Ontario Reign: Four takeaways from 4-3 OT loss to San Diego

An up-and-down game saw the Ontario Reign grab a point, but not a good enough performance to take the second one.

Goal Breakdown

First period:

ONT: Samuel Fagemo (13), ASST: Brandt Clarke (23), Jacob Moverare (6)

ONT: Samuel Helenius (3), ASST: Max Martin (1)

Second period:

SD: Olen Zellweger (6), ASST: Glenn Gawdin (9)

SD: Josh Lopina (6), ASST: Trevor Carrick (15)

ONT: Brandt Clarke (6), ASST: Alex Turcotte (15)

SD: Josh Lopina (7), ASST: Nathan Gaucher (7), Tyson Hinds (2)

Third period:

None

Overtime:

SD: Glenn Gawdin (8), ASST: Josh Lopina (5), Trevor Carrick (16)

Stats

Goals:

ONT: 3

SD: 4

Shots: 

ONT: 29

SD: 32

Power plays:

ONT: 0/2

SD: 0/2

Here are the four takeaways from Thursday’s 4-3 overtime loss

Sloppy play

This was evident at the start. From the drop of the puck, the Ontario Reign weren’t ready to play. Erik Portillo had to make two big saves on Olen Zellweger and Judd Caufield less than two minutes into the game. Both chances were in the high-danger scoring chances category. Things worsened as the Reign got called for too many men on the ice penalty 15 seconds after Caufield’s scoring chance. All of these events took place less than two minutes into the game.

Luckily, Ontario successfully killed the penalty and, shortly after, got goals from Samuel Fagemo and Samuel Helenius 56 seconds apart. The Reign led 2-0 at the first intermission while not playing their best game. Heading into the second period, the Reign’s two-goal lead evaporated within the first seven minutes. Sloppy play in their end with the puck led to scoring chances and goals for the Gulls. Turnover after turnover, mishandle after mishandle, and they couldn’t connect on that first outlet pass from the zone exit.

While we can talk about the Reign being sloppy for most of the game, you have to give credit to the Gulls. In all four meetings, their forecheck and pressure in the offensive zone have given the Reign issues, and it’s a reason why they’ve won three of the four meetings. As for head coach Marco Sturm, I’m sure a 60-minute effort will be the main message for his team going into Saturday’s game. It has been a while since they’ve played a complete 60-minute game.

Increased role

Since David Rittich has been called up to the Kings, Erik Portillo has started all four games for the Reign. In four straight games, Portillo has let in four goals or more. This has to do with poor defensive play lately from the Reign and Portillo himself. Portillo is in his first professional season, and the growing pains were expected.

While he has shown flashes, he has also shown growing pains rookie goalies go through. Two areas I’ve noticed all season from Portillo have crept up in these last four starts. That would be rebound control and positioning. There are times when Portillo will give up a big rebound in the slot or lose sight of the puck after making a save. Those big rebounds lead to positioning problems. The good news is those can be fixed. With Rittich up in LA, Portillo will see more games and have the chance to continue working on those issues. By no means am I saying Portillo is bad. It’s the small details he has to work on during his development. This is what the AHL is for.

Alex Turcotte returns to the lineup

After leaving the game against the Bakersfield Condors with an injury on December 8th, Alex Turcotte returned to the lineup after missing the last five games. Turcotte slotted in on the second line at the center position, playing alongside Hayden Hodgson and Akil Thomas.

Turcotte recorded an assist on Brandt Clarke’s goal in the second period for his 15th assist of the year. Overall, Turcotte looked like he didn’t miss a beat and was flying all over the ice as usual.

Leading the backend

Clarke and Zellweger are two young offensively gifted defensemen in the AHL. Clarke leads all rookie defensemen in scoring (29 points), while Zellweger is second (21 points). If you like watching skilled offensive defensemen, this game was for you. While Reign fans know all too well about Clarke, Zellweger is just as good offensively.

There were plenty of instances where Zellweger led the rush, jumped into the rush, or made plays. For the night, Clarke had two points (1G-1A), while Zellweger scored the Gulls’ first goal. Pavel Mintyukov and Jackson LaCombe have made their way to the NHL for the Anaheim Ducks, and Zellweger isn’t far behind, and neither is Clarke for the LA Kings. In two years, it’s going to be fun watching these two players create offense on the backend for their respective NHL clubs.

NOTES:

*Samuel Fagemo recorded his 13th goal of the season to lead the Reign.

*Alex Turcotte became the 5th Reign skater to reach the 20-point mark this season.

*Defenseman Max Martin recorded his first point as a member of the Reign with an assist on Helenius’ goal.

*Josh Lopina (Gulls) led all skaters with three points.

*San Diego won all four faceoffs in the overtime period. The Reign struggled in that department all game long.

UP NEXT: The Reign hit the road to face the Henderson Silver Knights on Saturday for game one of a back-to-back to close out the season. The game starts at 7 PM and can be seen on AHLTV.

Featured image credit: San Diego Gulls

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