Ontario Reign: Three Takeaways From Game 3’s 2-1 Win

The Ontario Reign scored twice in the third period to turn the game around and hold on for a 2-1 win to take a 2-1 series lead.

Goal Breakdown

First period: 

CV: Jani Nyman (2), ASST: Jagger Firkus (2)

Second period: 

None

Third period: 

ONT: Aatu Jamsen (1), ASST: Jack Hughes (2), Kenta Isogai (1)

ONT: Logan Brown (2), ASST: Glenn Gawdin (1), Joe Hicketts (2)

Stats

Goals: 

ONT: 2

CV: 1

Shots:

ONT: 24

CV: 28

Power plays: 

ONT: 0/0

CV: 0/2

Here are the three takeaways from Game 3’s victory:

Rapid fire in the third period

The Reign were outshot 22-16 and trailed 1-0 entering the final, until Head Coach Andrew Lord shook up the lines in the second period and kept the new juggled lines in the final frame, which saw Aatu Jamsen dropped to the fourth line and Logan Brown moved up to the top line. Aatu Jamsen scored his first career AHL playoff goal, and Logan Brown scored in consecutive games in 80 seconds as the Reign turned the game around and hung on for a 2-1 victory in front of a stunned crowd of 6,515 at Acrisure Arena.

Jamsen’s goal came off a rebound after Nikita Novikov kept the puck in the zone and Kenta Isogai stripped the puck from Tyson Jugnauth, setting up Jack Hughes’ initial shot, which Nikke Kokko denied. Then Jamsen cashed in on the juicy rebound standing right in front of the net to tie the contest at one with 14:04 remaining in the game.

Brown’s goal looked like it was a set play. Joe Hicketts tried a long stretch pass from the Reign zone that was designed to hit off the end boards and pop out to the right circle, which was successful. His pass got deflected by Gawdin into the Coachella Valley end, bounced off the end boards, and came to the right circle. Brown won the race to the puck and quickly snapped it past Kokko to give the Reign the lead they would hold on to the rest of the way.

All it took was a quick, rapid fire for Ontario to take the lead.

Erik Portillo’s excellent showing

Lord is different from former Reign Head Coach Marco Sturm. Sturm was open in the past about having a number-one goalie come playoff time, but Lord has been the opposite in these playoffs. Through three games, Lord has rotated starts between Erik Portillo and Pheonix Copley and has kept his decision close to the vest.

After Copley got the start in Game 2, Lord turned back to Portillo as the starter, and he was excellent. Portillo surrendered the opening goal on Jany Nyman’s two-on-one goal late in the first period but wouldn’t allow another the rest of the way.

Portillo tracked the puck well and finished the night with 27 saves on 28 shots, including two massive saves on Nyman’s one-timer bids from the right circle while the Reign were short-handed in the final two minutes. The 25-year-old netminder earned the game’s second star.

Who will Lord start in Game 4? Will the goalie rotation continue? We’ll find out on Thursday.

Opportunity to advance

With the win, the Reign have taken a 2-1 lead in this best-of-five series. A win on Thursday will send them to the Pacific Division Finals. While it can be easy to look ahead, it is important for Ontario not to have that thought creep into their minds as Coachella Valley is expected to come out of the gates hard and play desperately in Thursday’s do-or-die Game 4 for them.

The Reign struggled for the first 40 minutes, and if they play like that in Game 4, it could spell a different result. Ontario will have to match the intensity of the Coachella Valley and play a better 60-minute game, like Game 2, if they want to end the series and avoid a winner-take-all Game 5 on home ice this Saturday.

NOTES:

*Brown’s goal stood as the game-winning goal.

*Hughes recorded an assist in his second consecutive game.

*The Reign killed off a 6-on-4 (goalie pulled for the Firebirds) Firebirds power play with 2:12 remaining. The penalty kill units have killed off nine straight Firebird power plays since JR Avon’s Game 1 power-play tally.

*Speaking of power plays, the Reign didn’t get a power-play opportunity for the second straight game. Their last power play attempt came in the second period of Game 1.

*Nyman scored his seventh career goal in 22 games against the Reign.

UP NEXT: Game 4 will be played on Thursday, May 7th, at 7 PM PST. The Reign will have an opportunity to advance, while the Firebirds will look to extend this series and take it to a winner-take-all Game 5. You can watch Game 4 on FloSports or listen to it on either the Ontario Reign Radio Network or on the ESPN LA app.

Featured image credit: Brandon Magpantay/Coachella Valley Firebirds

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