The Ontario Reign had a two-goal cushion and a strong grip on the game, but Tucson flipped the script in the third period and escaped Toyota Arena with a 5-4 win Friday night.
Ontario got goals from Aatu Jämsen, Jack Millar, Kaleb Lawrence and Koehn Ziemmer, and Kenny Connors piled up three assists. Erik Portillo finished with 25 saves on 30 shots in the loss, while the Reign went 2-for-5 on the power play.
The opening frame belonged to Ontario’s special teams and its pace. Jacob Doty was sent off for holding at 2:14, but the Reign killed it.
Tucson then took an interference penalty at 15:54, and Jämsen made it count at 17:07, scoring his third of the season on the power play off feeds from Connors and Cole Guttman. Doty and Montana Onyebuchi then dropped the gloves at 18:56, with both players getting fighting majors.
Ontario outshot Tucson 12-6 in the period and carried a 1-0 lead into the first intermission.
The Reign kept building in the second. Scott Perunovich was penalized for slashing at 7:06, and Guttman went off for tripping at 10:49, but Ontario killed both.
The home side also couldn’t cash in on a Robbie Russo tripping minor at 8:46. Then Millar struck at 17:10 for his first goal, finishing a setup from Kirill Kirsanov and Connors to push the lead to 2-0.
Gabe Smith’s holding call at 19:45 sent Ontario to the third with a power play still on the table. After 40 minutes, the Reign had a 26-15 edge in shots and a two-goal lead.
Then came the swing.
Austin Poganski got Tucson on the board at 5:38 of the third, with Hebig and Ben McCartney drawing assists. Hebig then tied it himself at 7:59.
Ontario answered quickly when Lawrence scored his first at 9:23 off a pass from Doty to restore the lead at 3-2, but the momentum didn’t last. Vadim Moroz was whistled for high-sticking at 9:57, yet Brandon Tanev scored shorthanded at 10:30 off a feed from Kevin Rooney to make it 3-3.
Hebig struck again at 13:51, with Gregor Biber and Julian Lutz assisting, and Tucson had its first lead of the night. With Portillo pulled and Ontario working on a power play after McCartney’s high-sticking minor at 18:21, Tomas Lavoie scored shorthanded into the empty net at 18:37 to make it 5-3. Ziemmer answered at 19:42 on the power play, scoring his fourth of the season from Connors and Lane Pederson, but Ontario couldn’t find the equalizer.
Tucson outshot Ontario 15-11 in the third and 30-37 overall. Jaxson Stauber made 33 saves for the win. Ontario finished 3-for-3 on the penalty kill.
In Other News...
Kings Let A Winnable Home Game Slip Away After Costly Misses
A home game that looked there for the taking ended with the Kings staring at another missed chance, as Buffalo slipped out of Crypto.com Arena with a 3-2 win. Los Angeles had enough looks to make it a different night, but Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen turned aside 27 shots and Anton Forsberg did his part with 28 saves in a matchup that stayed tight until the finish.
Peter Laviolette pointed to the Kings effort and the opportunities they let get away, which fit the frustration of a night when the details mattered. Tage Thompson was the difference for Buffalo, and the Kings were left to sort through a result that felt avoidable, especially with the way the game was hanging in the balance late. [Read more 🡒]
Kings Homestand Starts With A Frustrating Mistake Fans Will Hate
The Kings opened their seven-game homestand with a frustrating 3-2 loss to the Buffalo Sabres at Crypto.com Arena, a game that never quite tilted fully in their direction. Buffalo struck first on goals from Jack Quinn and Tage Thompson, and Los Angeles answered with goals from Corey Perry and Andre Lee to keep the night tight and tense.
Perrys tally had to survive a video review after it was initially waved off for goaltender interference, and the successful Kings challenge briefly gave the building a lift. But the margin for error stayed razor thin, and the game eventually slipped away in the late stages, leaving Los Angeles with an early missed opportunity on a stretch of home ice that was supposed to help it settle in. [Read more 🡒]
Reign Let Another Home Game Slip And Fans Know The Problem
Ontarios latest home outing had enough good signs early to suggest it might finally be the kind of night that steadies a season, with Aatu Jmsen and Cole Guttman giving the Reign a lead at Toyota Arena. Hampton Slukynsky was busy from the start and kept Tucson from taking over completely, while the power play cashed in once in three chances, giving Ontario a few things to build on even in defeat.
But the final result told the more familiar story. The Reign were outshot 43-21 and couldnt finish off the game after getting themselves in position to control it, leaving another home loss that will sting because it felt there for the taking. For a team trying to protect its own ice and build some momentum, letting an opponent hang around long enough to flip the script is the sort of problem that keeps showing up in the standings and in the stands. [Read more 🡒]