• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

MayorsManor.com

NHL blog, LA Kings hockey news and interviews from The Mayor

  • Radio Replay
  • Prospect Rankings
  • Podcast
  • Contact Us
You are here: Home / HockeyBlog / Ontario Eliminated From Playoffs by Colorado; Quick Look at What’s Next for Reign

Ontario Eliminated From Playoffs by Colorado; Quick Look at What’s Next for Reign

April 22, 2023 By Tristan Baker

For the third straight season, the Ontario Reign were eliminated from postseason play by Colorado. Friday night’s 6-4 loss gave the Eagles a clean sweep in their best-of-three Opening Round matchup.

Despite a late push, coach Marco Sturm and the Reign were simply unable to overcome a three-goal deficit they had dug for themselves.

Lias Andersson opened up the scoring early in the first period when he finished off a feed from Nate Schnarr. Ontario’s lead wouldn’t last for long, though, as Colorado evened the score less than two minutes later. It appeared to be a controversial goal, considering it seemed as if Cal Petersen had the puck covered. Regardless, it counted and with the score tied 1-1 at the end of the period, Colorado had controlled the overall pace of play.

In the middle period, the Eagles took over the game by scoring twice, pushing their lead to 3-1 after 40 minutes, creating a rather desperate Ontario squad.

Colorado extended their lead to three goals by taking advantage of a power play in the third period. However, moments later, Aidan Dudas answered with a shorthanded goal, showing off a great individual effort before firing the puck into the back of the net. Once again, the Eagles took it right back less than a minute later via another power play goal. Even as they were down by three, Ontario did not shy away. Both Nate Thompson and Andersson scored to get Ontario within one. Time wasn’t in their side; it wasn’t enough. In the dying seconds of regulation, the Eagles added an empty netter to seal the victory.

Now begins a summer of uncertainty in Ontario. Sturm is believed to be in the final year of his contract. Will he be back? Petersen is expected to get a long look during Kings training camp for a possible return to the NHL. Matt Villalta is a Restricted Free Agent and the organization may opt to go in another direction — especially after signing prospect Erik Portillo. In addition, Toby Bjornfot most likely will not be back with the Reign next season, as he will be out of waivers and should be on an NHL roster. Forwards Sammy Fagemo, Tyler Madden, Akil Thomas and Aidan Dudas are also now out of waivers.

Postgame Videos:

RELATED CONTENT:

AHL Game 2: Ontario Reign Projected Lineup at Colorado Eagles

Follow @mayorNHL

Instagram

Lead photo via Colorado Eagles

Note to webmasters/reporters: When recapping news or interviews from this site please remember to include a link to www.MayorsManor.com


googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display(‘div-gpt-ad-522840723937225840-1’); });

Filed Under: HockeyBlog, Prospect Profile, Spotlight Story Tagged With: AHL, Andersson, Dudas, hockey, King, Ontario, Petersen, Reign, Schnarr, Thompson

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Surf Nutz says

    April 25, 2023 at 4:47 pm

    Complete tragedy that the refs allowed the first Col. goal to stand after the Eagles pushed Cal into the net.
    Complete bush league embarrassment to the AHL.
    They need to have better refs and player safety.
    The emphasis should be on protecting young talent at the expense of severe suspensions when a player is injured.
    Gotta say Sturm did not get much done after being demoted.
    You gotta get some coaches with the criticality of Brandt Clarke’s development next years big story.

Primary Sidebar

Kings Of The Podcast

Kings Of The Podcast: Ep. 169 – Stutts is Back

Kings Of The Podcast returns with the always popular Mike Stothers as a special guest. It’s an hour-long chat packed with updates on his health and hockey stories galore! Among the topics discussed were: — His thoughts on Kempe, Clarke, Grundstrom, Pinelli, etc. when talking LA Kings and Ontario Reign. — His opinion on who […]

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • RSS
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Recent Posts

  • Projected Lineups: LA Kings vs. Colorado Avalanche, Plus Notes on Lizotte, Kopitar, Makar
  • Ontario Reign Lineup at Coachella Valley Firebirds; Notes on Portillo, Bjornfot, Moverare
  • Ontario Reign Lineup vs. Coachella Valley Firebirds; Notes on Bjornfot, Pinelli, Clarke
  • Kings Of The Podcast: Ep. 172 with Andreas Englund
  • Projected Lineups: LA Kings vs. Washington Capitals, Plus Notes on Doughty and Lizotte
  • Ontario Reign Lineup vs. Tucson Roadrunners; Latest on Moverare, Fagemo, Pinelli, Chromiak
  • Kings Of The Podcast: Ep. 171 with EJ Emery
  • LA Kings: Cyber Monday Gift Guide and Savings Up To 50%
  • Projected Lineups: LA Kings vs. Montreal Canadiens; Backend of Double Matinees
  • Ontario Reign Lineup at San Jose Barracuda; the B2B and Don’t Talk About It

Tweets by mayorNHL

Footer

Archives

Tags

AHL Blackhawks Brown camp Carter Clifford coach comments Doughty draft Ducks history hockey interview Kings Kopitar lineup Lombardi Los Angeles Manchester Mayor MayorsManor Monarchs Murray NHL Ontario Penner Playoffs podcast Prospect Quick quote Radio Reign Richards roster Sharks Stanley Cup Stoll Sutter Toffoli trade video WCB West Coast Bias

MayorsManor

  • About Our Team
  • Contact Us
  • Store

© 2023 MayorsManor.com