Ontario Reign: Three Takeaways From 6-3 Win Over Colorado

A complete team effort on the offensive end propelled the Ontario Reign to a 6-3 victory over the Colorado Eagles on Tuesday night.

Goal Breakdown

First period: 

ONT: Samuel Bolduc (5), ASST: Tim Rego (2), Aatu Jamsen (7)

COL: Chase Bradley (5), ASST: Jason Polin (4), Nikita Prishchepov (7)

Second period: 

ONT: Francesco Pinelli (5), ASST: None

ONT: Tim Rego (2), ASST: Kenta Isogai (1), Kaleb Lawrence (2)

Third period: 

ONT: Aatu Jamsen (7), ASST: Jack Hughes (9), Francesco Pinelli (11)

COL: Nikita Prishchepov (2), ASST: Ronnie Attard (10), Jack Ahcan (18)

ONT: Jared Wright (8), ASST: Kenny Connors (12)

ONT: PP Martin Chromiak (15), ASST: Glenn Gawdin (24), Cole Guttman (15)

COL: Chase Bradley (6), ASST: Jason Polin (5), Nikita Prishchepov (8)

Stats

Goals:

ONT: 6

COL: 3

Shots:

ONT: 21

COL: 34

Power plays:

ONT: 1/3

COL: 0/3

Here are the three takeaways from Tuesday night’s victory:

Strong performance from Erik Portillo

Erik Portillo had a strong performance, stopping 31 of 34 (.912 sv%) Eagle shots to earn his first road win at Colorado in his career. Despite the box score saying three goals against, Portillo was sharp, especially in the second period, where he turned aside all 16 shots he faced, and his movement looked on point. The 25-year-old has won all three of his starts since returning from injury and has looked brilliant.

Penalty kill success continues

The Reign’s penalty kill continues to shut down the opposition as of late. The squad went 3-for-3 on last night against a Colorado team that led the AHL in power play percentage (31.5%) on home ice entering the day. With their perfect night on the penalty kill, the Reign have killed off 30 of the last 33 opposition power plays, good enough for a 90.9% success rate. It also helps that the goalies have been their best penalty killers as well.

Team effort leads to a big win

Scoring by committee up and down the lineup was the theme for the Reign in this game and has been all season. Aatu Jamsen, Francesco Pinelli, and Tim Rego all led the way with a goal and an assist each as Ontario had six different goal scorers and 12 skaters record at least one point. Although Ontario only accumulated 21 shots on goal, their six goals proved they can capitalize on opportunities when it matters most in their offensive trashing against Colorado.

NOTES:

*Samuel Bolduc scored his first goal since Halloween night. It was his third goal and fifth point against Colorado in five games this season.

*Martin Chormiak scored his second power-play goal against Colorado this year.

*Jack Hughes recorded his third assist in three games.

*Jared Wright’s eighth goal of the season improved his +/- rating to +17. That leads all Reign skaters.

*Cole Guttman recorded an assist in his first game back in the lineup after being loaned back from the Kings.

*Glenn Gawdin’s assist earned him his fifth point against the Eagles in five games.

*With the loss, the Eagles have now lost five games on home ice, two of them coming at the hands of Ontario.

*Ontario improved its records to 14-1-0-0 when scoring first, 16-0-1-0 when leading after two periods, and 10-2-0-0 after a loss. The win gave them sole possession of first place in the Pacific Division entering today.

UP NEXT: The Ontario Reign and Colorado Eagles meet again for the rematch tonight at 6:05 PM PST. The game can be seen on FloHockey, and you can also listen to it on the Ontario Reign Radio Network or on the ESPN LA app.

Featured image credit: Colorado Eagles

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