Ontario Reign: Three Takeaways From 5-3 Loss Against Abbotsford

The Ontario Reign couldn’t hold another third-period lead as the Abbotsford Canucks scored three unanswered goals to extend their win streak to three games.

Goal Breakdown

First period: 

ONT: Aatu Jamsen (12), ASST: Francesco Pinelli (15)

Second period: 

ABB: Jonathan Lekkerimaki (12), ASST: Ty Mueller (15), Jimmy Schuldt (10)

ABB: Ben Berard (10), ASST: Nils Aman (19), Sawyer Mynio (11)

ONT: Glenn Gawdin (11), ASST: Martin Chromiak (21), Nikita Alexandrov (30)

Third period: 

ONT: Aatu Jamsen (13), ASST: Nikita Alexandrov (31)

ABB: Jujhar Khaira (3), ASST: Victor Mancini (8), Jimmy Schuldt (11)

ABB: Jonathan Lekkerimaki (13), ASST: Ty Mueller (16), Arshdeep Bains (5)

ABB: Ty Mueller (10), ASST: Jett Woo (5), Arshdeep Bains (6)

Stats

Goals: 

ONT: 3

ABB: 5

Shots: 

ONT: 21

ABB: 27

Power plays: 

ONT: 1/2

ABB: 0/1

Here are the three takeaways from Monday afternoon’s 5-3 loss:

Kid Jamsen is on fire

Another tough loss for the Reign against Abbotsford, but Aatu Jamsen was one of the few bright spots. Kid Jamsen, as they call him, scored a pair of goals for the first time this season and the second in his North American professional career.

Jamsen’s first goal came on a gift as Nikita Tolopilo went to play the puck behind his net; the puck hopped over his stick, and Pinelli, in on the forecheck, quickly found Jamsen in front, and the latter didn’t miss the open cage. His second goal most likely had some mathematics involved as he snuck one by Tolopilo from an impossible angle to give Ontario a 3-2 lead, which would be their last of the game.

Despite a rocky start to the season, Jamsen’s offensive game has been unlocked for the past 19 games. In that stretch, he has recorded 13 points, including nine goals. After having to adjust to the smaller North American ice sheet and style of play last year, it seems that Jamsen has flourished offensively, and, might I add, has even added some physicality to his game to match his skill and skating.

Another power play goal

Special teams continue to give Ontario a boost. They killed off the lone Abbotsford power play in the second period, but scored once again on a man-advantage opportunity of their own.

Glenn Gawdin’s 11th tally of the season extended Ontario’s power-play goal scoring streak to three games and four of their last five. Since the calendar turned to 2026, Ontario is 17-for-60 (28.3%) on the power play. The first unit, which consists of five forwards, has played a major role in Ontario’s power play being in the top ten.

Need a better effort

Simply put, this was not a good game by the Reign. Yes, they scored three goals, but I felt they were constantly on their heels for most of the game, minus the final five minutes when they pulled Pheonix Copley for the extra attacker. Up until that point, they had only 11 shots on goal before recording 10 more after the final media timeout.

Their passing wasn’t crisp, their exit from the zone wasn’t sharp, and several defensive zone breakdowns, especially in the third period, hurt them as Abbotsford capitalized twice on them. In a game they looked to rebound after a tough loss on Saturday night against the same Canucks, Ontario looked flat, and, as former Reign Head Coach Marco Sturm would say, there were too many passengers except for the Pinelli-Connors-Jamsen line.

Saturday’s game was one Ontario played well enough to win, but not yesterday, with the performance they had. With that, they head back to California with a pair of losses

NOTES:

*The loss gives Ontario their second straight loss for the fourth time this season.

*Alexandrov recorded his first multi-point game since January 24th against the Eagles when he also recorded a pair of assists.

*Gawdin’s goal gave him his fifth in ten games.

*Martin Chromiak has an assist in back-to-back games.

*Abbotsford extended its win streak to three games.

UP NEXT: These two teams meet again on Wednesday, but this time in Ontario at Toyota Arena at 7 PM PST. You can watch the game on FloSports or KCAL+ (channel 9.6). If you are unable to watch the game, you can listen to it on the Ontario Reign Radio Network or on the ESPN LA app.

Featured image credit: Darren Scott Francis/Abbotsford Canucks

Tags:

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *