Ontario Reign: Notes From 4-3 SO Win Over Colorado

The Ontario Reign pulled off an improbable third-period comeback in their road win over the Colorado Eagles last night.

Goal Breakdown

First period:

COL: Jayson Megna (19), ASST: Tye Fellhaber (11), Alex Barre-Boulet (24)

COL: Zakhar Bardakov (1), ASST: Taylor Makar (6), Wyatt Aamodt (13)

Second period:

None

Third period:

COL: Jason Polin (4), ASST: Alex Gagne (9), Nikita Prishchepov (9)

ONT: PP Nikita Alexandrov (8), ASST: Martin Chromiak (11), Kenny Connors (13)

ONT: Kenny Connors (9), ASST: Martin Chromiak (12), Nikita Alexandrov (23)

ONT: PP Nikita Alexandrov (9), ASST: Martin Chromiak (13)

Overtime:

None

Shootout:

ROUND ONE:

COL: Danil Gushchin – NO GOAL

ONT: Cole Guttman – NO GOAL

ROUND TWO:

COL: Ivan Ivan – GOAL

ONT: Kenny Connors – GOAL

ROUND THREE:

COL: Jayson Megna – NO GOAL

ONT: Glenn Gawdin – NO GOAL

ROUND FOUR:

COL: TJ Tynan – NO GOAL

ONT: Nikita Alexandrov – NO GOAL

ROUND FIVE:

COL: Alex Barre-Boulet – NO GOAL

ONT: Aatu Jamsen – GOAL

Stats

Goals: 

ONT: 4

COL: 3

Shots:

ONT: 36

COL: 38

Power plays:

ONT: 2/5

COL: 0/2

Here are some notes from yesterday’s thrilling 3-0 third-period comeback:

Improbable third-period comeback

Down 3-0 on the second night of a back-to-back against Colorado, the Reign could’ve mailed it in and looked forward to Saturday. Nope. Nikita Alexandrov, Martin Chromiak, and Kenny Connors spearheaded the charge offensively as the trio all had multi-point games. Alexandrov (2-1-3) and Chromiak (0-3-3) factored in on all three of Ontario’s goals while Connors chipped in with a goal and an assist.

Jamsen provides the finnishing touch to complete the comeback

The night after tallying a goal and an assist, Aatu Jamsen secured the two points for Ontario by providing the finnishing touch with his shootout goal. It was Jamsen’s first attempt of the year, and he went five-hole to win it. The Reign have carried over the shootout dominance from last year, but the only difference is that they are no longer winning them easily. Glenn Gawdin and Jeff Malott would mainly be the two shooters for the Reign, while the goalies turned aside both of the opposition attempts. This year has been by committee.

Copley stellar in goal

Although he allowed three goals, Pheonix Copley was spectacular in net once again for the Reign. The veteran netminder turned aside 35 of 38 shots and four more in the shootout. He played just as much of a part in Ontario’s comeback as Alexandrov, Chromiak, and Connors did.

Power play providing the power

The Reign’s power play added two more goals, and they both couldn’t have come at a better time, coming off the stick of Alexandrov. Alexandrov scored the Reign’s first tally on the power play and tied the game with 19 seconds left in regulation as he was the recipient of a sweet backdoor dish from Chromiak. With their two power-play markers, Ontario has scored at least one power-play goal in seven of its last eight games. They are 9-for-31 (29.0%) in that span. The five-forward unit has done wonders!

A statement with a series sweep

Win of the year? For now. Ontario’s biggest win of the season earned them back-to-back wins at Colorado to complete the two-game series sweep. They will also finish the season by winning three of the four games in Colorado for the season series. These two road wins are huge because they could give the Reign the mindset of finally jumping over that mental hurdle of playing in Colorado, where they have not had much success in recent memory.

OTHER NOTES:

*Martin Chromiak’s three primary assists moved his point total up to 28 points. A much better spot at this point than a year ago.

*Kenny Connors now has five points in his last five games.

*Alexandrov led all skaters with nine(!) shots on goal.

UP NEXT: The Ontario Reign continue their three-game road trip with a two-game series in Texas against the Stars. The first game of that series is on Saturday, January 17th, at 5 PM PST. You can watch the game on FloHockey or listen to it on the Ontario Reign Radio Network and the ESPN LA app.

Featured image credit: Colorado Eagles

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