Ontario Reign: Three Takeaways From 4-1 Loss to Bakersfield

The Ontario Reign couldn’t solve Collin Delia as the Bakersfield Condors left town with a 4-1 victory on Friday night.

Goal Breakdown

First period: 

BAK: James Stefan (1), ASST: Jayden Grubbe (1), Alex Kannok Leipert (1)

Second period:

BAK: Seth Griffith (1), ASST: James Hamblin (1), Matvey Petrov (1)

ONT: PP Tyler Madden (2), ASST: Jack Studnicka (1), Joe Hicketts (2)

Third period: 

BAK: EN Seth Griffith (2), ASST: Jayden Grubbe (2)

BAK: EN Matthew Savoie (1), ASST: Jayden Grubbe (3), James Hamblin (2)

Stats

Goals:

BAK: 4

ONT: 1

Shots: 

BAK: 16

ONT: 24

Power plays:

BAK: 0/4

ONT: 1/4

Here are the three takeaways from last night’s 4-1 defeat:

Offense goes dry

The offense has been dry for the Reign for the Reign to start the season. They’ve scored five goals in three games, including being shutout in the season opener against the San Jose Barracuda. 12 of the Reign’s 24 shots on goal (not counting missed attempts) came from the hash marks or below them. They got the looks but few second-chance opportunities or traffic in front of the net to solve Delia. It’s still early in the season, so not much to panic but it’ll be something to keep an eye on if the scoring improves over the next several games. Remember, plenty of new faces are learning to play together and rookies are learning and developing at the pro level. That plays a part too. That’s life in the AHL.

Pinelli still at 4C

It’s been three games and Francesco Pinelli has started as the fourth-line center in all of them. In two of those games, enforcers Shawn Element and Jacob Doty have been his wingers. I don’t agree with the decision because a player like Pinelli who has the skillset in them shouldn’t be on the fourth line. With his ability to drive play and playmaking, he needs to play with capable wingers who are better suited to play with him.

Whether it’s the organization or Sturm’s decision I don’t think it’s a good development strategy to have a skilled player on the fourth line with enforcers. Yes, Pinelli will need to play better (zero points in three games), but there won’t be much offense generated no matter how good Pinelli drives play or play makes on a line with Element and Doty, who are more known for their fighting than offense. The AHL is a development league, and I think Pinelli should see top nine minutes while continuing to develop and learn while playing with other skilled players in the future with Samuel Helenius playing as the fourth-line center since that is his (Helenius) role and projected future as an NHLer.

Ingham gets the start

Jacob Ingham was called up to the Reign on Wednesday after Pheonix Copley was called up to the Kings after Darcy Kuemper (day-to-day) suffered an injury. Ingham wasn’t supposed to start this game either. Erik Portillo was the projected starter for last night’s game but was unavailable with an illness and JF Berube served as the emergency backup.

Ingham didn’t see a lot of action as he only needed to make 12 saves on 14 shots faced. He looked poised in the net, wasn’t overly aggressive, and tracked the puck well. Despite the loss, he had a solid game. He gave the Reign a chance and that’s all you could ask for. It was his first game since the ECHL playoffs this past spring.

NOTES:

*Griffith recorded two goals for the Condors.

*Madden scored in his second straight game. The goal was on the power play which was the Reign’s first power-play goal of the season.

*Angus Booth and Jakub Dvorak were in the lineup for the second straight game. It wasn’t the best game for both, but each had bright and low spots. Booth continues to show solid gap control and good balance when reaching with his stick to knock the puck off the opposing player’s stick. Dvorak is still raw and will require more time and patience on the defensive side with his positioning.

UP NEXT: The Ontario Reign won’t play again until Friday, October 25th. That game will be in Coachella Valley against the new-look Firebirds. Game time is at 7 PM PT and can be seen on FloSports (FloHockey TV).

Video courtesy of the Ontario Reign YouTube channel. 

Featured image credit: Mike Zitek/Ontario Reign

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