Reign Finish Regular Season with 2-1 Win Over Aces

ANCHORAGE, Alaska – The Ontario Reign (43-19-4-6), four-time Pacific Division Champions and proud affiliate of the NHL’s 2014 Stanley Cup Champion Los Angeles Kings and Winnipeg Jets, concluded its final regular season in the ECHL with a 2-1 victory over the Alaska Aces (35-30-3-4) in front of a crowd of 6,318 on Saturday night at Sullivan Arena. Ontario Logo

Everett Sheen got Ontario on the board at 7:34 of the first period when he collected Josh Brittain’s rebound, and knocked the puck past the Aces’ Niklas Lundstrom, with Gasper Kopitar receiving the secondary assist.

Justin Johnson brought the Aces even with Ontario when he scooped up a rebound from Slater Doggett and lifted a backhander past Jussi Olkinuora at 16:19.

The Reign took the lead again in the second period when Maxim Kitsyn retrieved the puck at the left half wall, skated towards the slot and wristed a shot past the glove of Lundstrom at 11:52.

The Aces made a goalie change to start the third period, with Troy Redmann taking over in between the pipes, but could not complete a comeback, as Olkinuora stopped all 11 of Alaska’s shots in the final frame.

Olkinuora earned the win with 35 total saves; Lundstrom took the loss with 13 stops in 40 minutes of work, while Redmann made nine saves.

With the victory, the Reign finishes its regular season tenure in the ECHL with an all-time record of 272-178-24-30 (.593 win percentage).

Three Stars:

1. ONT – Jussi Olkinuora

2. AK – Justin Johnson

3. ONT – Maxim Kitsyn

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