Ontario Reign: Four Takeaways From 4-3 SO Loss to San Diego

An ugly game saw the Ontario Reign be fortunate to come away with a point in their 4-3 shootout loss to the San Diego Gulls.

Goal Breakdown

First period: 

ONT: Francesco Pinelli (9), ASST: Martin Chromiak (5)

SD: SH Ryan Carpenter (5), ASST: Pavol Regenda (10), Dillon Heatherington (2)

ONT: Francesco Pinelli (6), ASST: Angus Booth (7), Shawn Element (5)

Second period:

SD: Pavol Regenda (4), ASST: Yegor Sidorov (10), Roland McKeown (8)

ONT: PP Arthur Kaliyev (1), ASST: Caleb Jones (1), Jeff Malott (19)

SD: PP Ryan Carpenter (6), ASST: Sasha Pastujov (2), Roland McKeown (9)

Third period:

None

Overtime:

None

Shootout

Round one:

SD: Nikita Nesterenko – NO GOAL

ONT: Arthur Kaliyev – NO GOAL

Round two: 

SD: Sam Colangelo – NO GOAL

ONT: Taylor Ward – NO GOAL

Round three: 

SD: Sasha Pastujov – NO GOAL

ONT: Samuel Fagemo – NO GOAL

Round four:

SD: Yegor Sidorov – GOAL

ONT: Tyler Madden – NO GOAL

Stats

Goals: 

ONT: 3

SD: 4

Shots: 

ONT: 24

SD: 34

Power plays:

ONT: 1/5

SD: 1/8

Here are the four takeaways from last night’s game:

Sloppy game

The Reign led 21 seconds into the game and through 20 minutes, but they were fortunate to be in that position. It was the first game after the Christmas break and the Reign looked like a team still in break mode. They committed eight minor penalties (six in a row), four of which were delay of game penalties, and allowed four (maybe five) odd-man rushes/breakaways while on the power play and a short-handed goal. Power plays are supposed to give you momentum, but it took it away from the Reign, even though they recorded a power-play goal.

They also weren’t crisp with the puck. Martin Chromiak couldn’t handle a clean pass from Francesco Pinelli and late in the third period Arthur Kaliyev couldn’t control a pass in the high slot that would’ve given him a good look for the go-ahead goal. In overtime, Jack Studnicka passed up a good look in the slot to Samuel Fagemo, who didn’t have a clean angle to get a shot on net.

San Diego also had quality looks off of weak-side defensive zone breakdowns that Erik Portillo slammed the door on. It was just a forgettable night for the visitors. It will be a long night if the Reign bring this effort into tonight’s game against Coachella Valley.

Pinelli for two

Pinelli was one of the few bright spots in this game. He single-handedly gave Ontario the lead after the first period with two goals. Both goals were perfectly placed shots. The first goal was a good zone exit by Pinelli himself, which led to a zone entry by Chromiak. Chromiak found Pinelli driving down the left wing and the latter roofed one by Oscar Dansk, hitting the water bottle.

For his second goal, Pinelli put himself in a good position in the high slot and beat Dansk again, this time low on the glove side.

The 21-year-old has 12 points in 25 games this season and has played well lately, scoring three times in the last three games while centering Marco Sturm’s third line. Let’s see if he can keep this recent hot streak rolling in Coachella Valley.

Sidorov and Clang lift San Diego in the shootout

History does not repeat itself. The Reign and Gulls went to a shootout for the second time in three weeks. Taylor Ward and Portillo played the hero roles for the Reign as the former scored the game-winning goal in the shootout while the latter stopped all three of San Diego’s attempts.

That wasn’t the case this time. This time Yegor Sidorov and Calle Clang were the heroes. Sidorov broke the tie in the fourth round by slowing down, getting Portillo to bite on the first move, and getting around the netminder’s pokecheck. Clang would deny Tyler Madden’s backhand attempt to secure the win for San Diego.

Portillo is the reason the Reign got a point

The box score will say three goals against but I thought Portillo was great for the Reign. Portillo stopped 31 of 34 shots and had to make multiple big saves throughout the Reign to bail them out of their own miscues. The Reign got a point in this game because of him. Had Portillo not been on his game San Diego could’ve easily scored six or seven goals with the high-danger chances they got, especially short-handed. A spectacular game from the second-year pro.

NOTES:

*Pinelli recorded his first multi-goal game as a professional.

*Kaliyev recorded his first goal on his conditioning assignment. He also committed two delay-of-game penalties.

*Nathan Gaucher played his 100th AHL game for San Diego.

*Clang replaced Dansk late in the second period (unknown as to why). Dansk stopped eight of 11 shots while Clang stopped all 13 he faced.

*Pavol Regenda, Ryan Carpenter, and Roland McKeown recorded two points each.

*Portillo stopped three of four shots while Clang stopped all four in the shootout.

UP NEXT: The Reign train will roll into Coachella Valley tonight as they face the Firebirds for the third time in nine days. It’s the Firebirds’ teddy bear toss game. The game starts at 6 PM PST and can be seen on FloHockey. You can also listen to the game on the ESPN LA app.

Featured image credit: San Diego Gulls

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