OJR Split Home Series Against Fresno

The Ontario Jr. Reign looked to get back on track after their longest road trip of the season, with a two game homestand against the Fresno Monsters.  An all-around team effort aided the Jr. Reign with a 4-1 victory, while the Monster responded in game two, resulting in a series split. 

The Monsters have had the Jr. Reign’s number thus far in the campaign, as they entered the weekend 4-0 against Ontario.  

 “We expected Fresno to be pretty good because of the record, but we came out and we showed that we're a better team,” said defenceman Morry Sheynin.

Josh Henson got his 11th start of the season, as he entered the game in search of his sixth win. 

Fresno were the first ones on the scoreboard, when they capitalized on a loose puck in front of the net in just three minutes of play. 

It was end-to-end action as both sides got the puck deep in their attacking zones, relying on their goaltenders to make key saves.

Until Sheynin broke through for Ontario with 14 seconds remaining in the period, with a snipe directly off a face-off from just inside the blue line, that sneaked into the bottom corner of the net.    

With just under five minutes remaining in the second period, Carter Demelo gave Ontario the go-ahead goal, while on the power play. Demelo picked up the puck in the neutral zone, glided across the blue line and fired a wrist shot from the slot to give the Jr. Reign a 2-1 lead.    

The Jr. Reign were phenomenal on the penalty kill in the second period, killing four consecutive penalties.

“The focus that the boys had in the room from the ice, they were locked in from start to finish,” said Henson about the team's all-around play. 

Christopher Lai continued the scoring in the third period, with a power-play goal of his own. With the puck behind the net and the Monsters goaltender out of position, Lai effortlessly swung around the goal and scored with a backhand into a wide open net. 

Ethan Fraser added his name to the scoresheet nearly a minute later, when Samuel Delaquis centered the puck from the right corner of the boards for Fraser to nail home for the 4-1 lead. 

As time expired the final score read 4-1 in favor of the Ontario Jr. Reign. 

Henson was a brick wall, making saves when called upon, and held the Monsters to only one goal. The Port Moody native shut the light out, saving 32 of the 33 shots he faced.  

“The boys played well in front of me, and I was just trying to make the first save, then the boys did the rest and did great in front of me,” Henson said. 

The special teams were also on fire, creating two power-play goals, while delivering a flawless performance on the penalty kill, going a perfect 8-for-8.  

“We've definitely been working on it,” Sheynin said. “I think the games are decided by special teams, and we outshined them on it.” 

After the remarkable game one performance, Henson returned to the crease for game two. 

Nolan Smith opened the scoring in just over a minute of play by cleaning up a rebound from a shot by Delaquis to put the Jr. Reign up 1-0.

About six minutes later, Sheynin doubled the lead, firing a wrist shot from the right circle off a face-off that found the top left corner of the net. 

Before the first period ended, Fresno pulled one back making the score 2-1 while headed into the first intermission. 

Towards the latter half of the second period, the Monsters scored three consecutive goals to go in ahead with a score of 4-2.  

Henson was then replaced by Domenik McInenly with just under eight minutes remaining in the period.  

Ontario hadn't conceded quite yet as Luke Cannon brought the score back within one just under a minute later. Cannon took a centering pass from Sheynin, executed a slick move to send the Monsters' goalie the wrong way, and finished with a backhand shot on the stick side. 

With just over five minutes remaining in the second period, the Monsters retook a two goal lead while capitalizing on the power play. 

The score was now 5-3, as we were headed into the final period. 

Once again, the Jr. Reign weren’t done yet as a slap shot from Demelo while on the power play, brought Ontario back within a goal, with exactly 12 minutes remaining in regulation. 

Six minutes later, Fresno put the game to rest with a goal of their own to end the game with a final score of 6-4. 

Henson saved 21 of the 25 shots he faced, while his counterpart McInenly saved 13 of the 15 shots on target. 

The Jr. Reign currently sit in third place in the Pacific Division with games in hand over Fresno, Lake Tahoe and Henderson.

Your Ontario Jr. Reign are at the Center Ice Arena on Friday Feb. 14 at 8:30pm, and Saturday  Feb. 15 at 8:30pm for a two game series against the Henderson Force. Don’t miss any of the action as tickets are available on our website at Tickets - Ontario Jr Reign.