Ontario Reign: Three Takeaways From 2-1 SO Victory Over San Diego

The Ontario Reign played in their first shootout game of the season and came away victorious in a 2-1 shootout win.

Goal Breakdown

First period:

SD: Yegor Sidorov (5), ASST: Roman Kinal (1)

Second period:

None

Third period: 

ONT: Andre Lee (1), ASST: Jack Studnicka (8), Angus Booth (5)

Overtime:

None

Shootout:

Round one:

SD: Nikita Nesterenko – NO GOAL

ONT: Aatu Jamsen – NO GOAL

Round two:

SD: Nathan Gaucher – NO GOAL

ONT: Taylor Ward – GOAL

Round three: 

SD: Sasha Pastujov – NO GOAL

ONT: N/A

Stats

Goals: 

ONT: 2

SD: 1

Shots: 

ONT: 37

SD: 22

Power plays: 

ONT: 0/3

SD: 0/3

Here are the three takeaways from Saturday’s 2-1 shootout victory:

Excellent goalie play

This game was all about excellent goaltending. Oscar Dansk is why the Gulls got a point and didn’t lose by four or more goals. Dansk stopped every Reign chance and it looked like the Reign would get goalie’d. The Reign recorded 30 shots on goal through 40 minutes compared to the Gulls’ eight, and Dansk turned every one of them aside. The Reign were ultimately able to break the damn in the third period with Andre Lee’s goal and prevail in the shootout after a dominant 60-minute effort.

Erik Portillo didn’t have a busy night like Dansk but held his own when needed. Portillo stopped all 14 shots on goal in the third (10) and overtime periods (4) and denied all three shootout attempts from San Diego. Portillo looked poised and squared to each shooter in the shootout and was aggressive at the right time in Nikita Nesterenko’s attempt with a poke check.

Taylor Ward nets the shootout winner

Taylor Ward has become a secret weapon for Marco Sturm in the skills competition (shootout). Ward went 2-for-5 in the shootout last year with both goals coming in Reign wins. Sturm tabbed him as the second-round shooter after Aatu Jamsen went first. Ward went with his signature glove-side shot on Dansk to give the Reign a 1-0 lead in the shootout. Portillo shut the door with a glove save on Pastujov, the next shooter for San Diego to secure the win.

Angus Booth’s stellar play

The Reign roster consists of four rookies and one has made an impression on a nightly basis. Insert 20-year-old defenseman, Angus Booth. Booth isn’t the flashiest player but one who gets the job done by playing a simple, responsible game. Booth, from game one, has drawn praise from Sturm. While the 2022 fourth-round draft pick has been playing on the third pairing, he has gotten plenty of penalty kill time and matching up against the opposing teams’ top players.

Last night he was stellar once again in the defensive end and made the smart pass to get the puck out. His mobility allows him to escape pressure calmly and make those passes to exit the zone. He even recorded a secondary assist on Lee’s goal in the third period by making a tape-to-tape outlet pass from the defensive blue line to Jack Studnicka near the Gulls’ offensive blue line to get the play started. His gap control has been his biggest strength and is a prospect Kings fans should start taking notice of.

NOTES:

*Lee scored his first goal of the season to tie the game in the third period.

*Booth’s assist gives him a point in back-to-back games.

*The penalty kill continues to be excellent for the Reign. They’ve successfully killed 30 of their last 31 penalties and boast the league’s best penalty on the road (93.9%)

UP NEXT: The Ontario Reign will face the Bakersfield Condors today at Toyota Arena this afternoon at 3 PM PST. The game can be seen on KCAL+ (channel 9.6) or FloSports. If you can’t watch, you can listen to the game on the ESPN LA app.

Featured image credit: San Diego Gulls

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