Ontario Reign: Three Takeaways From 4-2 Loss to Tucson

A late power-play goal by the Tucson Roadrunners leads to the Ontario Reign’s sixth loss in their last nine games, with the playoffs looming.

Goal Breakdown

First period:

TUC: Cameron Hebig (20), ASST: Ben McCartney (28), Kevin Rooney (11)

Second period:

TUC: Julian Lutz (5), ASST: None

ONT: Jakub Dvořák (4), ASST: Andre Lee (18), Glenn Gawdin (33)

ONT: Kenny Connors (12), ASST: Aatu Jamsen (11), Koehn Ziemmer (12)

Third period:

TUC: PP Andrew Agozzino (17), ASST: Dmitri Simashev (27), Scott Perunovich (35)

TUC: EN Andrew Agozzino (18), ASST: Austin Poganski (28)

Stats

Goals:

ONT: 2

TUC: 4

Shots: 

ONT: 24

TUC: 40

Power plays: 

ONT: 0/3

TUC: 1/5

Here are the three takeaways from Saturday night’s loss:

Better play will be needed

The Reign Train has hit a rough patch over the last two and a half weeks, losing six of its last nine games. The recent skid (3-3-2-1) has seen the Reign’s overall play scuffle. On offense, they’re averaging over two goals per game (2.3) and 24 shots per game.

As the offensive numbers have taken a hit, so has their execution. It seems teams have brought a heavy forecheck and closing off the gaps along the wall, leading to unsuccessful clean breakouts, pinning Ontario in their end.

Although the Reign have found ways to combat that by finding ways to win games with late-game heroics earlier in the season, it’s finally caught up with them. Having cleaner breakouts with a better first pass from the defensemen is one way to improve their execution, leading to offensive zone time. Either way, the Reign will need to improve their play if they want to go on a deep playoff run, or it will be a quick second straight playoff exit.

Erik Portillo solid in net but suffers a fifth straight loss

Erik Portillo was spectacular between the pipes again. He faced 39 shots and stopped 36 of them, but ended up on the losing side for the fifth straight start. The Reign have had to rely on their goalies quite a bit this season when they haven’t brought their best from puck drop, and Portillo did that. Portillo’s best save was a left pad save on Ben McCartney’s breakaway bid at 8:15 of the second period to keep the score a 1-0 Roadrunners lead.

His puck tracking on the initial shot was solid, but he did get out of position on the rebound on two occasions in the final frame. Despite that, he gave Ontario a chance to win, and that’s all you can ask for.

Jamsen returns to the lineup

After missing 10 games with an injury, Aatu Jamsen returned to the lineup and played on the third line with Francesco Pinelli and Logan Brown. The 22-year-old recorded a primary assist, finding Kenny Connors in the slot with a pass behind the Tucson net. The assist gave him his 26th point of the season, making him a half-point per game player this season (52 games). Having him back in the lineup should give Ontario a boost for secondary scoring with seven regular-season games remaining and in the playoffs.

NOTES:

*Jakub Dvořák recorded his fourth goal of the season.

*Connors’ 12th goal of the season came against his former collegiate teammate at UMass, Michael Hrabel. Hrabel earned the first star of the game honors with his 22-save performance.

*Andre Lee finished with 11 points (5 G, 6 A) in eight regular-season games against the Roadrunners.

*Portill has recorded a .902 sv% despite losing his last five starts.

*The Reign was held to two goals or fewer for the fifth time in their last ten games.

*Ontario is now 9-5-1-1 when tied after two periods of play.

*Ontario went 6-1-1-0 against Tucson in the eight regular-season matchups.

UP NEXT: The Ontario Reign will conclude their six-game road trip in Coachella Valley on Wednesday, April 1st (no, this is not an April Fool’s joke). The game starts at 6:30 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: Kate Dibildox/Tucson Roadrunners

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