REIGN FINAL – Reign 4, Roadrunners 3 – Sturm, Byfield

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• News post

• Jared Shafran

Quinton Byfield led the way with three points as the Ontario Reign (10-6-0-1) bounced back to earn a split of their weekend series against the Tucson Roadrunners (10-6-1-0) Sunday afternoon with a 4-3 win. The victory was Ontario’s 10th of the 2022-23 season.

• Quinton Byfield

• Marco Sturm

# Marco Sturm

I think, overall, the guys responded from last night. I think we were all not happy and today we played like a team, and that was the difference. I think we had some good chances and a lot of opportunities. We just didn’t bury them. I think we play better when we win on special teams, but not every night is like that. We’ve got to make sure we bury our chances at five-on-five. Tucson is a good team. They play defensively very well. They didn’t give us much and we know it was going to be a tight game, and it was, just like last night.

[Quinton Byfield, Alex Turcotte, and Tyler Madden had an off night yesterday and today they responded big time. That’s what we need. They’re some of our best players and the best players have to be the best players every night, especially with [Quinton]. There are some expectations from us and from the organization, and for sure from him too. He needs to be the guy, and yesterday he wasn’t, and today he was big time. It was nice to see him have a really good game.

[Matt Villalta] was nice and calm. He felt good all day. He made some key saves, unfortunately he got beat and that shouldn’t happen, but we were very, very happy about his game.

In my experience so far, [the breaks] are good and bad. I think its good when you win, and its bad when you don’t win. When you don’t win, then its going to be a long, long week. I’m glad we won today so we can have a better week. I think a better mood, atmosphere and energy, because that’s what we need. We’re going to work and use this week to repair a lot of things and try to come out against a really hard Colorado team. Its not going to get easier. We’re going to enjoy the day off tomorrow and then go back on and get back to work on Tuesday.

# Quinton Byfield

I think we had a great first period. All four of our lines were going. We were getting a lot of shots, and we outshot them. I think we’re playing the hockey that we want to play, so it was a really good first. To get on the board and get the lead first is definitely huge, especially for the power play.

Maybe the other game we just weren’t all on the same page. Maybe a little disconnected. In prior games, we had a lot of chemistry and a lot of little touches in between, and players were creating plays, so I think we just got back to that. We usually match against their top line, so that’s a big role for us to play. I think we did a pretty good job there and we had a good game tonight.

I’ve tried it a couple times and I’ve lost the puck in other games. When Tynan hit me, I knew they were covering Fagemo pretty well there on the far side. I tried to go to Ward in the middle and we got a couple opportunities, so I just thought it was best to get the puck to the net there, and I think that was the best play for me.