A turnover in overtime ended up being the difference as the Ontario Reign fell to the Gulls Sunday afternoon, 2-1.

Goal Breakdown

First period:

SD: Drew Helleson (5), ASST: Chase De Leo (3), Rocco Grimaldi (27)

Second period:

None

Third period:

ONT: PP Samuel Fagemo (18), ASST: Jordan Spence (35), TJ Tynan (57)

Overtime:

SD: Rocco Grimaldi (27), ASST: None

Stats

Goals:

SD: 2

ONT: 1

Shots:

SD: 30

ONT: 22

Power-plays:

SD: 0/3

ONT: 1/1

Here are the three takeaways from Sunday’s 2-1 overtime loss:

Rocco Grimaldi wins it for San Digeo

The Ontario Reign are probably glad they don’t have to see Rocco Grimaldi anymore. Yesterday was the season finale for the Ontario Reign against the San Diego Gulls. In eight games against the Reign, Grimaldi recorded 10 points (7-3). After recording a hat trick against the Reign a week ago, Grimaldi recorded two more points, and the second point was the game-winner. Grimaldi stole the puck from Lias Andersson and made a nice move on a breakaway to win the game for the Gulls.

With the Gulls and their parent club, the Ducks, out of a playoff spot Grimaldi should get a call-up to the NHL toward the end of the regular season. He has earned it.

More shots on goal

For the game, the Reign had 22 shots on goal. However, there weren’t many early in the game due to their slow start. There were times during the game I felt they got too cute with the puck and tried making that extra pass instead of putting the puck on the net or shooting for a rebound. In the third period, I thought they did more of that and had great looks, they just couldn’t convert. They were good on the forecheck and created turnovers in the offensive zone. However, they need to bring that at the start of games.

Standings update

The Reign did earn a point with their overtime loss on Sunday. They have earned at least one point in nine of their last ten games (17 out of 20 points). With that, there is now a three-way tie for third place in the division between them, the Abbotsford Canucks, and Colorado Eagles. Abbotsford has 19 games remaining, while the Eagles and Reign have 20 remaining. The Reign will face the Canucks and Eagles nine times combined in their remaining 20 games. This will be a heck of a finish to the season.

UP NEXT: The Ontario Reign are back in action at home to take on the Abbotsford Canucks for the first time since opening night. The game starts at 7 pm PT and can be seen on AHLTV. The winner gets sole possession of third place in the division.

Featured image credit: Mike Zitek/Ontario Reign

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