Four first period goals set the tone for the Ontario Reign (23-18-3-2) as they defeated the Tucson Roadrunners (28-15-2-1) by a score of 8-1 on Friday night at the Tucson Convention Center. Steven Santini led the way for the Reign, scoring his first three goals of the season and recording his first AHL hat trick, in what became Ontario’s best offensive game of the season and snapped a five-game losing streak.
Thirteen different skaters recorded at least one point for the Reign, while six registered multi-point games, including TJ Tynan and Jacob Moverare who each recorded three assists. Kevin Connauton added two assists to extend his point streak to seven games. Taylor Ward also recorded a helper to stretch his point streak to four straight games.
Francesco Pinelli opened the scoring within three minutes, redirecting a Jacob Moverare shot past Tucson goaltender Dylan Wells. Santini added to the early lead five minutes later when he fired in a wrist shot from the right point for his first goal of the season.
Samuel Fagemo cashed in at the 17:14 mark of the period with his team-leading 21st goal of the season. A pass bounced between two Roadrunner defenders and landed right on Fagemo’s tape. He darted in on a partial breakaway, outwaited the goalie, and roofed the puck into the net for his first goal since returning to Ontario after his recent NHL recall.
Santini added his second of the night 29 seconds later, with a similar-looking wrist shot that beat Wells and gave the Reign a four-goal advantage.
Akil Thomas etched his name on the scoresheet 43 seconds into the second period when he laced a shot off the post and into the Tucson net for his 16th goal of the season.
Goaltender Erik Portillo saw increased action in the second period. He was forced to stop 16 Tucson shots in the middle period and backstopped the Reign to back-to-back penalty kills. Tyler Madden made his life easier late in the frame when he scooped up a loose puck and scored on a shorthanded breakaway to put the Reign ahead 6-0.
Tucson’s tempers boiled over in the closing stages of the second period. Patrick Koch checked TJ Tynan from behind and was called for interference. After the whistle was blown, multiple Tucson players went after Cole Krygier and Roadrunner defenseman Montana Onyebuchi was given a five-minute major and a match penalty.
The ensuing five-minute Reign power play spilled over into the third period, where Steven Santini scored his third goal of the game to complete his first professional hat trick.
Josh Doan broke up the shutout a few minutes later with his team-leading 20th goal of the season. He let go of a shot from the right circle that beat Portillo and finally got Tucson on the scoreboard.
Ontario responded five minutes later through Wyatte Wylie, who sniped his second goal of the season from the top of the circles after a nice passing play by Moverare and Tynan.
Portillo ended the game with 23 saves and the Reign outshot the Roadrunners 28-24. Ontario went 1-for-4 on the power play and killed off both of Tucson’s chances.
Postgame comments from head coach Marco Sturm and defenseman Steven Santini are below.
Marco Sturm
On Friday night’s big win
I think the guys were ready to play today. We were all dialed in. A big key for us was to start the game the right way. I was pleased with all the work and all the meetings we had in the past week. All those important areas we did really well today, the guys did really well. We’ll take that one today. Yes, it was probably a little bit too high [scoring] but we’ll take it and now we’ve got to focus for another mission tomorrow.
On snapping the losing streak
I think sometimes it’s between the ears. You could tell right away today that the guys were dialed in. I didn’t have that kind of feelings in the past few weeks here. I thought having Joe Hicketts and Jacob Doty back in the lineup really helped. It was a good team effort and you know what, when you do the right thing and you play with structure and don’t give up anything, that’s what happens.
On the team’s quick start
They’re a very good transition team, so we picked up a lot of pucks by having a good track and working on our transition because of it. That allowed us to play more in the offensive zone and create more chances, and that’s what we did. They lost Matty V in net too. He got called up and we wanted to take that opportunity versus a less experienced goalie and put more pucks to the net and that’s what we did, especially in the first.
On Steven Santini’s first AHL hat trick and Kevin Connauton’s long assist streak
Joe Hicketts is back and that allowed us to put those right pairs together again. Connauton and Santini are veteran defensemen and felt really comfortable with each other. They rewarded themselves with a good game and some nice goals. I’m happy for Stevie. He put a lot of work in last week actually shooting pucks before every practice, and like I said, he had it pay off.
On Joe Hicketts’ returning to the lineup after being injured for most of the season
We all knew the whole time he was out how much we missed him. Not just on the ice, but off the ice too. I know he was always around, but he kind of wasn’t. Coming back and having a game like that and moving his feet like that, it felt like he never missed a beat. He’s just a big presence for us and our room. We noticed that we were feeding off him right away and it’s definitely nice to have him back.
Steven Santini
On tonight’s win
The reality is we just played really well as a team, top to bottom. We came ready to play. We understood where we’re at in the season and we put together a good game. Hopefully we can build off this and just keep going the right direction.
On completing his first AHL hat trick
It’s kind of different. I mean, I haven’t scored three goals in a game since I was probably a sophomore in high school. It’s been a while obviously, but you work on those shots every day at practice. You work for tips or rebounds. You don’t think they’re going to go in three times in a row, so it was pretty cool. But like I said, we played really well and we got a big win, so that’s all that really matters.
On playing with Kevin Connauton again
It was nice. It’s nice to play with an older guy. We had some really good chemistry, not just in the o-zone, but I thought the way we killed plays, the way we played against the rush and the way we broke the puck out too. We did really well together and I thought we complemented each other nicely.
On having Joe Hicketts back with the team
It’s big. It’s kind of funny when you have an older guy like that. He’s out for three or four months but comes back at this point of the season. It’s almost like you picked up a free agent or made a trade. You get a really good player you can separate in your lineup and the great thing about Joe is that he can play in any situation. He’s a big pickup for us right now and obviously I think the results showed that obviously.
The Reign and Roadrunners will be back at it on Saturday evening for another 6 p.m. PT tilt at the Tucson Convention Center.
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