Ontario Reign Split Series With Abbotsford, Win 3-1 After 2-1 Loss

Kenny Connors delivered a two-goal performance, capped by an empty-net goal, as the Ontario Reign closed out a split series against the Abbotsford Canucks with a 3-1 victory at Toyota Arena on March 18. Koehn Ziemmer also scored for Ontario, and the Reign's official postgame report highlighted goaltender Pheonix Copley's contribution to the win.

The result evened the recent head-to-head ledger after Abbotsford handed Ontario a 2-1 loss at Rogers Forum on February 15. That earlier contest featured a classic Reign performance that had no business ending in a loss: Ontario outshot Abbotsford 32-13 for the game, including a 12-4 edge in the first period alone, but could not solve Nikita Tolopilo after Cole Guttman's power-play goal gave them a 1-0 lead into the third.

Guttman's tally at 6:37 of the second period was his 18th of the season and sixth on the power play, extending a three-game goal streak. Martin Chromiak initiated the play with a wrist shot from the point that Kenny Connors tipped near the crease; Tolopilo made the initial save but couldn't control the rebound, and Guttman slammed it home from the blue paint. The sequence gave Connors his first point since being loaned back to the Reign by the LA Kings over his previous four games.

Abbotsford erased that lead with two third-period goals, 93 seconds in and again with nine minutes remaining, to complete the comeback before 3,688 fans and end Ontario's three-game winning streak. Nils Aman scored the tying goal with assists from Nikolai Knyzhov and Jett Woo, then Nick Poisson provided the winner on another Knyzhov assist, this time with Cooper Walker also picking up a point. Erik Portillo, who faced just 13 shots, allowed both in the third and finished with 11 saves in the loss.

The March 18 rematch at Toyota Arena went the other way. Connors, who had contributed only an assist in the Rogers Forum meeting, went to work on his own this time with two goals, the second into an empty net to seal it. Ziemmer added the other tally. Ontario led 64 points through 47 games atop the Pacific Division entering the game, a record of 31-14-1-1, while Abbotsford sat last in the division at 16-26-3-3 with 38 points through 48 games.

The Reign's penalty kill has been one of their most reliable weapons all season, ranked fourth in the AHL at 84.5 percent, a contrast to the February night when Abbotsford's goaltending was the deciding factor despite being outshot by more than two-to-one. That kind of performance by Tolopilo was the outlier; Ontario has scored 159 goals this season, fourth-most in the league, and averaging 3.38 per game.