Ontario Reign: Three Takeaways From 5-4 OT Loss to Tucson

Goal Breakdown

First period:

TUC: Ben McCartney (1), ASST: Cameron Hebig (1), Austin Poganski (1)

ONT: Andre Lee (1), ASST: Akil Thomas (1)

ONT: Francesco Pinelli (1), ASST: None

Second period:

TUC: PP Sammy Walker (1), ASST: Cameron Hebig (1), Ben McCartney (1)

ONT: PP Aatu Jamsen (1), ASST: Erik Portillo (1)

Third period:

TUC: Owen Allard (1), ASST: Kevin Connauton (1), Miko Matikka (1)

ONT: Akil Thomas (1), ASST: Francesco Pinelli (1)

TUC: PP Kevin Rooney (1), ASST: Sammy Walker (1), Artem Duda (1)

Overtime:

TUC: Sammy Walker (2), ASST: Scott Perunovich (1)

Stats

Goals:

TUC: 5

ONT: 4

Shots: 

TUC: 27

ONT: 18

Power play:

TUC: 2/4

ONT: 1/4

Here are the three takeaways from last night’s 5-4 overtime defeat:

Seesaw battle

The Reign didn’t play their best for a full 60 minutes, but still had a chance to win this game. Despite recording 18 shots on goal, the Reign led at three different points in the contest. One team scored, the other answered. There was no sustained momentum.

When it looked like they were going to steal two points, a penalty by Glenn Gawdin with 1:27 remaining in the game gave Tucson a 6-on-4 opportunity they would capitalize on courtesy of Kevin Rooney’s sharp-angle shot that somehow snuck by Erik Portillo.

The game would go to overtime, and Sammy Walker capped off his three-point night with the game-winning goal. The Reign surrendered the opening and tying goal in the opening and final minute and were outshot 22-12 after the first period.

Despite not bringing their A-game, if the Reign play a better effort for 60 minutes, the results will be different in the future.

Welcome back, Ports!

235 days. That was how long it was between days Portillo started a regular-season game. With the 25-year-old netminder not seeing action between the pipes for almost eight months, rust was expected.

While the box score will say five goals against on 27 shots (.815 sv%), there were moments when Portillo made key saves to keep the Reign in the game. With the Reign on their heels and having a sloppy second period, Portillo made two big saves.

The first one was denying Sammy Walker’s tuck-in bid as he reached back with the trapper to keep the puck from crossing the goal line. The other chance he turned away was with his paddle or right pass as he slid across to deny Kevin Rooney’s back-door bid.

“I thought he was really good. I thought the second in particular, when we were really sluggish, I thought he really kept us in it.” – Ontario Reign head coach Andrew Lord on Erik Portillo’s outing.

Patience will be needed early on in the season with Portillo’s progress, before we jump to evaluations.

New faces in the lineup

While it was the players who had been in Ontario for at least the past year who found the scoresheet, the new faces stood out. Jared Wright’s speed was a problem at times for Tucson. His speed should be a good weapon to utilize on the forecheck and retrieving loose pucks.

Kenny Connors wasn’t noticeable with speed on the ice like Wright was, but had a solid game defensively and looked good in the faceoff circle from the eye test.

Kirill Kirsanov was paired with Jakub Dvořák on his off side and showed out well. He showed good poise with the puck in his own end.

Otto Salin’s aggressive offensive instincts were on display as well. He joined or led the rush multiple times and was active down low in the offensive zone, leading to a scoring chance for himself in the slot in the second period.

It wasn’t the result the Reign wanted, but it was a good opportunity to see the newer faces and what they could bring to the lineup.

NOTES:

*Andre Lee scored the first goal of the season for the Reign, and Jacob Doty immediately dropped the gloves with Montana Onyebuchi right after the puck went in. I’ve never seen anything like that happen before.

*Akil Thomas had a goal and an assist. He displayed sick stick handling to score his goal on his former roommate, Matthew Villalta.

*Francesco Pinelli also had a goal and an assist. This is a big year for his development, and having a strong game last night is a good start. He played on the top line with Glenn Gawdin and Martin Chromiak.

UP NEXT: These two teams will meet again tomorrow at 3 PM PST. The game can be seen on FloHockey and heard on the Ontario Reign radio network.