REIGN FINAL – ONT 6 , COL 3 – Lord, Pinelli, Jämsen

 The Ontario Reign (23-11-1-1) defeated the Colorado Eagles (22-8-1-2) Tuesday night by a final score of 6-3 moving into sole possession of first place in the pacific division in front of 5,089 fans at Blue Arena. The Reign and Eagles will clash again on Wednesday, Jan. 13 at 6:05 p.m. (PST).

The Reign tied a season game high in goals receiving goals from six different skaters improving to 10-1 when following a loss this season. Tim Rego, Francesco Pinelli, and Aatu Jämsen each scored a goal and added an assist while Samuel Bolduc and Jared Wright each scored even strength. Martin Chromiak notched his sixth power-play goal of the season as Ontario has a power-play tally in six of their last seven games. Kenta Isogai tallied his first AHL point with an assist while Erik Portillo made 31 saves in net.

Ontario and Colorado were even at 1-1 through the opening 20 minutes of play with the Eagles holding the slight edge in shots 9-8 in a scoreless frame. Samuel Bolduc (5^th) gave the Reign a 1-0 lead from Tim Rego and Aatu Jämsen. In the left corner Jämsen fed Rego at the point where he worked the puck across the blue line to Bolduc who drove a one-timer far-side into the cage. Chase Bradley provided the equalizer for the Eagles with a tap in at the left side of the crease off a feed from the right circle courtesy of Jason Polin.

Despite being outshot 16-4 in the second period the Reign potted a pair of goals taking a 3-1 lead into the second intermission. Francesco Pinelli (5^th) made it 2-1 went he worked the puck all the way to the left circle form behind his blue line and sent a heavy wrist shot into the top right corner 2:08 into the stanza. Then just 48 seconds later Tim Rego (2^nd) increased the advantage to 3-1 on a setup from Kenta Isogai and Kaleb Lawrence. Lawrence drove the puck across the blue line and kicked it out to Isogai at the left wing. From there Isogai delivered it to Rego in the right circle where he picked the top right corner. The Reign killed off three penalties in the frame while going 0-for-1 on the power-play.

Aatu Jämsen stretched the lead to 4-1 just 1:52 into the third period from Jack Hughes and Francesco Pinelli. With nifty puck protection through the left circle Hughes got below the circle and threaded a pass to Jämsen at the inner right hash marks where he sent a low shot into the right corner. Nikita Prischepov cut the deficit back down to a pair for Colorado at 9:53 scoring on a wrap around. Just 15 seconds later Jared Wright (8^th) gave Ontario back a three-goal lead on a setup from Kenny Connors making it 5-2. From behind the right side of the goal line Connors fed Wright at the left post for a tap in. The Reign went on the power-play 31 seconds later and then received a five-on-three man advantage 47 seconds in. They called a timeout and 14 seconds later Martin Chromiak (15^th) made it a 6-2 advantage with a one-timer into the top corner from the top of the left circle with Glenn Gawdin and Cole Guttman receiving assists. Chase Bradley potted his second of the evening with 28 seconds left in the contest on a shot from the high slot as the Reign prevailed 6-3.

Erik Portillo improved to 8-1-1 on the season making 31 saves on 34 shots while Isak Posch suffered the loss allowing six goals on 21 shots. Ontario went 1-for-3 on the power-play and 3-for-3 on the penalty kill.

BOX SCORE

Postgame thoughts from Andrew Lord, Aatu Jämsen, and Francesco Pinelli.

Lord
On tonight’s win
It was a big win. I think we stayed the course in the first. I think the first 10, they’re going to be very good. I thought we adjusted to the pace of the play quite well. It was nice to get the first goal there on the first shot. Just really timely scoring. To be honest. I thought we played the right way for the most part, capitalized on our chances, which is always good. They don’t give up too much, a very talented team. We’ll take the win and move on to tomorrow.

On tonight’s line combinations
Obviously, didn’t get anything done the other night. We liked a few of the lines, but we just felt a little shake up might be helpful. With Guttman getting back in, you know, he’s been good with Gawdin in the past, and we thought him and Alexandrov could contribute a little bit, and they were okay. I think the Pinelli line really stood out tonight. That was the first time they’ve been together. Hughes, he’s been on center most of the year. He looked good on the wing there, pretty dynamic. Jamsen was going. I thought all the lines did their job, and it was a good team win.

Jämsen
On this team
I love to play with those guys. On the bench, the energy is so high. It’s so fun to play with those guys. We all have the same mindset, and it shows on the scoreboard.

On his game as of late
You always love to score and get points, but I’ve been focusing on the little details this year.

On playing with Jack Hughes
I think he’s the same type of player as me, so it’s easy to play with him. And you have to always be ready without the puck, because he will find your tape.

Pinelli
On bouncing back from Sunday
I think we stay composed. I think that’s what makes us so good. Obviously, coming into this building, it’s tough. So Tomorrow’s going to be a really good challenge, and we need that win.

On tonight’s offense
I think we just spread out the zone a little bit. I think our forecheck was really good. We were all connected as five so I think that made us really dangerous and get some O-zone time. Obviously, we shot pucks, so that was good.