Special Teams the Difference in Reign Victory
April 21, 2022 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Ontario Reign News Release
Backed by a hat trick from Akil Thomas and four points by TJ Tynan, the Ontario Reign (41-15-5-4) scored four power play goals, including two in the third period, to defeat the Colorado Eagles (37-22-4-3) by a final score of 5-3 in the opener of a three-game series Wednesday night at the Budweiser Events Center.
Thomas, who was later named the first star of the game, scored once in all three periods, while Tynan factored into all four power play goals by netting the first and picking up assists on the other three. The Reign have now won five straight games and earned points in seven straight contests.
A tripping penalty to Colorado's Mikhail Maltsev just 15 seconds into the opening frame put Ontario on the power play and Tynan wasted no time scoring in his return to Loveland where he played during 2019-20 and 2020-21, netting his 14th goal of the season on a slapshot from the right circle that beat goaltender Justus Annunen at 1:56. Assists on the early strike went to both defenseman Christian Wolanin and forward Taylor Ward.
The Reign extended their lead less than four minutes later when defenseman Kim Nousiainen found space to take the puck to the net and dished it to his left for a finish by Thomas. Thomas' fifth goal of the season came at 5:30 and had a second assist credited to forward Samuel Fagmeo.
But Colorado got on the board with just 12.1 seconds left on the first period clock, scoring on a deflection in front by Martin Kaut that trickled by Ontario goaltender Matt Villalta.
The Eagles tied the game on the power play at 2:23 of the second when Dylan Sikura found the back of the net for the third time against Ontario this season and evened the score at 2-2.
Thomas' second strike of the night put the Reign back in front 3-2 at 10:29 of the second. The Toronto native grabbed a loose rebound off a shot by defenseman Frederic Allard and made a quick move to his backhand for the finish. A second assist on the goal, which came on the power play, went to Tynan who secured his league-leading 80th helper of the season.
Less than two minutes later, Colorado got even again, tying the game at 3-3 on a backhand shot of their own by Kiefer Sherwood at 12:25 after a turnover at the Ontario blueline.
The Reign scored the only two goals of the third to pull away and earn the victory in a period that featured seven minor penalties.
After killing two early minors to Cameron Gaunce and Martin Frk, forward Jaret Anderson-Dolan deflected home a look from Tynan at 10:31 during a Reign man-advantage to put Ontario in front one last time. A second assist on the goal went to Thomas, who wasn't done there.
3:21 later, Thomas finished off the hat trick with his third goal of the contest at 13:52 from Allard and Tynan, also coming on the power play.
Villalta had a busy night in the crease and earned the win for Ontario with 33 saves in a game that saw the Reign get outshot 36-25. After being doubled up in shots during the second period 16-8, Ontario had the better of the chances in the third by an 11-7 margin. Annunen stopped 20 shots in a losing effort for the Eagles.
The Reign finished 4-for-7 on the power play and held Colorado to a 1-for-5 mark on their man-advantage. Ontario is now 14 for their last 15 on the penalty kill in their last four games combined.
Chris Hajt
On his team's performance, winning after being tied after two periods
Well first of all, a great atmosphere. We were excited coming in, comparing last year to this year, we knew it's a great place to play and we knew there'd be a ton of fans and the same for the next two games as well. We were really happy with our start, we came out really well, built a lead, they came back, it was a back-and-forth type game, tied going to the third period and we were able to come out with the win. Obviously power play was key, a couple big kills at the start of the third as well but happy with our result for sure.
On the team's power play which scored four times in the game
It's huge. When you get the opportunities you've got to put it in the net and TJ did a great job and everyone did. It was nice to see Akil get the hat trick, he played excellent tonight but again I thought TJ played really well and the power play did their thing.
On TJ Tynan returning to Colorado with a big performance
TJ means so much to our team and obviously he meant a lot to this team when he was here and it was a great tribute to him after the first timeout there, real classy by Colorado and it just shows what they thought of him and we feel the same way and we're happy he's on our team.
On the night Akil Thomas had, scoring three goals
We've talked about his road back and he just had to play, had to get those touches and that experience and he's coming through with flying colors right now. Continuing to work on his game after practices and his shot and his handles, we rely on him defensively as well with penalty kill and important faceoffs so I'm happy for him.
Akil Thomas
On getting the win in a tough building to play in
It was a lot of fun. One thing I noticed is that it was hard to breathe and I think because of the elevation so it was kind of different but obviously we played well and we got the win so it feels pretty good.
On what the team was focused on in a tie game going into the third
I think just sticking to the game plan. I think we're a good team so there's not much to focus on, we've just got to be us. When we're us we're confident and we feel like we can beat any team so not much, we're just playing our game and it worked out.
On how he felt during the game
To be honest, I wasn't really happy with my 5-on-5 play to be honest. Didn't really feel great so to sneak out with a few it definitely feels really good and hopefully I can just use that to feel good next game and hopefully contribute as well.
On the team having high expectations for its power play
I think that's what makes us good. I think every power play we don't score on it's just not good enough. So we have that expectation we execute and all of us combined we all want to help the team win and I think our power play is a big part of our team and when we win so definitely high expectations and I think that's what makes us a good team.
The second game of the week in the series between the two teams is set for Friday night at 6:05 p.m. PT.
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