Ontario Reign: Three Takeaways From 3-1 Win Over Iowa

The Ontario Reign salvage a weekend split against the Iowa Wild thanks to Martin Chromiak’s game-winning goal and Pheonix Copley’s 26 saves.

Goal Breakdown

First period:

IA: PP Gerry Mayhew (17), ASST: Ben Jones (12), Dylan Gambrell (21)

Second period: 

ONT: PP Nikita Alexandrov (12), ASST: Martin Chromiak (24), Cole Guttman (24)

Third period: 

ONT: Martin Chromiak (22), ASST: None

ONT: EN Andre Lee (25), ASST: None

Stats

Goals: 

ONT: 3

IA: 1

Shots: 

ONT: 25

IA: 27

Power plays: 

ONT: 1/2

IA: 1/5

Here are the three takeaways from Saturday afternoon’s victory:

Martin Chromiak’s spectacular goal stands as the game-winner

Martin Chromiak’s breakout campaign continued with a silky move for the game-winning goal. In a 1- 1 deadlock, either side was looking for a hero to grab the two points. The Reign were the ones who got their hero, and it came with a break along the way.

Iowa defenseman Matt Kiersted fanned on a cross-ice pass to his defensive partner. Chromiak picked up the puck, deked William Rousseau, and tucked the puck past the left pad of Rousseau by the post to give Ontario its first lead of the game and weekend.

The 22-year-old forward has not only had a breakout campaign, but has put himself into a potential call-up scenario. After going on a torrid stretch to end last season, Chromiak has finally put it all together this season, racking up 46 points (22 G, 24 A) in 61 games. He is tied for the team lead in points with Nikita Alexandrov.

Pheonix Copley is brilliant in net again

Coming off a horrible loss on Friday night, the Reign turned to Pheonix Copley in net on the second night of a back-to-back. Copley was brilliant from start to finish, which saw him stop 11 of 12 shots in the opening frame, including a breakaway bid from Reily Heidt less than three minutes into the contest.

Copley has surrendered one goal in consecutive starts, and they have both come at the right time to help the Reign get back in the win column after poor performances. He was named the second star of the game after making 26 saves on 27 shots (.963 sv%)

Astute penalty kill

Although the Reign gave up a power-play goal for the third straight game, they got timely penalty kills. Ontario’s penalty-kill units buckled down after allowing Gerry Mayhew’s power-play goal on a deflection, killing off four straight Wild power-play opportunities.

Ontario’s penalty kill continues to be a strength this season. They have gone 25-for-29 (86.2%) in March and rank second in both overall (85.0%) and on the road (87.4%) this season. Credit to Chris Hajt for the forward and defensive pairings and structure, in addition to the Reign goalies for making the saves when needed while shorthanded.

NOTES:

*Andre Lee recorded his 25th goal of the season with an empty-net tally.

*Alexandrov snapped a seven-game goal drought with his power-play goal in the second period.

*Chromiak recorded his 10th multi-point game this season.

*Copley recorded his 18th victory of the season.

*Ontario snapped a 0-for-15 skid on the power play with Alexandrov’s power-play goal.

*Ontario recorded its 40th win of the season. It’s the fifth time the Reign has recorded 40 wins in a season since their inaugural 2015-16 season.

*Ontario’s magic number to clinch a playoff spot is four points.

UP NEXT: The Ontario Reign will continue their road trip on Wednesday night in Henderson at 7 PM PST. It’ll be the final meeting this season between them and the Silver Knights. The game can be seen on FloSports, and you can listen to it on the Ontario Reign Radio Network or the ESPN LA app.

Featured image credit: Tim Garland/Iowa Wild

Tags:

Leave a Reply

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