A Disastrous Third Period Dooms the Ontario Reign in Their 5-4 Home Loss to the Tucson Roadrunners

A great 40 minutes went down the drain as the Ontario Reign surrendered five third-period goals in game one of their weekend series against the Tucson Roadrunners.

Scoring

First period:

ONT: PP Aatu Jamsen (3), ASST: Kenny Connors (4), Cole Guttman (7)

Second period:

ONT: Jack Millar (1), ASST: Kirill Kirsanov (6), Kenny Connors (5)

Third period:

TUC: Austin Poganski (3), ASST: Cameron Hebig (3), Ben McCartney (10)

TUC: Cameron Hebig (6), ASST: None

ONT: Kaleb Lawrence (1), ASST: Jacob Doty (1)

TUC: SH Brandon Tanev (2), ASST: Kevin Rooney (1)

TUC: Cameron Hebig (7), ASST: Gregor Biber (3), Julian Lutz (2)

TUC: EN, SH Tomas Lavoie (2), ASST: None

ONT: PP Koehn Ziemmer (4), ASST: Kenny Connors (6), Lane Pederson (8)

Stats

Goals:

TUC: 5

ONT: 4

Shots: 

TUC: 30

ONT: 37

Power plays:

TUC: 0/3

ONT: 2/5

The Reign returned home, looking to turn things around after the previous two games. Through 40 minutes, it looked like they were going to do that. Then a harmless backhand shot that beat Erik Portillo shifted the tide, and an avalanche ensued. A 2-0 lead after two periods evaporated into a 5-4 loss after a horrendous third period by the Reign, extending their losing streak to three games.

Here are my takeaways from yesterday’s game:

A great 40 minutes followed by an awful 20 leads to the loss

The Reign held a 2-0 lead through 40 minutes, lost it, regained it, then lost it for good in a 5-4 regulation loss. Tucson scored five goals in the third period, the most goals against in a single period this season for the Reign. If hockey games were decided by 40 minutes, the Reign were no doubt the better team, but that’s not how it works.

The final 20 minutes flipped on a dime.

Puck management, game management, sloppy play, and about two stoppable shots. Everything that could go wrong in those final 20 minutes did for the Reign. Austin Poganski kick-started the Roadrunners’ comeback with a harmless backhand shot from the left circle in transition that beat Portillo far side. From then, a snowball slowly turned into an avalanche.

Two terrible turnovers—one on the power play—wound up in the back of the net. Cameron Hebig fired a shot from the left circle that Portillo got a piece of but couldn’t squeeze, and it crossed the line, making it 4-3 Tucson. Then an empty-net goal by Tomas Lavoie after Portillo was pulled for the extra attacker before the Reign had gained entry into the offensive zone put the icing on the cake, before a late tally by the Reign made things a little interesting.

It was about as stunning and brutal a defeat as it got. The Reign let two points get away with a poor third-period performance.

Kenny Connors shines in the crushing defeat

Amid the third-period letdown, Kenny Connors had a great game. Despite a -1 rating, Connors finished the night with three assists (two primary), two on the power play, and a game-high nine(!) shots on goal. He was everywhere last night and has had a solid start to the season, scoring seven points (1 G, 6 A) in ten games as the Reign’s second/third-line center. He continues to dazzle playing in all situations.

A quick turnaround

The Reign will need to flush away this loss because they have a quick turnaround—in fact, both teams do. The Reign don’t have much time to dwell on this loss because they are back at it again late in the afternoon. Luckily for them, it’s against the same Roadrunners as they look for redemption.

NOTES:

*The Reign’s losing streak reached a season high of three games.

*Kenny Connors recorded his first three-point game of the season.

*Aatu Jamsen scored in back-to-back games.

*Jack Millar scored his first goal of the season.

*Kaleb Lawrence recorded his first goal of the season. It was his first goal since April 19th, 2025.

*Erik Portillo suffered his first loss of the season.

*Per John Hoven of Mayor’s Manor, Francesco Pinelli was scratched from last night’s game due to an illness.

*Ontario scored the game’s first goal for the second time this season and the first in nine games.

*The 37 shots on goal tied for the most in a game for the Reign this season.

UP NEXT: These two teams meet for the rematch at Toyota Arena in a rare 3 PM PST start time for a Saturday home game for the Reign. If the goalie rotation continues, Hampton Slukynsky should be getting the starting nod. If he does, he will be looking for his first win of the season. Happy Halloween!

Featured image credit: Ontario Reign

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