Ontario Reign: Three Takeaways From 6-1 Victory Over Calgary

The Ontario Reign bounced back after Sunday’s loss with a 6-1 rout against the Calgary Wranglers on Saturday night.

Goal Breakdown

First period: 

CGY: Daniil Miromanov (3), ASST: None

ONT: Kirill Kirsanov (1), ASST: Andre Lee (9), Kenny Connors (8)

ONT: PP Andre Lee (7), ASST: Cole Guttman (7), Samuel Bolduc (4)

Second period: 

ONT: Martin Chromiak (7), ASST: Taylor Ward (4), Samuel Bolduc (5)

ONT: Kirill Kirsanov (2), ASST: Samuel Bolduc (6), Francesco Pinelli (7)

ONT: Nikita Alexandrov (4), ASST: Koehn Ziemmer (4), Kyle Burroughs (5)

Third period: 

ONT: Francesco Pinelli (3), ASST: Martin Chromiak (9)

Stats

Goals: 

CGY: 1

ONT: 6

Shots: 

CGY: 20

ONT: 24

Power plays: 

CGY: 0/3

ONT: 1/4

Here are the three takeaways from Saturday night’s 6-1 victory:

Kirill the thrill

Kirill Kirsanov is quietly having a good start to his first season in North America, but last night was the opposite of quiet. Known more for his defensive game, especially with his good stick placement and defending the rush, it was the offensive side of the game that stood out for the 23-year-old.

Kirsanov registered two shots on goal, and both of them found the back of the net for his first two professional goals in North America. It wasn’t flashy, but hey, they never ask how you score goals anyway.

“He’s a very sound, solid D man. Good stick and details. Overall, he’s hard to play against. It was nice to see him chip in two there on two really good shots,” head coach Andrew Lord said when praising the young defenseman after the game.

He was named the game’s first star for his performance.

Alexandrov scores in his Reign debut

Nikita Alexandrov, acquired in a trade by the LA Kings with the St. Louis Blues for Akil Thomas, made his Reign debut playing with Glenn Gawdin and Cole Guttman on the top line and was also given power-play time. Alexandrov was noticeable throughout the whole night from start to finish. He was getting to the right areas, but the puck would either roll off his stick or his timing would be off when Guttman would feed him a pass.

Eventually, he got his first goal with a slot shot on a nice pass from Koehn Ziemmer in the second period to extend the Reign’s lead to 5-1. With only one game under his belt, I expect Alexandrov to get his timing down with Guttman and become comfortable with the system and style the Reign play as time goes on.

Things get heated

The Reign and Wranglers aren’t big rivals, but have had their fair share of heated moments in the past. With the score being lopsided in Ontario’s favor late in the second period, tension started to boil over.

Defenseman Otto Salin got into two clashes on two separate occasions with a Wrangler player in the second and third periods, receiving roughing penalties both times. Andre Lee threw three hits in a shift late in the third period after receiving a late hit after a whistle moments prior.

Photo credit: Jon Huerta/Ontario Reign
Photo credit: Megan Sanders/Ontario Reign

To top off those two incidents, and many more, Gawdin received a major penalty for slashing and a game misconduct with 5:37 remaining in the game after Martin Frk attempted to line him up with a hit in the neutral zone along the boards.

After the game, coach Lord didn’t seem to mind the physicality at all.

“Probably,” Lord said if he thinks there will be any carryover into today’s game. “I didn’t think anything was too crazy out there. Just good, competitive hockey, and I expect the same tomorrow.”

Maybe, just maybe, we might see a little bit more of this today.

NOTES:

*The Reign scored six goals in a game for the second time this season.

*Martin Chromiak scored his first goal since November 15th. He also added an assist.

*Francesco Pinelli scored his first goal since October 26th. He also added an assist.

*Andre Lee’s power-play tally in the first period gave him his fifth on the season; that leads the team.

*Cole Guttman continues to be on a heater. He extended his point streak to four games and has nine points in his last nine games.

*Samuel Bolduc recorded three assists for his first three-point game with the Reign. His first assist of the game, which came on Lee’s goal, was his 100th career AHL point.

*Pheonix Copley earned his third win in his last four starts. He made 19 saves on 20 shots.

*Andrew Lord provided an update on goaltender Erik Portillo’s injury after the game. Although no return date was given, the bench boss sounded positive and is hopeful his injury doesn’t keep him sidelined much longer.

*Ontario is 9-0-1-0 when leading after two periods and is 7-1-0-0 after a loss.

UP NEXT: These two teams are back at it this afternoon at Toyota Arena again. It’s the final matchup this season between them. The puck drops at 3 PM PST, and you can watch it on FloHockey or KCAL+ (channel 9.6). If you can’t watch the game, you can listen to it on the Ontario Reign radio network or the ESPN LA app.

Featured image credit: Jon Huerta/Ontario Reign

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