It wasn’t pretty, but the Ontario Reign got the job done in Bakersfield against the Condors on Saturday night, winning the game 3-1 and the series 2-0. They advance to the Division Semifinals.
Three Stars
Quite simply, Erik Portillo was the MVP for the Reign in this series. On a night where many of the Reign’s skaters looked confused and disconnected, Portillo stood tall, the only goal he allowed coming on the power play after several attempts by the Condors. He finished the game with 23/24 saves and a sv% of .958 on the night. Overall in the series, he allowed 2 goals (both PPG) on 55 shots, good for a .964 sv%. In a series that would be decided by its goaltending, Portillo came out on top; a very impressive showing for the rookie goaltender.
On the other end of the ice, Olivier Rodrigue was phenomenal for the Condors. After two shaky periods for the Reign, they turned it on in the final period, outshooting Bakersfield 15-2 in the final frame. After a less than excellent performance from Jack Campbell in Game 1, the Condors turned to Rodrigue to give them a fighting chance, and he did that, saving 32 of 34 shots. If he had started in Game 1, we might have had a series on our hands.
Tyler Madden’s third goal of the series for Ontario was also his second game winning goal of the series. He led both teams in scoring with those three goals, and currently sits on top of the goal leaderboard in the entire AHL, second in points only to Mavrik Borque and Christian Kyrou of the Texas Stars, as well as Louie Belpedio of the Lehigh Valley Phantoms, who all have four points so far in the playoffs. On a night when your stars are being kept quiet, you need players like Madden to step up, and he did in impressive fashion.
Two Takeaways
Unspecial Teams
The Reign’s red hot power play was useless in this game. After finishing the season 2nd in the league, they went 0 for 5 on their power plays against Bakersfield in Game 2, and allowed Bakersfield to score on their own power play, killing off 3 of the Condors’ four attempts. They went 2 for 12 on the powerplay in this series, while the Condors went 2 for 9. The power play is one of Ontario’s biggest strengths. Going forward, they need to get that rolling in a big way.
Where Are Your Stars?
Samuel Fagemo had one assist in the two game series. Ditto TJ Tynan. Six Ontario players finished the series at least a point per game, including rookie defenceman Brandt Clarke, but that top line of Fagemo-Tynan-Turcotte was worryingly quiet. The Reign seem to be scoring by committee, and weren’t offensively starved in the series (outscoring Bakersfield 8-2), but it’s not usual to look at the stat sheet and see players like Tynan so far down the list. On the one hand, it’s good to have depth scoring showing up in the playoffs, but depending on who the Reign face in Round 2, their top line needs to be rolling.
One Question
Who’s Next?
The Reign will face whoever wins the series between the Abbotsford Canucks and the Colorado Eagles. Either team will be a tough match-up, but the Eagles have ended Ontario’s season three years running now. If they face off against Colorado in the second round, there are going to have to be some ghosts put to rest.
Colorado took their regular season series 5-2-0-1, but Abbotsford are no slouches, coming in with a 4-4-0-0 record against the Reign this season. Whoever Ontario faces next, it won’t be an easy time for them, that’s for sure.
The Ontario Reign will start the second round next week against the winners of tonight’s Canucks-Eagles game, likely on the road for the first two games. The schedule will be released at the conclusion of play tonight.
