Another game, another win for the Ontario Reign. This time in game one of round number two against the Abbotsford Canucks.
On a night where Kings fans felt sadness and frustration, their AHL affiliate picked them up, giving fans some extra hockey to enjoy.
There was no score after the first period. Both teams were playing it passive, not letting anything up in the neutral zone.
Things were the same for the majority of the second period, but with 7:55 left to play, TJ Tynan tipped a shot from Wyatte Wylie out in front, putting the Reign out in front first.
In the first two periods, it seemed as though both teams were having trouble generating any sort of offense. This could be because of the heavyweight lineup Sturm put out again.
The Reign could not smoothly get into the offensive zone all game, but at the same time, was also not allowing the Canucks to do the same.
Early in the third period, Samuel Fagemo found himself in the slot, shooting the puck off the left post, which then bounced right to Alex Turcotte for an easy tap-in.
Turcotte is a ball of energy every time he is on the ice, and was having himself a good game even before the goal. He was finally rewarded for it tonight.
We knew Abbotsford would not go down without a fight, and that was true here. Max Sasson found himself with too much room and fired a wrist shot from in between the circles past Portillo, cutting the lead in half.
Nikita Pavlychev saw this and said “anything you can do I can do better”, as he scored on a wrist shot of his own from the left circle, giving the Reign some insurance late in the game.
Turcotte would be credited with the game winning goal, as the Reign continued their dominance, now being 3-0 in the playoffs.
Here are my three takeaways from the game
Heavyweight Lineup
When studying this Abbotsford team, I figured that the Reign might elect to go with a more offensive approach, and maybe we will see Francesco Pinelli for the first time in the playoffs.
Head coach Marco Sturm went with his heavyweight lineup again, and at first sight, it looked to be backfiring against him.
As previously mentioned, the Reign had trouble generating any good offense, and had little to no grade A chances inside the offensive zone.
At the same time, though, Ontario also was giving nothing up. Give some credit to Portillo, but a lot of this is because of the bottom six playing heavy and having good checks.
This group of twelve has now only given up three goals in three games this postseason, which ranks first of all teams with that many games played.
Additionally, Nikita Pavlychev scored a big insurance goal in the third period, so I suspect there will be no changes to be made in game two.
Hodgson’s Penalty Problem
Hayden Hodgson is probably the most aggressive forward on this Reign team, and he causes chaos on the ice often.
Sometimes, he can create a little too much chaos, which leads him right into the penalty box often.
He reminds me a lot of Matt Rempe of the New York Rangers, Hodgson is going to hunt you down in all three zones of the ice, and smash you against the boards whenever he gets the chance.
When I asked Sturm about Hodgson’s physicality and his penalties, he told me this, “Yeah, we had those conversations and he knows it too. But you know, he’s a guy I know who’s gonna play hard. Overall, we just have to make sure we’re going to be smart.”
As the Reign get deeper into the playoffs, I believe Hodgson could eventually become a problem if he keeps taking these hard penalties.
I understand he plays hard, but you do not want to be down a man every other time Hodgson is out there on the ice. It needs to be cleaned up a bit, the penalty kill can only be so good.
Samuel Fagemo: Missing
It is so tough to see someone who was so good during the regular season falter so far in the playoffs.
Not only is Fagemo not scoring, but he just seems to be very hesitant out there, not letting things be smooth.
Fortunately, this Reign team is so deep, other players have been able to pick him up while he’s on this cold streak.
You can also see this as a positive for the Reign. The fact that this team has been so good without Fagemo playing up to par is impressive.
And when you look at the power play numbers, they have not been good as well, since Fagemo has not been existent it seems.
Imagine what this team can do if Fagemo can get going again, that is a scary thought for other teams.
The Reign and Canucks will play in game two on Sunday, may 5th at Toyota Arena, looking to take a commanding 2-0 series lead.