Ontario Reign: Three Takeaways From 2-1 Victory Over Henderson

The Ontario Reign extended their win streak to seven games on the back of Erik Portillo’s 27-save performance.

Goal Breakdown

First period: 

ONT: Glenn Gawdin (12), ASST: Cole Guttman (22), Logan Brown (6)

Second period:

ONT: Cole Guttman (20), ASST: Glenn Gawdin (30)

Third period: 

HSK: Jeremy Davies (7), ASST: Alexander Holtz (1), Trevor Connelly (17)

Stats

Goals:

ONT: 2

HSK: 1

Shots: 

ONT: 25

HSK: 28

Power plays:

ONT: 0/0

HSK: 0/1

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

Gawds gets back on the scoresheet

Glenn Gawdin entered the game scoreless in his last three games. That changed quickly with his 12th goal of the season at the 13:24 mark of the opening frame on a beautiful passing play with his linemates, Logan Brown and Cole Guttman.

Gawdin also added an assist in the second period on Guttman’s goal, giving him his eighth multi-point game of the season. Gawdin’s point production is slightly down from last year, but he is still proving to be a valuable veteran presence and key player in all situations as Ontario’s first-line center.

Connors and Booth with solid games

Forward Kenny Connors and defenseman Angus Booth had solid games in Ontario’s victory. Connors was playing in his first game with the Reign after recently being loaned back by the Kings. Watching him closely, it looked like he didn’t miss a beat. Connors made a quiet impact with his defensive game with good backchecking, getting stick on pucks, and breaking up plays in the neutral and defensive zone.

Booth made waves for his offensive play throughout the week, but capped it off with a strong defensive game yesterday. One of Booth’s strengths is his gap control, which is complemented by his mobility and positioning, and his gap control in transition played a factor on at least two occasions in shutting down a Henderson chance. He’s made a great pairing alongside rookie left-handed defenseman Kirill Kirsanov.

Portillo was outstanding in the win

A low-scoring game often means your goaltender played well. Ontario got a strong performance between the pipes from Erik Portillo. Portillo turned away 27 saves on 28 shots. Not only was Portillo good at making the initial save, but his tracking of the rebound was strong, and he wasn’t erratic when recovering. Usually, that is a blemish on Portillo’s game because when he gets erratic in recovering to make the second and third opportunities, it usually comes back to bite him.

The third-year professional netminder wasn’t named a star of the game — and if you ask me, he should’ve — but was given the team cowboy hat after the game from Booth. Portillo has a .233 GAA and .909 save percentage in 22 games with Ontario.

NOTES:

*Guttman played in his 200th AHL game and recorded a goal and an assist. He hit the 20-goal mark for the second straight season.

*Brown recorded his fourth assist in four games.

*Ontario is 24-4-0-0 when scoring first and 25-2-1-0 when leading after two periods.

*Nikita Alexandrov and Aatu Jamsen missed their second straight game due to injuries. Jakub Dvořák missed his 10th straight game with an injury.

UP NEXT: The Ontario Reign return home for a crucial matchup against the Colorado Eagles on Wednesday at 7 PM PST. The game can be seen on FloSports and KCAL+ (channel 9.6). You can also listen to the game on the Ontario Reign Radio Network or on the ESPN LA app.

Featured image credit: Henderson Silver Knights

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