PHN’s Best Shots of the Game: Reign blank Americans 3-0

ALLEN, Texas – The Ontario Reign (9-5), four-time ECHL Pacific Division Champions and proud ECHL affiliate of the NHL’s 2014 Stanley Cup Champion Los Angeles Kings and Winnipeg Jets, knotted their Western Conference Finals series up at 1-1 with a 3-0 shutout victory over the Allen Americans (9-4) in front of a crowd of 2,922 on Monday evening at the Allen Event Center.

Both teams played through a scoreless first period; Joe Cannata kept denied the Americans on several chances during an Allen power play midway through the frame.

Ontario got on the board in the second period when Garry Nunn took a feed from Tristan King in the slot and snapped the puck past Riley Gill at 1:14.

A potential Reign goal by Jeff May was waved off at 6:29 when it was ruled that Rocco Carzo had cross-checked Aaron Gens on the play, but after Allen’s Greger Hanson was penalized for closing his hand on the puck at 7:41, Derek Couture scored on the power play when he slid a loose puck underneath Gill at 9:04.

The Reign held firm in the face of two penalties late in the third period, and Matt Register sealed the game with a shorthanded empty-net goal at 19:29.

Cannata earned the win with 35 saves; Gill took the loss with 21 stops.