Ontario Reign: Notes From 6-3 Win Over Bakersfield

Goal Breakdown

First period: 

BAK: PP Robby Jarventie (18), ASST: Isaac Howard (23), Quinn Hutson (29)

ONT: Glenn Gawdin (15), ASST: Cole Guttman (26), Joe Hicketts (17)

BAK: Sam Poulin (19), ASST: Matvey Petrov (5)

Second period: 

ONT: PP Andre Lee (26), ASST: Francesco Pinelli (20), Kenny Connors (23)

BAK: James Hamblin (27), ASST: Cam Dineen (14), Josh Brown (11)

ONT: SH Jack Hughes (5), ASST: Kenny Connors (24), Angus Booth (16)

ONT: Nikita Alexandrov (13), ASST: Aatu Jamsen (12), Logan Brown (12)

Third period: 

ONT: Aatu Jamsen (16), ASST: Logan Brown (13), Francesco Pinelli (21)

ONT: EN Nikita Alexandrov (14), ASST: None

Stats

Goals:

BAK: 3

ONT: 6

Shots:

BAK: 23

ONT: 31

Power plays: 

BAK: 1/3

ONT: 1/7

Here are the notes from Saturday night’s 6-3 victory:

Offense is back

The Reign offense was in hibernation mode for two weeks, but it seems to have awakened in these last two games. For the second straight game, the Reign scored six or more goals and three or more in the second period.

When Bakersfield threw a punch, Ontario countered quickly. After Jack Hughes tied the game at three with his short-handed tally, Nikita Alexandrov would score 2:23 later, winning a loose puck battle in front of the Bakersfield net, giving the Reign a lead they wouldn’t relinquish.

These last two games have seen the Reign get back to their identity: offense by committee. 11 players recorded a point for Ontario, with Alexandrov (2 G), Logan Brown (2 A), Kenny Connors (2 A), Aatu Jamsen (1 A, 1 A), and Francesco Pinelli (2 A) recording multi-point games. What is even more impressive is that the Reign outshot their opponent again and established a strong forecheck, leading to several goals.

Kenny Connors continues to impress in his rookie season

Connors has had a strong rookie season with Ontario and had an impressive game last night. The 23-year-old rookie almost single-handedly carried Team Ravenclaw to a House Cup victory with his pair of helpers and fight.

Known for his game on the defensive side of the puck, it was his offense on special teams that stood out to me. On Andre Lee’s power-play goal, he recorded the secondary assist with a saucer pass to Pinelli in the bumper spot, allowing the latter to get a shot off that got redirected by Andre Lee in front of the Bakersfield net.

Later in the frame, he led an attack, short-handed maneuvering around a Condor forward playing defense and causing him to lose his stick. Seeing a forward back as a defenseman without a stick, Connors showed great poise with the puck and ultimately found Hughes wide open at the side of the net for the tying goal to make it three all.

Connors has 37 points (13 G, 24 A) in 61 games with the Reign while being trusted in every situation.

Erik Portillo gets back in the win column

Erik Portillo finally got himself a victory after being snake-bitten in his last five starts. In five of those starts, I would say Portillo had three quality starts where he should’ve earned a victory, but didn’t.

Despite surrendering three goals, his offense backed him up with six, and he made three or four big saves when he needed to answer the bell. It may not have been the prettiest night by the stat line, but a good win for the third-year pro nonetheless.

Division race coming down to the wire

The Reign maintained their one-point lead with the win over the Colorado Eagles. With both teams separated by one point with five games to play, the division winner is coming down to the wire. The winner of the division gets a bye in the first round, avoiding a three-game series in the first round. Oh, by the way, these two will face off on Tuesday at Toyota Arena in a pivotal matchup.

New reinforcements coming?

It’s that time of the year. Not only are the playoffs and clinching a playoff or division berth happening, but this is the time of the year when college or CHL prospects turn pro. It’s an adjustment every AHL team makes as they have to integrate the influx of young talent into game action.

The Kings have added Grant and Hampton Slukynsky and Henry Brzustewicz to amateur tryouts or professional tryouts for the remainder of the season. We’ll see how Andrew Lord and management will find a way to get them into game action with five games left.

UP NEXT: The Ontario Reign return to action with a matchup against the Colorado Eagles on Tuesday at 7 PM PST. You can watch the game on KCAL+ (channel 9.6) or on FloSports. If you are unable to watch the game, you can listen to it on the Ontario Reign Radio Network or on the ESPN LA app.