Ontario won their series against the Bakersfield Condors in two games and played good, defensive hockey – allowing only one goal in each of their two wins.
These teams played each other eight times in the regular season and both sides picked up four wins apiece. The Canucks outscored the Reign by a 25-20 count in their eight games including a 6-0 domination on December 21st.
The leading scorer for the Reign during the regular season was T.J. Tynan with 66 points in 71 games. Their leading goal scorer was Samuel Fagemo with 43 goals in 50 games. Former Canuck prospect Tyler Madden leads the Reign with three goals in two playoff games.
Erik Portillo is the Reign’s starter between the pipes, and had a 24-11-3 record in the regular season with a .918% save percentage and a pair of shutouts.
The second-round series is set to be a defensive battle and emotions are sure to run high just as they did in game three of the Canucks’ first-round bout with Colorado. Canucks captain Chase Wouters spoke about winning being the only thing that matters at the end of the day and the Canucks are continuing to learn how to stack those wins up as the playoffs go along.
This young Abbotsford team learned a lot from their playoff experience last season and are looking forward to continuing to build their game.
“We saw this last year and played two emotional and high-intense series. That is something that we learned from the Calgary series last year, where we lost two games in overtime. We’re just trying to use that experience to help our team this year and do everything we can to give ourselves the best chance to win. And at the end of the day, winning is all that matters. That is why we’re working so hard and continuing to build our game,” said Wouters.
Head Coach Jeremy Colliton views this time of the year as the paramount part of developing players. Whether you’re on the first line or in the press box, there’s learning to be gained in the coming weeks and with the way playoff hockey goes in the AHL, you always need to be ready in case your name is called.
“You learn about how much the playoffs experience matters,” said Colliton. “You have to go through it, you have to be around it. You really learn a lot from being involved in playoff hockey. Last year really helped our guys with that. Even the guys who don’t play and are just experiencing this. It’s a tremendous opportunity to learn what the pro game is all about.”
Arshdeep Bains liked how his club finished the regular season and how it was not about results but how the team was playing their game.
“We played really well to finish the season and feel like we are peaking at the right time as the playoffs started,” said Bains. “That was important for us because we weren’t too satisfied with our regular season, but we know our group is better than that. We’ve got some confidence in here and feel we are one of the top teams in the league and that we can do some damage.”
Colliton believes his team is at their best when they are forechecking hard and playing aggressively. His focus for the group is to play with pace and force the opposition to play at their team’s tempo.
The coach also views the overtime period in game three against Colorado as the way he wants his group to play moving forward.
“I thought the best part of the whole series was how we came out in overtime. I thought we stopped playing not to lose and started playing to win.”
With Artūrs Šilovs and Nikita Tolopilo being called up to the NHL to support the Vancouver Canucks, Zach Sawchenko has taken over the reins in net for Abbotsford and has shown extremely well in the playoffs.
Sawchenko has a .925% save percentage through three games and shined in the series-deciding game three, stopping 47 of the 48 shots he faced.
