OJR earn first shootout win of the season. Earn 3 of 6 points on the road in Lake Tahoe.

With the tight USPHL Pacific Division race, the Ontario Jr. Reign took their longest road trip, playing three games in three days against the Lake Tahoe Lakers. All three games were an absolute battle, with the OJR earning a shoot-out victory and losses in regulation and overtime.  

Assistant captain Josh Henson started in the crease for game one, marking his ninth appearance of the season.

The first period saw plenty of back-and-forth action as both teams settled into the game, but the Lakers struck first, scoring within the first nine minutes. 

Ontario responded just after the halfway point of the second period. Christopher Lai capitalized on a rebound from an Alec Boucher shot,beating the goalie stick side. 

Later in the period, Lake Tahoe retook the lead directly off a face-off in the right circle with under three minutes until the second intermission. 

Despite being down 2-1 the Jr. Reign outshot their opponents in the period 15-6. 

While creating more chances in the third, Carter Demelo found the equalizer while on the power play with under six minutes left in regulation. Demelo went end-to-end with the puck and scored from a tight angle on the left side of the net.  

With the score tied up at two, the game headed into overtime, in which neither side was able to find the back of the net. That meant that the Jr. Reign would have their first shoot-out of the season. 

The assistant captains stole the show in the shootout as Henson stood tall and saved all three shoot-out attempts, while Lai netted the game winning shot by flying down the right side of the ice and beat the goaltender to his glove side with a wrist shot just inside the right circle.  

Along with his shoot-out heroics, Henson stopped 27 of 29 shots, securing his fifth win of the season.

In game two, Ryan Hicks earned his ninth start of the season, aiming to extend his seven game win streak.

Mason Geng got the scoring done early, when he jumped on a Lakers’ misplaced pass and capitalized on the goaltender being out of position.   

Ontario continued the offensive pressure throughout the period, but Lake Tahoe took advantage of their late chances and scored two goals in the final minute to put them ahead 2-1. 

The second period evened out as both sides had their fair number of chances. It wasn’t before Lake Tahoe tallied a short-handed goal with just under seven minutes left to play. 

The Jr. Reign pulled back within one, when Geng cleaned up a rebound in front of the net for his ninth goal of the season. 

Heading into the final period, the Jr. Reign looked to equal things up as the scoreboard read 3-2. 

Once more the Jr. Reign were on the front foot early on by getting pucks deep and forcing the Lakers goalie to keep his team in the game. 

Unfortunately Lake Tahoe put the game to rest with under seven minutes left in regulation, as the final score was 4-2 in favor of the Lakers. 

Hicks answered when his name was called and saved 22 shots of the 26 he faced. Ontario outshot the Lakers in game two by 46-26. 

Henson was back in between the posts for the final game of the series.  

Again, it was Geng who opened the scoring in the first period, this time it was within the final two minutes, as he was on the right side of the net, cleaning up a rebound and putting the Jr. Reign up one after the first period. 

The Lakers responded with two goals of their own in the latter half of the second period, giving them a 2-1 lead. 

Until Morry Sheynin capitalized with a power-play goal with just 52 seconds left before the second intermission. The man-advantage allowed Sheynin to collect his own rebound in the left circle and fire a shot into the top right corner of the net to tie the game at two. 

Boucher put the Jr. Reign ahead against the flow of play, slipping a backhand through traffic in the slot six minutes into the game.

The lead didn’t last long as Lake Tahoe found the equalizer just four minutes later. 

It was a stalemate for the final 10 minutes of regulation, as the score was tied 2-2 and we were headed into overtime for the second time this series. 

This time the Lakers had an answer in extra time as they scored in exactly a minute and a half giving them a 3-2 win.   

Henson saved 22 shots of the 26 he faced. Once more, Ontario outshot their counterpart 40-26. 

With the Pacific Division tightening up the Ontario Jr. Reign currently sit in third, with games in hand over the Lake Tahoe Lakers and Henderson Force.  

The Jr. Reign return to home ice on Friday Feb. 7 at 8:45 pm and Saturday Feb. 8 at 8:30 pm for a two game series with the Fresno Monsters. Be at the Center Ice Arena as you wouldn’t want to miss this highly anticipated showdown. Tickets are on sale now at Tickets - Ontario Jr Reign.