The Reign entered the second game of their weekend series in Tucson looking to build off a decisive victory one night earlier, where they scored eight goals and allowed just one.
For the rematch on Saturday, coach Marco Sturm deployed the same lineup as the game prior – sans a swap of his goaltenders, starting Aaron Dell. It was a competitive game through the first half and Ontario continued their strong play, but a steady parade to the penalty box ultimately proved too costly.
Through two periods, the Reign were caught for five infractions where their opponent capitalized for two goals. Then, late in the second, a Roadrunner was left alone in front for a cross-slot shot to create a 3-0 deficit for Ontario heading into the third.
Any Reign rally attempt was bleak until 5:30 left to play in the game, when their leading scorer Samuel Fagemo converted a one-timer from the top of the circle on a 5-on-3 power play of their own. One minute later, on the same power play, Fagemo again sent a one-timer in to beat the Tucson netminder, bringing the difference to just one.
Scoring two goals in 62 seconds proved fruitless, though, as the Roadrunners shut down any further attempts and went on to beat Ontario 3-2.
Key to Winning, Consistency: After multiple call-ups and PTOs for the Reign over the past month, coach Sturm’s lineup is starting to take shape and provide consistency for a team in a desperate push for playoffs. It’s ironing out to be a four-team battle where three spots are up for grabs with 25 games left for Ontario. Sturm went with this lineup for both Tucson games:
Ward – Tynan – Fagemo
Hudon – Thomas – Madden
Hodgson – Helenius – Chromiak
Young – Pinelli – Doty
Moverare – Hicketts
Connauton – Santini
Krygier – Wylie
Veteran Aaron Dell: In the third game of his AHL return, Dell appears to have scraped the rust off and settled in a bit with his mid-season addition to the Reign. It’s a tall task for any goaltender to take as much time away as he did and hop right back into groove. He saved 29 of 32 shots (.906 SV%) and played well enough to warrant a win. All three goals against were coverage challenges from his teammates in front of him – two while on the penalty kill. Ontario has given up four or more goals in five of the past seven losses coming into this game. Goaltending and team defense will likely be a focus in this final push.
Sammy Fagemo: With Fagemo’s two goals (22,23), he now moves to fifth in the league for scoring and only three goals away from the lead, which is impressive because his colleagues all have 42 or more games played compared to Sammy’s 29. The dynamic Swede is impressing with his scoring prowess, but another respectable improvement has been his overall contribution to team play. Last season, he recorded a minus-24 on the ledger, while this season he’s performing at a plus-4 for the Reign. Still, it seems Fagemo is stuck behind a backlog of depth forwards in Los Angeles and will remain in Ontario for the foreseeable future.
Special Teams: Ontario saw success with their power play scoring three goals on nine opportunities (33.3%) this weekend against Tucson. They rank seventh in the league with a 20.7% success rate. The Reign allowed two goals on eight penalty kills (75%), and they rank 20th in the league with an 80.8% rate on the PK.
What to Watch For: The Reign return home after their trip to the Arizona desert to play home games against Abbotsford and Coachella Valley and one local road game in San Diego. The Canucks come into town tied with Ontario for points, albeit with two games in hand. The Reign have been abysmal at home with a .435 PT% in comparison to their road performance of .646% PT%, but will need to muster two critical points this upcoming Wednesday. All eyes will be on the final 25 games left in the season.
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