Ontario Reign: Three Stars of the week 12/26 -1/1

The Reign started the week with a back-and-forth 7-6 loss to the Coachella Valley Firebirds, giving up three third-period goals. Firebirds’ forward Andrew Poturalski scored the game-winning goal with 1:09 remaining to complete the comeback. The Reign squared off against the Calgary Wranglers on New Year’s Eve, where Jakob Pelletier’s two-goal performance and Dustin Wolf’s 33 saves sunk the Reign in a 3-1 loss.

While the Ontario Reign were winless and have now lost four straight games, a few players stood out in the two games.

Here are the three stars of the week from 12/26-1/1:

3rd star:

Austin Wagner

Stat line: Two games, two goals, zero assists, two points, +/- 0 rating, seven shots on goal

Austin Wagner is not known for having a multi-goal game, but he recorded one against Coachella Valley. In the 7-6 loss to the Firebirds, Wagner was one of a handful of players who stood out. Wagner started the scoring in that game by re-directing Jacob Moverare’s shot from the blue line 2:33 into the game.

Wagner would then add another goal in the middle frame to give the Reign a 5-2 lead. Unfortunately, his two-goal game would not be enough. While he went scoreless in the game against Calgary, he came close in the first period by ringing one off the crossbar. His two-goal game against Coachella Valley was good enough to earn him the third star of the week.

2nd star:

TJ Tynan

Stat line: Two games, one goal, one assist, two points, -1 rating, three shots on goal

TJ Tynan continues to lead by example. Just like Wagner, Tynan recorded two points in Ontario’s game against Coachella Valley. Tynan recorded an assist on Lias Andersson’s goal in the first period and would later add a goal in the second period, which chased Firebirds’ netminder Joey Daccord. The goal by Tynan would be the last goal scored for the Reign in the game.

Tynan’s multi-point night against Coachella earned him the second star of the week honor.

First star:

Alex Turcotte

Stat line: Two games, two goals, one assist, three points, +/- 0 rating, six shots on goal

Alex Turcotte had a great week for the Reign. After Quinton Byfield’s call-up to Los Angeles, Turcotte got moved from the wing to the center. Just like Wagner and Tynan, Turcotte also had a multi-point night against Coachella Valley. Turcotte recorded two points against the Firebirds in the first period, including a power-play goal off a great feed from Martin Chromiak.

Turcotte didn’t record a point after his power-play goal. However, it was arguably his best game of the season. In the game against Calgary, Turcotte scored the lone goal for the Reign in a 3-1 loss on New Year’s eve.

With that goal, Turcotte recorded back-to-back goals for the first time this season and now has three goals in the last four games. Let’s hope he continues to keep playing well. His three-point week earned him the first star of the week.

The Ontario Reign plays three games this week. They travel to Bakersfield to take on the Condors Wednesday night and return home for two games against San Jose on Friday and Coachella Valley on Sunday. All three games can be seen on AHLTV.