Ontario Reign: Three takeaways from 6-4 loss to San Diego

The Ontario Reign couldn’t avoid a weekend sweep as they dropped their second straight game against the San Diego Gulls.

Goal Breakdown

First period: 

ONT: Ryan Francis (1), ASST: Francesco Pinelli (1)

SD: PP Andrew Agozzino (1), ASST: Glenn Gawdin (1), Olen Zellweger (3)

Second period:

ONT: PP Alex Turcotte (1), ASST: Chales Hudon (1), Joe Hicketts (2)

SD: Ben King (1), ASST: Travis Howe (1), Tyson Hinds (1)

SD: Judd Caufield (1), ASST: Nathan Gaucher (1)

ONT: PP Brandt Clarke (1), ASST: Martin Chromiak (1)

SD: Jacob Perreault (2), ASST: Trevor Carrick (2), Glenn Gawdin (2)

Third period: 

SD: Pavol Regenda (3), ASST: Jacob Perreault (1)

ONT: Charles Hudon (1), ASST: Joe Hicketts (3), Alex Turcotte (1)

SD: PP EN Josh Lopina (1), ASST: Colton White (2)

Stats

Goals:

SD: 6

ONT: 4

Shots:

SD: 27

ONT: 39

Power plays:

SD: 1/3

ONT: 2/7

Here are the three takeaways from Sunday’s 6-4 loss:

Ryan Francis opens the scoring

The Ontario Reign didn’t score their first goal of the game Friday night until the midway point of the third period. Sunday afternoon was a different result, however. The Reign opened the scoring just past the midway point of the opening frame from an unlikely source. After Gulls defenseman Trevor Carrick misplayed the puck at center with his glove, Francesco Pinelli and Ryan Francis jumped on the puck, leading to a two-on-one for the Reign. Pinelli, showing the great vision he has, found Francis driving to the net, who tapped the puck past Gulls’ netminder Calle Clang to open the scoring.

The goal was Francis’ first career AHL goal. Pinelli, who had the primary assist on the goal, recorded his first career professional point after a 90-point campaign last season in juniors with the Kitchener Rangers.

It became personal for me

By now, you all know the ‘It became personal for me’ meme of Michael Jordan’s Last Dance documentary that came out during quarantine. Brandt Clarke had his moment in the second period. After taking a hit up high from Gulls forward Glenn Gawdin early in the second period, Clarke went down the tunnel for a possible concussion protocol. Clarke would eventually return and seemed fine as he scored a power-play goal and even gestured toward the San Diego penalty box after scoring.

It’s great to see Clarke have that swagger and competitive edge, but he’ll have to cool it down just a bit as he received a ten-minute misconduct toward the end of the period.

Too many miscues

While the Reign had their chances in the offensive end, there were plenty of breakdowns at the defensive end. In both games this weekend, the Reign had plenty of turnovers behind their net and in the high-danger areas. Unfortunately, they got burned several times in both games as the Gulls made them pay.

As much as everyone loves Brandt Clarke’s offensive capabilities, he played a part in two goals scored by the Gulls. The first miscue was a failed clearing attempt, and the other was a bad read in the neutral zone. Clarkes’ defense is still a work in progress, and there’s nothing wrong with him maturing in the AHL. Overall, the Reign need to start playing better as a team in the defensive zone.

UP NEXT: The Ontario Reign are back in action this Friday as they travel to San Diego to take on the Gulls. The game starts at 7 PM PT and can be seen on AHLTV.

Featured image credit: Mike Zitek/Ontario Reign

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