Ontario Reign: Plus and Minuses From Week 3

Week three for the Ontario Reign came and went, and they split the two games, going 1-1-0-0. The Reign picked up a 3-2 road win over their SoCal rivals in San Diego against the Gulls but lost at home to the Henderson Silver Knights, 5-2. As I did the previous two weeks, I noticed some good and bad in the Reign’s play and individual performances.

Here are the positives and negatives I took away from the two games last week:

Positives:

+: A pair of special teams goals in the same game

The Reign scored on the penalty kill and power play in the same game for the first time this season, which came in their 5-2 defeat to Henderson. Joe Hicketts scored the Reign’s short-handed tally on a second-period penalty shot attempt, his first attempt as a member of the Reign. Aatu Jamsen added a power-play goal past the halfway mark of the third period to pull the Reign within one, but it was as close as they’d get. That was the Reign’s second power-play goal of the week. The penalty kill has been lights out the past three games, but the power play needs to come along eventually.

+: Erik Portillo gets the win in his lone start

Erik Portillo redeemed himself 12 days after a rough opening night for him and the defense, as the Reign won 6-5 in overtime over the Coachella Valley Firebirds. In his second start of the season (the Reign have been rotating their three goalies through five games), Portillo turned aside 25 of 27 shots in the team’s 3-2 win over the San Diego Gulls.

+: Can Jamsen catch fire?

Aatu Jamsen finally scratched the scoresheet with a power-play goal. Jamsen had been quiet through the first four games, so getting on the board may get him going. As we saw last year, Jamsen started slowly but had a hot streak from January to February. He’s not the fastest or most physical skater, but he can be crafty and score in bunches when he is feeling it.

+: Penalty kill prowess

Once a low light in the first two games has turned into the team’s saving grace in the last three. After allowing five power-play goals in the first two games of the season, the Reign have gone 17-for-18 (94.4%) in the last three games. Over that span, the Reign have been short-handed six times on average, but their penalty kill unit and goaltenders deserve credit for getting the job done.

Negatives:

-: Too many penalties (again)

Yeah, as I mentioned, the penalty kill has been spectacular lately, but the Reign haven’t done a good job of staying out of the box. In all five games, the Reign have been shorthanded at least four times. Eventually, their lack of discipline will catch up to them if they don’t fix it.

-: Winless at home

This one is small, so there won’t be much to discuss. The Reign came away empty-handed in their second home game of the season. They are 0-2-0-0 at home, being outscored 11-4.

-: Surrendering the first goal

The theme of the Reign’s season so far is letting the other team take the lead first. Although they won three of their first five games, that is a recipe for disaster if it continues. In their last four games, the Reign have surrendered the first goal and trailed 2-0 at some point. The comeback wins are fine and show resilience, but constantly chasing the game is a bold strategy. Let’s see if that changes in week four.

Featured image credit: Megan Sanders/Ontario Reign

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