Ontario Reign: Notes From 5-3 Loss to San Diego

The Ontario Reign dropped both games to the San Diego Gulls this weekend and the losing streak extends to five games.

Goal Breakdown

First period:

ONT: Luke Rowe (2), ASST: Charles Hudon (32), Francesco Pinelli (11)

ONT: Jeff Malott (18), ASST: Samuel Fagemo (10), Glenn Gawdin (29)

Second period:

SD: PS Justin Bailey (16), ASST: None

SD: Judd Caufield (17), ASST: Nathan Gaucher (11), Tyson Hinds (13)

SD: Nikita Nesterenko (13), ASST: None

Third period:

ONT: Jack Studnicka (14), ASST: Taylor Ward (11), Luke Rowe (6)

SD: Jan Myšák (16), ASST: Yegor Sidorov (15), Nico Myatovic (5)

SD: EN Nathan Gaucher (8), ASST: Nikita Nesterenko (21), Judd Caufield (12)

Stats

Goals: 

ONT: 3

SD: 5

Shots: 

ONT: 30

SD: 37

Power plays: 

ONT: 0/1

SD: 0/1

Notes from yesterday’s 5-3 loss: 

Strong start

The Reign started strong after a tough loss on home ice to these same Gulls less than 24 hours before this game. Ontario at one point outshot San Diego 9-3 to start, 11-8 overall after 20 minutes, and took a two-goal lead into the intermission on goals from Luke Rowe and Jeff Malott.

Second period woes resurface

As mentioned above, the Reign got off to a strong start, but it would not be enough. The second period woes, which were the Achilles heel of the Reign at points during the season, have resurfaced. The Reign have been outscored 11-2 in the middle frame in their last seven games, which was capped off by a three-goal period for the Gulls. The Reign have gotten off to strong starts recently, but their poor play in the middle frames needs to change or results like this will continue.

Dryden McKay gets the start

Marco Sturm mentioned that after Friday’s game, with plenty of upcoming games for the Reign, they would need to be smart in managing the goalie workload. Dryden McKay got his first start with the Reign, giving Pheonix Copley a much-needed day off after starting the previous seven. I agree with the decision because the Reign are going to need Copley to be the clear-cut number-one goalie with Erik Portillo out with an injury and not overworking him will be critical.

McKay stopped 32 of 36 shots but Marco Sturm seemed pleased with the 27-year-old’s effort. The Reign have another back-to-back in Tucson this week and I wouldn’t be surprised to see McKay get a start for one of those games.

Pinelli’s mastery against San Diego continues

Death, taxes, and Francesco Pinelli owning the Gulls in the 2024-25 season. The 21-year-old centerman entered yesterday’s contest with four straight multi-point games against the Gulls and added a secondary assist to extend his point total to nine in six games against Ontario’s SoCal rivals.

If you’re the Gulls, you’re probably thankful you have one game remaining against the Reign in the regular season, considering Pinelli has found a way to make an impact in this year’s season series. The second-year pro has 24 points in 53 games this year for Ontario.

No Martin Chromiak

Speaking of Pinelli, he did have a new linemate. Aatu Jamsen moved up to the third line with Pinelli and Charles Hudon as Martin Chromiak was unavailable. Chromiak got hurt in Friday’s game and didn’t finish the contest. That’s something to monitor with the Reign being hit with the injury bug these last two weeks.

Double milestone for Malott

I mentioned Malott scored earlier and we will come back to him here. Malott’s goal in the opening frame gave him his 100th in his AHL career and it was his first in seven games. It wasn’t just goal number 100, it was also his 200th point in his AHL career. Congrats, Malott!

The losing skid reaches a season high

The Reign are slipping as the losing streak reached five games. This is the longest losing streak of the season and ties for the longest one (last season) the Reign have had since their 10-game losing streak in the 2022-23 season (2/26/23 – 3/21/23). That was Sturm’s first year behind the bench in Ontario. Seeing how tight the seeding is for the division, the Reign can’t afford to let this losing streak continue and leave points on the table as their lead for fourth place over the San Jose Barracuda is one point.

UP NEXT: The Reign will travel to Tucson for a two-game series. The first game is on Tuesday, March 11th, at 6:30 PM PST. The game can be seen on FloHockey and you can listen to it on the ESPN LA app or ontarioreign.com/radio.

Featured image credit: San Diego Gulls

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