The Ontario Reign (19-10-1-1) defeated the Iowa Wild (10-20-1-1) Sunday afternoon by a final score of 3-0 in front of 7,155 fans at Toyota Arena. The Reign will host the Iowa Wednesday, Jan. 7 at 7 p.m. (PST).
Erik Portillo made 19 saves in his first appearance since Nov. 12 for his third career shutout. Martin Chromiak scored a pair of goals while Andre Lee tallied his team leading 15th, sixth on the power-play and Glenn Gawdin stretched his point streak to 11-games.
Ontario led 1-0 after the first period on a four-on-four score from Martin Chromiak (12th) at 10:41. Chromiak forced a takeaway at the top of the circle in his own zone and sped his way past the two defenders back moving in on a breakaway where he sent a backhander over the right pad of Riley Mercer. The Reign outshot the Wild 9-5. They had one power-play opportunity that was cut short 44 seconds in as they went 2-for-2 on the penalty kill.
The Reign led 3-0 through 40 minutes. Martin Chromiak (13th) notched his second of the afternoon at 8:36 from Glenn Gawdin making it a 2-0 lead. Gawdin worked the puck free for Chromiak at the left-wing side of the red line. Chromiak raced down the left-wing side and cut to the crease sending a shot through the legs of Mercer from the left side of the crease. Andre Lee (15th) cashed in at 10:22 on the power-play with just 24 seconds remaining on the man advantage from Samuel Bolduc and Joe Hicketts. From the center of the point Hicketts spun the puck to the right circle where Bolduc hammered a one-timer off the right pad where Lee was there to hammer home the rebound. Shots were 15-5 Ontario in the frame.
It was a scoreless third period as Iowa outshot Ontario 9-5.
Erik Portillo made 19 saves for his third career shutout in his first appearance in 53 days while Riley Mercer suffered the loss making 26 saves on 29 shots. Ontario went 1-for-4 on the power-play as they now have a man advantage goal in three straight games. The penalty kill was 5-for-5 as they’ve now killed of 18 straight power-plays against.
Postgame thoughts from Andrew Lord, Erik Portillo, and Martin Chromiak.
Lord
On today’s win
I really liked our start. I thought we were at the races, moving our feet, putting pucks behind them. Maybe not the best period, but solid. And then I thought the second was excellent there. There’s about a 12 or 13 minute span where we really got to our game. I used four lines. I thought the D were involved. We were moving pucks quick. It was relentless, and that was really fun to see. And then I thought we saw it out in the third. I don’t think we gave up too much, other than maybe on the kill. They had some good looks. They were moving it around quite well. But Portillo was there, so good win. Good with this much hockey, we’ll take the win and we’ll move on.
On Portillo’s return and shutout
That was awesome. You could feel it on the bench. The guys were really pulling for him late to get it over the line. One of the best competitors I’ve coached, he’s just all in. And credit to him, you know, going through a fairly significant recovery process there. Taking a couple months and to play the way he did was exceptional and great to have him back.
Portillo
On returning after his injury
I think I have confidence in my team and my game too. I’ve been on the ice for the last three weeks really getting back into things. So it feels good to just be out there and playing today was just fun.
On only facing 10 shots in the first 2 periods
There was definitely quality in there. So maybe not the game you want coming back. But, you know, you just got to do what you can with what you get there. Today I was just out there battling, and I didn’t really care about what type of game I go to. Was more about coming out, being back competing again. That was a lot of fun.
Chromiak
On his speed
I think that’s one of my biggest strengths. I’m just trying to use it as much as I can. I would say last couple of games, I was really focusing on that, so I’m glad I worked out for me.
On his powerplay unit
I think it’s great. I think we have a lot of good looks. It just didn’t go in for our unit. But the other guys, they got the job done. So it was nice to see that the power play produced again.