Four Third-period Goals Against Sunk The Ontario Reign In Their 5-2 Loss To The Texas Stars

The Ontario Reign allowed four third-period goals, which proved too much to overcome in their 5-2 loss to the Texas Stars.

Scoring

First period:

TEX: Artem Shlaine (2), ASST: Trey Taylor (2), Dylan Hryckowian (5)

Second period: 

ONT: Lane Pederson (3), ASST: Cole Guttman (5), Kirill Kirsanov (5)

Third period:

TEX: SH Mike Sgarbossa (6), ASST: Kyle Burroughs (4), Harrison Scott (1)

TEX: Connor Punnett (1), ASST: Kyle Looft (3), Jack Becker (1)

TEX: Ellis Rickwood (2), ASST: Justin Ertel (1), Kyle Burroughs (5)

ONT: Lane Pederson (4), ASST: Kenta Isogai (2), Cole Guttman (6)

TEX: EN, SH Artem Shlaine (3), ASST: Trey Taylor (3)

Stats

Goals:

ONT: 2

TEX: 5

Shots: 

ONT: 27

TEX: 19

Power plays:

ONT: 0/7

TEX: 0/4

The Ontario Reign had a chance to sweep a two-game set in Texas for the first time since February 27th, 2016; I was in 11th grade when that happened. Those chances vanished as Texas scored four third-period goals (one an empty-net add-on) to win 5-2 and split the weekend.

Here are my takeaways from last night’s defeat:

Special teams let down

The Reign entered the game with a power-play tally in four straight games, and in seven opportunities, they failed to cash in on the league’s worst penalty kill entering the day (63.6%). In addition to failing to score on at least one of their seven tries, the Reign surrendered two short-handed goals. The key one came with 13:45 left in the third, when Mike Sgarbossa scored on a 2-on-2 transition goal to give the Stars a 2-1 lead. The goal went blocker side, short-side high on Hampton Slukynsky, but poor communication between the two skaters defending the rush gave Sgarbossa just enough space to get closer to the high-danger scoring area. Momentum clearly swung in Texas’ favor after that goal.

Lane Pederson provides the offense

I thought Lane Pederson was by far the best Reign skater last night. He wasn’t shy about shooting the puck, was great defensively, and worked hard in all three zones. He led all skaters from both sides with six shots on goal, two of which found the back of the net.

He scored his first in the second period when a high-slot wrist shot snuck through Brandon Halverson’s arm. The second one came on a rebound scramble in front of the net with the Reign down by a trio of goals.

Pederson has filled in nicely and has given the Reign great offensive production (111 points in 8 games) as Glenn Gawdin’s replacement. Even more surprising has been his defensive game, which has been great.

Slukynsky is still looking for his first win

Depending on who you ask, some people rank Slukynsky as the organization’s number-one goalie prospect, with Carter George at two, and vice versa. George has won both of his starts, while Slukynsky is still searching for his first win of the season after three starts.

Slukynsky started well, making 2-3 great saves in the opening 20 minutes, but finished 14-for-18 (.778 sv%). He gave up some big rebounds, including the third goal, when he allowed a far-side rebound goal and no Reign defender was close enough to clear it.

Last year, we saw Slukynsky’s potential in both of his starts with the Reign at the end of last season, which led to excitement about him and George starting their first full professional season this year. However, I noted that he and/or George will likely have some growing pains this season, as reflected in my thoughts on the Reign’s 6-2 loss to the Coachella Valley Firebirds. He’s going through that now, but that is what the AHL is for: development.

NOTES:

*Cole Guttman (2 A), Lane Pederson (2 G), and Kirill Kirsanov (1 A) all extended their point streaks to three games. Kenta Isogai extended his point streak to two games with his assist.

*The seven power plays are the most in a game for the Reign this season.

*The Reign haven’t swept a two-game series in Texas since 2/26/16 – 2/27/16.

*Ontario allowed the first goal of the game for the seventh straight time. They have also been outscored 9-3 in the opening frame.

*Lane Pederson’s second-period goal pushed the Reign’s goal differential to a +4 (14-10). It’s been their best goal-scoring period through eight games

UP NEXT: The Reign will make its final stop on the three-game road trip in Henderson to face the Silver Knights on Wednesday, October 28th, at 7 PM PST. You can watch the game on FloSports or listen on the Ontario Reign Radio Network.

Featured image credit: Texas Stars

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