Ontario Reign: Three Takeaways From Game Two’s 4-0 Victory

Goal Breakdown

First period:

ONT: PP Akil Thomas (2), ASST: TJ Tynan (3), Samuel Fagemo (3)

ONT: Charles Hudon (2), ASST: Tyler Madden (1), Brandt Clarke (3)

Second period:

None

Third period: 

ONT: Andre Lee (2), ASST: Taylor Ward (2)

ONT: EN Tyler Madden (4), ASST: Brandt Clarke (4), Joe Hicketts (2)

Stats

Goals:

ABB: 0

ONT: 4

Shots: 

ABB: 29

ONT: 26

Power plays:

ABB: 0/3

ONT: 1/2

Here are the three takeaways from Sunday’s game two victory:

Strike in the first

First-period scoring for the Reign has been hard to come by in these playoffs. However, they’ve done a good job not allowing many goals in the opening 20 minutes (outscored 1-0 in the first period in the three games). Heading into game one, it was important that the Reign not only get off to a good start, but strike first, and do it early. With Abbotsford not wanting to go down 0-2 in the series, I expected them to come out aggressive and they did.

The Reign defense and Erik Portillo ensured they didn’t seize early momentum with a great penalty kill, highlighted by a Samuel Helenius block late in the shift. The penalty kill settled things down, and the Reign eventually got a power play with 13:07 left in the first period. Heading into that power play, the Reign were 0-for-9 in the last two games.

Ontario got a power-play goal 1:18 into the power play on a backhand attempt in front of the net from Akil Thomas on a nice dish from TJ Tynan after Abbotsford turned the puck over along the boards on a failed rim-around attempt. It was the Reign’s first power-play goal since game one against Bakersfield, which was also scored by Thomas. The goal was the Reign’s first in the first period of any game in these playoffs.

Charles Hudon would add a goal off a rush that was caused by Canucks neutral zone turnover, which saw Brandt Clarke feed the puck up ice to Tyler Madden, who tapped it to Hudon and he went short side on Abbotsford netminder Zach Sawchenko. The two goals in the first period were just what the doctor ordered. Even though the Reign didn’t play their best period, heading into intermission with a two-goal lead turned out to be huge as the game went on.

Team effort

Nine different players found the scoresheet for the Reign. Madden (1G – 1A) and Clarke (2A) had two points each. In the eight regular season games, it was the Canucks star players finding ways to get on the scoresheet and make an impact. Last night it was the Reign’s star players who did just that. Though the star players were the ones who found the scoresheet, the depth players for the Reign made an impact in other ways (we’ll touch on goaltending later).

The bottom six forwards for the Reign were sound defensively and have established an identity of being tough to play against. Head coach Marco Sturm has chosen to go with a heavier lineup throughout the playoffs, which has paid dividends in the first four games. Players like Samuel Helenius, Andre Lee, Hayden Hodgson, Nikita Pavlychev, and Jacob Doty have either been a pest, tenacious on the forecheck, or hitting anyone, trying to wear the opposition down.

With their smart stick placement, awareness, and shot-blocking ability, Helenius and Lee also have great chemistry on the penalty kill in addition to them playing on the same line. Kevin Connauton and Steven Santini continue to be Sturm’s trusted shutdown pair while Wyatte Wylie and Kim Nousiainen have been a serviceable third pair themselves. Add in these qualities with the scoring and goaltending, you would see why the Reign have had success early on in these playoffs,

With that in mind, this series is far from over. The Reign will need a similar effort to what they’ve given in all four games to advance. As coaches and players say, the last game to win in a series is always the toughest. They will need to do it in a building they lost three out of four games in the regular season.

Erik Portillo shines again

Erik Portillo continues to get better each game. The 23-year-old rookie doesn’t seem phased in these playoff games and looks calm and poised between the pipes. Portillo was tested early on and came up big. While he wasn’t tested with many high-danger chances in game one last Wednesday, he had to be on high alert on several occasions late in the second period.

Those two saves kept the Reign ahead 2-0 heading into the second intermission.

Watching Portillo now compared to the beginning of the season you can see improvements in his game, specifically the rebound control. I didn’t see him out of position that led to those big rebounds as much as I did in October. While it is better now compared to October, I still think it’ll need some more polishing.

Back to the game.

Portillo looked like a cool, calm, and collected veteran out there. It’s probably the calmest he has looked at any point in the season. His 29 saves earned him his first career AHL playoff shutout. He improved his save percentage to .972 in the playoffs, which leads all goalies.

NOTES:

*Andre Lee’s goal in the third period gave him his second goal of the playoffs.

*Tyler Madden’s empty-net goal was his fourth of the playoffs, which leads all skaters.

*Brandt Clarke recorded his first multi-point game of the playoffs with a two-assist game.

UP NEXT: This series will shift north of the border in Abbotsford. The Reign will look to close out the series in game three while the Canucks look to extend their season. Game three is Wednesday, May 8th, at 7 PM PST and can be seen on AHLTV.