Ontario Reign: Three Stars of the Week 1/27 – 2/2

2-1 win over Tucson

There wasn’t much scoring in this game. Remember when I said the second period had been the Reign’s enemy this season? Well, it turns out it was their friend in this game. Jack Studnicka and Charles Hudon scored two odd-man rush goals 39 seconds apart in the middle frame, which was all they needed. Egor Sokolov scored a power-play goal in the third period for Tucson to trim the Reign lead in half, 2-1, but Pheonix Copley and the Reign defense buckled down after to hang on for the victory.

5-4 SO win over Tucson

A wild game is what this contest was. The Reign led 4-1 with under nine minutes to play, but the Roadrunners battled back to tie the game at four with three goals in a span of 7:10 to force overtime. Luckily for the Reign, they would survive and win in a shootout by scoring on both of their shot attempts, and Tucson being unsuccessful on both of their attempts due to an Erik Portillo save and a missed shot.

The Reign have been excellent in third periods, but they let a three-goal lead slip away in this game. Also, they committed nine(!) penalties, which saw them commit five in a row in the second period alone and have to kill a five-on-three on three separate occasions. Penalties have been a problem at times throughout the year and they almost lost the game because of it. Credit to the penalty kill units going 8-for-9 on the night for the Reign.

Third star

Jeff Malott

Stat line: Three games played, two goals, zero assists, three points, +1 rating, five shots on goal, one shootout goal

Jeff Malott is this week’s third star with two goals and a shootout goal in the Reign’s 5-4 victory over the Tucson Roadrunners. Malott’s two-goal game was his first non-empty-net goal since January 15th against the Abbotsford Canucks, which was a power-play goal. In other words, an eight-game stretch.

The trio of Malott, Charles Hudon, and Glenn Gawdin has been the Reign’s most productive line this season, but Marco Sturm broke that trio up in their 2-1 win over Tucson to shake up the lines.

Malott’s first goal in the second game against Tucson came at five-on-five, moments after a power play expired, the first five-on-five goal from a first-line player since January 14th (nine games) against Abbotsford. Let’s see if that can wake up the first line and get them back to playing the way they have for most of the season.

Second star

Taylor Ward

Stat line: Three games played, two goals, one assist, three points, +2 rating, seven shots on goal

Taylor Ward is this week’s second star, posting two goals and one assist for three points. Ward recorded a primary assist in the Reign’s 4-2 loss to the Colorado Eagles on Jack Studnicka’s goal and scored two goals in the second game against Tucson against his former teammate, Matthew Villalta.

Ward has quietly recorded seven points (5 G, 2 A) in his last seven games. The forward has also formed great chemistry on a line with Studnicka and Andre Lee. Sturm has used that line to matchup and shutdown the opposing team’s best line and the trio has also been Ontario’s best line offensively of late.

First star

Jack Studnicka

Stat line: Three games played, two goals, two assists, four points, -1 rating, six shots on goal

Jack Studnicka is this week’s first star, leading the Reign with four points (2 G, 2 A) during the week. Studnicka recorded two points in the game against the Eagles, a goal in the first game against Tucson, and a secondary assist in the second game against Tucson. He has been Ontario’s best forward for the last two weeks. Studnicka is fast and arguably Ontario’s greatest puck carrier on zone entries.

As mentioned earlier, Sturm has used his line to shut down the opposition’s best at five-on-five, but they’ve also provided offense at five-on-five, too. Since being put together on a line for the last nine games, the trio of Studnicka, Lee, and Ward have scored six goals at five-on-five when all three are on the ice together; all of them have come within the last seven games.

When two of the three players have been on the ice (not all three), that number goes up to eight goals. All three have seen a slight increase in offensive production since being put on the same line.

Studnicka has eight points (4 G, 4 A) in his last seven games and has been used on the second power-play unit and one of the penalty kill units for the Reign. He has been one of Sturm’s most reliable and trusted forwards, and I don’t expect that to change as we head into the final stretch of the regular season.

NOTE:

*The Reign are scheduled to play one game this upcoming week, so there will be no Three Stars of the Week. The segment will resume for the week of 2/10 – 2/16.