Ontario Reign: Three takeaways from game two loss

Goal Breakdown

First period:

ONT: Lias Andersson (1), ASST: Nate Schnarr (1)

COL: Kale Kessy (1), ASST: Matt Stienburg (1), Ondrej Pavel (1)

Second period:

COL: Oskar Olausson (1), ASST: Alex Galchenyuk (1), Sam Malinski

COL: Ryan Wagner (1), ASST: Oskar Olausson (1), Callahan Burke (2)

Third period:

COL: PP Charles Hudon (2), ASST: Mitchell Vande Sompel (1), Alex Galchenyuk (2)

ONT: SH Aidan Dudas (1), ASST: Nate Thompson (1)

COL: PP Cedric Pare (2), ASST: Sam Malinski (1), Wyatt Aamodt (1)

ONT: Nate Thompson (2), ASST: Lias Andersson (1), Jordan Spence (1)

ONT: Lias Andersson (2), ASST: Alex Turcotte (1)

COL: EN Cedric Pare (3), ASST: None

Stats

Goals: 

ONT: 4

COL: 6

Shots:

ONT: 34

COL: 26

Power-plays:

ONT: 0/1

COL: 2/2

Here are the three takeaways from Friday’s game two loss:

Comeback falls short

Lias Andersson opened the scoring 2:20 into the game, giving the Ontario Reign a 1-0 lead as they looked to stave off elimination. Kale Kessy scored just under two minutes later on a play where it looked like Cal Petersen had the puck covered twice, but the officials allowed the play to continue and Kessy’s goal stood. From there on, the Ontario Reign were playing catch up the rest of the way. The Eagles scored three unanswered goals to make it 4-1 in the third period. While it looked like the game was over and the Reign could just roll over and move on to the offseason, they didn’t quit.

Aidan Dudas’ short-handed goal brought the Reign within two before Cedric Pare scored with five seconds left on the power play to give the Eagles their three-goal lead back. With the net empty and the Reign’s season hanging in the balance, Nate Thompson scored his second of the series to give the Reign a little bit of hope.

Less than 30 seconds later Lias Andersson would make it a 5-4 game before Colorado officially sealed the deal with an empty-net goal with seven seconds left. The Reign gave a great effort but ultimately the lead was too much to overcome.

Special teams hurt again

The Colorado Eagles batted 1.000 in the special teams department in game one and did so again in game two. The Eagles scored on both of their power-play attempts and killed off the lone Reign power-play, all of which came in the third period. The Reign had the advantage in the special teams department as they ranked 7th on the power play and 2nd on the penalty kill during the season, but couldn’t win the battle in that area. For the series, the Rign went 0-for-5 on the power play and 0-for3 on the penalty kill. Just stunning. Special teams were a big factor in the Reign’s series loss to the Eagles last year and it was again this year.

Third straight season-ending defeat against Colorado

Some teams just have another team’s number and right now that seems to be the case for Colorado as they have ended the Reign’s season yet again. In 2021 the Eagles defeated the Reign in a Pacific Division playoff tournament game (no Calder Cup playoffs due to COVID-19) and swept them last year in a best-of-five series. It’s tough to have your season end early for three-straight years but at the hands of the same team? That’s just a tough pill to swallow as the Reign have a long offseason ahead of themselves with plenty of roster uncertainty.

UP NEXT: The offseason awaits! Thank you for following along during the 2022-2023 season.