Ontario Reign: Three Takeaways From 4-3 SO Loss to Colorado

The Ontario Reign’s seven-game win streak came to an end with their 4-3 shootout loss to the Colorado Eagles on Wednesday night.

Goal Breakdown

First period:

ONT: Francesco Pinelli (10), ASST: Jack Hughes (11)

ONT: Martin Chromiak (20), ASST: Glenn Gawdin (31), Logan Brown (7)

Second period:

COL: Alex Barre-Boulet (18), ASST: Jayson Megna (20)

COL: Wyatt Aamondt (4), ASST: TJ Tynan (34), Jack Ahcan (33)

COL: Tristen Nielsen (21), ASST: Valtteri Puustinen (25), TJ Tynan (35)

Third period:

ONT: Glenn Gawdin (13), ASST: Cole Guttman (23)

Overtime:

None

Shootout:

ROUND ONE:

COL: Danil Gushchin – GOAL

ONT: Cole Guttman – GOAL

ROUND TWO:

COL: Luke Toporowski – NO GOAL

ONT: Kenny Connors – NO GOAL

ROUND THREE:

COL: Tristen Nielsen – GOAL

ONT: Glenn Gawdin – NO GOAL

Stats

Goals:

COL: 4

ONT: 3

Shots: 

COL: 20

ONT: 30

Power play: 

COL: 0/2

ONT: 0/3

Here are the three takeaways from Wednesday night’s defeat:

Martin Chromiak hits the 20-goal plateau

The beat goes on for Martin Chromiak. His incredible breakout campaign tour hit new heights last night: 20 goals. The goal by Chromiak wasn’t your ordinary slap shot on the power play or perfectly placed wrist shot. No, it was a sweet play all around, with a little bit of luck.

Glenn Gawdin got around Tristen Nielson, got the puck to Chromiak — who made a nice skate to stick reception — flicked a shot between the legs that would’ve gone wide of the net, but the puck banked off the defenseman Bryan Yoon, and ultimately by Trent Miner.

The 20-goal mark is just another offensive stat indicating the season Chromiak is having. His struggles last season are well-documented at this point, but the resurgence this year, not only offensively, but also in his overall game, has been noticeable.

He’s re-established himself as a potential candidate for a call-up this year after not seeing the light at the end of the tunnel last season.

Second period lapse

The second period has been Ontario’s best as of late. In fact, entering last night’s contest, the Reign outscored their opponents on the season 64-42 (+22). After storming out to a 2-0 lead and playing strongly, their fortunes reversed in the second period.

For starters, Miner made several big saves at the end of the first. Then Alex Barre-Boulet scored a goal off the faceoff, and the game turned around. Colorado started to find their game, dictate the pace, and tacked on two more goals 67 seconds apart. Colorado started to gain momentum and pin the Reign in their end for consecutive shifts, creating pressure.

For as young a team as Ontario is, it’s a good lesson that any small lapse against top teams like Colorado can decide a game.

Erik Portillo gets the start

Since January 4th, Andrew Lord has opted to run a goalie rotation, citing ‘confidence’ in both Pheonix Copley and Erik Portillo, no matter who starts. Portillo started on Sunday, meaning that Copley would get his turn for this game.

Wrong.

Lord scratched the goalie rotation and appointed Portillo the starting goalie for the second straight game. It was the first time a Reign goaltender started back-to-back games since December 31st and January 3rd. In his postgame availability, Lord stated it was a decision internally and felt for a ‘couple of different reasons’ Portillo should be the starting goalie for this game.

With the playoffs a month away, and the timing of the decision, we’ll see how Lord and his staff deploy the two goalies moving forward. I would expect him to have a number-one goalie by then, but we are far out from that date. With a back-to-back this weekend, we could see both get a start.

NOTES:

*Glenn Gawdin recorded a multi-point game for the second straight game. It was his ninth multi-point game of the season.

*Cole Guttman extended his point streak to five games with an assist. He has six points in this stretch.

*Logan Brown recorded his fifth assist in five games.

*Francesco Pinelli scored his 10th goal of the season.

*Nikita Novikov made his Reign debut after being loaned to Ontario by the Buffalo Sabres organization on Monday. The 6’4 defenseman was a +1 rating and registered four shots on goal.

*Portillo made 17 saves in the loss.

*The game had a playoff feel to it with its physicality. Andre Lee seemed to be in the middle of scrums on several occasions on the Reign side and, at one point, received a roughing penalty with Alex Gagne near the end of the second period.

Photo credit: Ontario Reign

UP NEXT: The Ontario Reign hit the road to begin a home-and-home weekend series against the Coachella Valley Firebirds. The first game is on Friday, March 13th, at Acrisure Arena. The game starts at 7 PM PST and can be seen on FloSports. You can also listen to the game on the Ontario Reign Radio Network or on the ESPN LA app.

Featured image credit: Ontario Reign

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