The Ontario Reign looked to bounce back in front of the home faithful against the Calgary Wranglers Saturday night.
Erik Portillo started in the crease, as was all-star Dustin Wolf for the Wranglers.
Both teams had great chances in the first period, but came up empty handed. The shots on goal after one was an even 9-9, and the game was very tightly contested.
The first score of the game came from Jakob Pelletier, who took a shot that deflected off of Tyler Madden’s stick, and lofted right over Portillo, giving the Wranglers a 1-0 lead.
Ontario was getting the better of chances all period, before Ward finally put the puck past Wolf, evening the score at one.
Brandt Clarke in the middle period also dropped the gloves, something we have not really seen from him thus far early in his career.
As the clock ticked down, it looked as if the game would go into overtime. But with 5:08 left to go in the final period, Yan Kuznetsov scored on a rebound opportunity in front, putting Calgary up one.
Ben Jones iced the game with an empty net goal, sending the Reign into the all star break losing four in a row.
Here are my three takeaways from the loss
Better Game Than The Previous Three
The story for Ontario as of late was the fact that they get going too little too late. They competed for all 60 minutes of this game.
Everything was better in this game. The passing was cleaner, there was more life, and they did not start slow like in previous games. It was just a better effort all around, which is what you hope for before going into the break.
Goaltending Was Great
Both Erik Portillo and Dustin Wolf were outdoing each other in this game. Wolf, currently the seventh leading goalie by goals against average (GAA), was again spectacular in this game, turning away 26 of 27 shots from Ontario.
Portillo was just as good, blocking 27 of 29 that came his way. Not to mention, one of the tallies for Calgary came from a deflection off Madden’s stick.
A bad break for Portillo, but nonetheless, both players in the crease played awesome.
Much Needed All Star Break
Much like the Kings, the Reign will head into the all star break at a good time, desperately needing a reset.
Losing four games in a row, seven out of their last eight, the frustration on the ice was definitely starting to show.
Brandt Clarke will be the lone Reign player heading to the AHL all star game. Congratulations to him on a great rookie season so far.
The Ontario Reign are back at home after the break on Friday night where they will face the Henderson Silver Knights.