Penalties Continue To Be a Problem In The Ontario Reign’s 5-2 Loss to The Henderson Silver Knights

The Ontario Reign were shorthanded six times, disrupting their rhythm in a 5-2 loss to the Henderson Silver Knights on Saturday night.

Scoring

First period:

None

Second period: 

HSK: Jackson Hallum (1), ASST: Viliam Kmec (2), Matyas Sapovaliv (1)

HSK: Mitch McLain (1), ASST: Adam Ginning (2)

ONT: SH, PS Joe Hicketts (1), ASST: None

Third period:

HSK: Alexander Holtz (4), ASST: Jonas Rondbjerg (2)

ONT: PP Aatu Jamsen (1), ASST: Kenny Connors (3), Koehn Ziemmer (1)

HSK: EN Mitch McLain (2), ASST: Alexander Holtz (4), Ville Heinola (4)

HSK: EN Jakub Demek (1), ASST: Jackson Hallum (1), Viliam Kmec (3)

Stats

Goals:

HSK: 5

ONT: 2

Shots: 

HSK: 27

ONT: 18

Power plays: 

HSK: 0/6

ONT: 0/3

After a strong 60-minute effort against the San Diego Gulls on Wednesday, the Reign followed that up with a less-than-ideal performance. Ontario surrendered the first goal again and kept going to the penalty box. Although the Reign won the special teams battle, the high number of penalties disrupted their rhythm, and they never established a five-on-five game.

My takeaways from yesterday’s game.:

Hicketts & Jamsen score their first of the season

The Reign got two special teams goals from Joe Hicketts (shorthanded) and Aatu Jamsen (power play). Hicketts’ tally came with 4:52 left in the middle frame after he was fouled from behind on a short-handed breakaway. On his first penalty shot attempt in his fourth season with the Reign, he got the puck past Carl Lindbom for his first of the season and gave the Reign life.

Trailing by two goals once more, Aatu Jamsen got his first marker of the season on a quick one-timer from the bottom of the right circle. He received a beautiful dish from Kenny Connors off the wall. Jamsen is a streaky player, but when he gets going, he can be hotter than a pistol and score in bunches as we saw last season.

Slukynsky gets the start as the goalie rotation continues

Erik Portillo to Hampton Slukynsky to Carter George, back to Portillo and Slukynsky. Over five games, the Reign have rotated their three goalies as head coach Andrew Lord and his staff balance their playing time.

Slukynsky made his second start of the season and played solidly on a night when the Reign didn’t play at their best. Slukynsky made 22 saves on 25 shots, giving the Reign a chance to win. If there is one goal he’d like back, it’s Mitch McLain’s first goal in the second period from the corner wall below the goal line that snuck past him, making it 2-0 Henderson.

The Reign have three games scheduled next week, so we should see all three get a start.

Playing catch-up

Surrendering the first goal seems to be a theme early in the Reign’s young season. For the fourth straight game, the Reign found themselves trailing 1-0; only this time, they couldn’t recover as they did the previous two games. Ontario’s puck management, wall play, and all-game catch-up made for a recipe for disaster. The season is young, but falling behind early and being outscored 7-3 in the first 20 minutes isn’t the best way to start a game.

Another high number of penalties

Penalties, penalties, and more penalties.

I feel like I’ve brought this up the past two or three games because it’s been an issue for the Reign at the start of the season. Ontario was shorthanded six times, marking the fifth straight game the opposition has had at least four power-play opportunities.

Even though the Reign won the special-teams battle by scoring on the power play and penalty kill and killing off 17 of their 18 penalties, being shorthanded often disrupts a team’s flow. Your penalty killers log more ice time, the lines get juggled, and the game’s flow dissipates for a team that likes to roll all four lines. The Reign need to limit their penalties going forward.

NOTES:

*Aatu Jamsen played in his 100th AHL game.

*Carter George served as the backup netminder to Hampton Slukynsky. Erik Portillo was a healthy scratch.

*Vojtěch Čihař and Henry Brzustewicz drew back into the lineup for Jacob Doty and Jared Woolley. Čihař played on the third line while Brzustewicz was paired with Angus Booth.

*18 shots on goal were the lowest in a game for the Reign this season.

*Kaleb Lawrence recorded his first fighting major of the season.

*Kenny Connors recorded his third assist of the season.

*Taylor Ward was recalled to the Kings yesterday morning; Jared Wright was loaned back to the Reign as part of the transaction.

UP NEXT: The Ontario Reign return to action with a home game against the division’s first-place team, the Calgary Wranglers, on Tuesday, October 20th. The game starts at 7 PM PST and can be seen on FloSports. If you can’t watch, you can listen on the Ontario Reign Radio Network.

Featured image credit: Jon Herta/Ontario Reign

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