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

The Ontario Reign completed the weekend sweep over the Calgary Wranglers on Joe Hicketts’ overtime winning-goal.

Goal Breakdown

First period: 

None

Second period: 

CGY: Aydar Suniev (5), ASST: Daniil Mirmanov (6), Sam Morton (9)

ONT: Andre Lee (8), ASST: Kenny Connors (9), Jared Wright (2)

Third period: 

None

Overtime: 

ONT: Joe Hicketts (3), ASST: Cole Guttman (8), Angus Booth (2)

Stats

Goals: 

CGY: 1

ONT: 2

Shots: 

CGY: 16

ONT: 27

Power plays: 

CGY: 0/2

ONT: 0/3

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

Oh captain, my captain!

This game was a close one from start to finish, and it required overtime. For the fourth time in five tries, the Reign won a game in overtime, thanks to captain Joe Hicketts. It wasn’t pretty, as it was a broken play where the second-year team captain came off the bench and had the puck in the slot.

He tried to find Cole Guttman to the far right post, but the forward couldn’t get a shot off. Somehow, the puck went right to Hicketts’ stick after netminder Connor Murphy directed the puck toward the area where Hicketts was with his paddle, and the Reign captain didn’t miss a wide-open four-by-six cage when the puck hopped onto his stick.

Hicketts isn’t going to wow you with high offensive skill because his best attribute is leading by example on the defensive end for the young prospects like Angus Booth, Kirill Kirsanov, Jakub Dvořák, and Otto Salin. However, it’s good to see him get rewarded offensively in a game like last night when the Reign needed a hero.

Third line success

The third line of Andre Lee, Kenny Connors, and Jared Wright has arguably been the most consistent line for head coach Andrew Lord. The trio has been the starting line for almost every game and can be used in every situation, including matching up against the opposition’s best players.

They tallied the only Reign goal in regulation on Andre Lee’s eighth of the season, as Kenny Connors found the big man in front of the net on a nice pass from behind the Wrangler red line; Jared Wright picked up the secondary assist.

All three have had a great season up to date, playing a full 200-foot game.

Saville earns the win in his first home start for the Reign

Isaiah Saville hasn’t seen much action with the Reign this season, but when he has, he has looked solid. Saville got his second start of the season and turned aside 15 of 16 Calgary shots to earn his third win of the season.

Although Saville is not a Los Angeles Kings prospect, he is playing for a future AHL or NHL contract for 32 teams next season, and any good performance will help him in that regard.

NOTES:

*Andre Lee set a new career high in the AHL with his eighth goal of the season. He has 17 points in 21 games and leads the Reign in scoring.

*Kenny Connors recorded an assist for the second straight game.

*Cole Guttman extended his point streak to five games and has 10 points in his last 10 games.

*The Reign got eight total points from their defensive group in the two games.

*The Reign took three out of four games from the Wranglers in their year’s season series.

*With the win, the Reign improved their home record to 8-2-1-0. Their points percentage of .773 at home is tied for fifth in the AHL.

UP NEXT: The Ontario Reign return to action on Tuesday, December 9th, against the Texas Stars to conclude their four-game homestand. The puck drops at 7 PM PST and can be seen on FloHockey and KCAL+ (channel 9.6). If you can’t watch the game, you can listen to it on the Ontario Reign radio network or on the ESPN LA app.

Featured image credit: Ontario Reign

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