Notes and Stats From the Ontario Reign’s Preseason Finale Victory

In their first preseason game on Friday, the Ontario Reign won in extra time. Last night was the same story. The only difference was that last night, the Reign scored a buzzer-beating goal to force overtime in their 2-1 shootout win over their I-10 rivals, the Coachella Valley Firebirds.

Scoring

First period:

None

Second period:

CV: Tyson Jugnauth (1), ASST: Lleyton Roed (1), Eduard Sale (1)

Third period:

ONT: Kenny Connors (1), ASST: Joe Hicketts (1)

Overtime: 

None

Shootout:

ROUND ONE:

CV: Eduard Sale – NO GOAL

ONT: Taylor Ward – GOAL

ROUND TWO:

CV: Tyson Jugnauth – NO GOAL

ONT: Kenny Connors – NO GOAL

ROUND THREE:

CV: Julius Miettinen – NO GOAL

ONT: N/A

Stats

Goals:

ONT: 2

CV: 1

Shots: 

ONT: 36

CV: 19

Power plays:

ONT: 0/4

CV: 0/1

Last night’s game wasn’t broadcast on FloSports, and Ontario Reign Radio Network didn’t provide an audio feed. Instead, you had to find updates or follow the box score on the AHL website. Given the limited resources, this recap will be quick and provide a couple of stat nuggets from the preseason finale.

Most of the regulars played

Unlike Friday, Andrew Lord iced a lineup that could mirror what we’ll see on opening night. Kenny Connors, Jared Wright, Martin Chromiak, Aatu Jamsen, Koehn Ziemmer, Cole Guttman, Lane Pederson, Francesco Pinelli, Angus Booth, Joe Hicketts, and Jared Woolley were among many of the regulars to get one last preseason game under their belt before the real games begin this week. Guttman and Jacob Doty wore an A, while Hicketts wore the C.

Erik Portillo gets the start

Surprise! Erik Portillo was loaned back to the Reign earlier this morning and got his first preseason game action. The transaction may have surprised some after Ken Holland’s comments about the Kings potentially carrying three goalies and having Hampton Slukynsky and Carter George get the starts in the AHL. There is no indication that Portillo will stay with the Reign. Perhaps he gets called back up to the Kings eventually, and this was to get him into game action. We’ll see. As for last night, Portillo stopped 15 of 16 shots and all three shootout attempts.

Kenny Connors beats the buzzer; Taylor Ward scores in the shootout

It looked like the Reign were going to get shut out, but Kenny Connors didn’t let that happen with a game-tying goal in the final two seconds. After surviving a later penalty kill, the game went to a shootout where Taylor Ward — welcome back!– scored on Ontario’s first attempt for the only goal in the shootout.

Nearly doubling up the Firebirds in shots

According to the box score, the Reign were firing the puck all night. Ontario nearly doubled Coachella Valley in shots, 36-19. Ward and Wright each had a game-high four shots on goal.

Power play with a dud

The Reign power play went 0-for-4. In their thrilling five-game series against the Firebirds this past spring, the Reign went 0-for-9 in that category.

UP NEXT: The tune-up games are officially over. The real games will begin this weekend. The Ontario Reign’s first regular-season game is Friday, October 2nd, on the road in Palm Desert against the Coachella Valley Firebirds. You can watch the game on FloSports or listen to it on the Ontario Reign Radio Network.

Featured image credit: Megan Sanders/Ontario Reign

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