Ontario Reign: Three Takeaways From 5-0 Loss to San Jose

The home opener didn’t go the way the Ontario Reign wanted, as they got blanked in front of their home crowd by the San Jose Barracuda.

Goal Breakdown

First period:

SJ: Anthony Vincent (1), ASST: Joey Keane (1), Donovan Houle (1)

Second period:

SJ: PP Kasper Halttunen (1), ASST: Filip Bystedt (1), Andrew Poturalski (1)

Third period:

SJ: Collin Graf (1), ASST: Tristen Robins (1)

SJ: PP Kapser Halttunen (2), ASST: Luca Cagnoni (1), Andrew Poturalski (2)

SJ: Joey Keane (1), ASST: Filip Bystedt (2)

Stats

Goals: 

SJ: 5

ONT: 0

Shots: 

SJ: 23

ONT: 22

Power plays:

SJ: 2/5

ONT: 0/6

Here are the three takeaways from Saturday night’s 5-0 defeat:

Barracuda bite

The Barracuda started strong and never looked back. After losing all eight games in the season series last year the Barracuda thumped the Reign, winning their first game against the hosts since March 8th, 2023. This year’s Barracuda team is completely different from last year’s with veteran additions like Andrew Poturalski and Jimmy Schuldt and highly touted prospects in the San Jose Sharks system, which should see them compete for a playoff spot.

Last night, it was San Jose’s youth who made their impact on the game. Yaroslav Askarov, acquired in August in a trade with the Nashville Predators, led the way with 22 saves, highlighted by his right pad while sliding post-to-post save on Samuel Fagemo’s one-timer from the left circle in the opening frame with the Barracuda on the penalty kill, for the shutout in his Barracuda debut. Kasper Halttunen scored two power-play goals, Collin Graf added a goal in the third period, and Luca Cagnoni and Filip Bystedt combined for three assists.

The Sharks’ pipeline, which Macklin Celebrini and Will Smith highlight, is deep, and last night’s performance should get fans in the Bay Area excited not only for this season with the Barracuda but for the future when they graduate to the Sharks.

Angus Booth impresses Marco Sturm

There’s never an exciting moment when a team loses 5-0. Nothing stands out positively and it’s one a coach and player want to flush away, but there was one player who received praise from head coach Marco Sturm after the game. That player was rookie defenseman Angus Booth.

When asked about some of the differences between playing in the QMJHL to the AHL, here is what Booth had to say:

“I think the guys are a lot bigger. The game’s a lot faster. You don’t have a lot of time with the puck.”

Here are Sturm’s thoughts on the 20-year-old defenseman’s AHL debut:

“I liked him. He played solid. He was one of our best defenseman out there, probably the best, I thought. No mistakes, but he showed it all preseason long.”

That’s a good compliment right there. Other than the third goal, where he had a tough break with the puck bouncing by him alowing Graf to score on a breakaway, Booth had a solid debut. He’s not the flashiest player by any means. He’s mobile and won’t put up a ton of points offensively, but expect him to be a contributor on the defensive side of the ice.

Turn the page

Sturm referred to his group as paying ‘tight’ from puck drop. The Reign couldn’t connect on tape-to-tape passes and never established a forecheck in the offensive zone. When you’re chasing the game from start to finish this is the result you get. The power play had some looks to get them back in the game but couldn’t convert on the opportunities and went 0-for-6 on the night, and as Sturm mentioned in his postgame, there was ‘too much passing’ on the man advantage. This is a game where you turn the page quickly, move on to the next game, and execute better. It’s only game one of 72.

NOTES:

*Askarov’s shutout was the 10th of his AHL career.

*Halttunen and Graf each scored in the AHL debuts for San Jose.

*Nine players recorded a point for the Barracuda, including four players with a multi-point game.

*Erik Portillo made 18 saves on 23 shots faced.

UP NEXT: These two teams are back at it today at Toyota Arena. Game time is 3 PM PT and can be seen on FloHockey TV.

Featured image credit: Mike Zitek/Ontario Reign

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