pinelli (4), Jack Millar (2)

Third period:

SJ: Igor Chernyshov (1), ASST: None

Overtime:

ONT: Taylor Ward (6), ASST: Akil Thomas (4)

Stats

Goals:

SJ: 1

ONT: 2

Shots: 

SJ: 27

ONT: 20

Power plays: 

SJ: 1/1

ONT: 0/3

Here are the three takeaways from last night’s 2-1 overtime victory:

Who else, but Taylor Ward!

Taylor Ward, who has been on fire over the last five games entering last night, was the overtime hero. Ward didn’t have a shot on goal through regulation, but when he finally got one that was on net, he didn’t miss his chance.

After Erik Portillo stopped San Jose’s lone overtime shot attempt, Thomas and Ward had a 2-on-1 attempt. Thomas slid the puck to Ward, and the latter did what he has done best in his last six games: score goals.

With that goal, Ward now has six goals in his last six games and nine points (6 G, 3 A) in that stretch.

No getting past Erik Portillo

Erik Portillo has exceeded my early expectations to start the season. Coming off a back injury that knocked him out of game action for two months, I expected him to be rusty and need time to get comfortable, game feel, and a rhythm.

It’s been the opposite.

Since allowing five goals in an opening night loss to the Tucson Roadrunners, Portillo has been a brick wall in net. The 25-year-old netminder has allowed two goals or less in his last six starts, posting a .933 save percentage in that stretch. He’s been tracking the puck well and making key saves when the Reign need them.

In this game, Portillo stopped 26 of 27 shots, earning his third straight victory. His only blemish came on a turnover leading to San Jose’s lonely tally, but other than that, he was brilliant between the pipes again.

Special teams hiccups

It wasn’t a great offensive showing for the Reign, and the 20 shots on goal back it up. When they had their opportunities on the power play, they came away empty-handed all three times. One of their power plays didn’t generate many shots on goal. The power play has to start capitalizing; otherwise, teams will hang around if you don’t put them away, which is what happened with the Reign.

As for the penalty kill, it has been leaking oil for a while now. That unit has allowed a power-play goal in five of the last six games. That area of special teams has to be better as well.

NOTES:

*Akil Thomas opened the scoring in the middle frame, snapping a goal drought that lasted seven games.

*Francesco Pinelli recorded an assist in his second straight game.

*Jacob Doty played in his 500th career professional game.

*Erik Portillo has stopped 62 of 64 shots in his two starts (both wins) against San Jose.

*Kyle Burroughs made his Reign and season debut after clearing waivers and being assigned to the club on Sunday.

UP NEXT: The Ontario Reign hit the road for a home-and-home weekend series with the San Diego Gulls. The first game is on Friday, November 7th, at 7 PM PST. It’s the first of four meetings between the two teams this season. You can catch the game on FloHockey or on the Ontario Reign radio network and the ESPN LA app.

Featured image credit: Ontario Reign

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