Ontario Reign: Three Takeaways From Game Two’s 2-1 Loss to San Jose

Collin Graf’s game-winning goal with 2:18 to play sent the San Jose Barracuda to the next round, while the Ontario Reign’s season came to an end.

Goal Breakdown

First period:

None

Second period: 

SJ: Anthony Vincent (1), ASST: Colin White (2)

Third period:

ONT: Martin Chromiak (1), ASST: Glenn Gawdin (1), Caleb Jones (1)

SJ: Collin Graf (1), ASST: Ethan Cardwell (1), Colin White (3)

Stats

Goals:

SJ: 2

ONT: 1

Shots: 

SJ: 25

ONT: 30

Power plays:

SJ: 0/3

ONT: 0/4

Lack of discipline & puck management

Unlike Thursday, the pace to start this game was much better. Both teams were skating and looked more comfortable in the confines of Crypto.com Arena. However, the Reign lacked discipline and puck management through the first 40 minutes. Sure, the three penalties taken in the opening frame didn’t come back to hurt them, but it was an area that head coach Marco Sturm was not pleased with after game one concluded. The penalty kill did their job, and after the first period, the Reign didn’t hand the Barracuda any more power plays.

The lack of puck management for Ontario with their season on the line was baffling. The Reign couldn’t connect on passes most of the night. From breakouts to transitions, you name it. The puck management we saw from the Reign in this series was uncharacteristic, especially from their top players. Although the Reign were in both games, that important aspect was missing throughout most of the series.

Martin Chromiak scores the only Reign goal, and Angus Booth leaves an impression

Speaking of puck management, the Reign played their best period of the series in the third. With their season hanging in the balance, the puck management that was nonexistent through the first five periods was much better. The improved puck management led to zone entries, chances in transition, and offensive zone time. As a result, Ontario outshot San Jose 12-5 in the third period and scored a goal because of the offensive zone time.

Martin Chromiak — my X-Factor for the Reign in this series — got the only goal for the Reign in the series by putting himself in a good position in the high slot with a quick blast that went by the glove of Yaroslav Askarov to tie the game with 13:48 remaining in regulation. Of the eight goals the Reign scored on Askarov this year, seven were to his glove side.

Here is what head coach Marco Sturm had to say on Chromiak’s turnaround in the final month of the season:

 “[He] did a really good job, especially when we moved him up to the first line. Gawdin and Hudon took him under their wing, pushed him, and guided him in the right direction… I think there’s still room [to grow]… but he made a big step this year.” – Sturm on Chromiak’s play down the stretch.

Another prospect who earned praise after the game and throughout the season from his coach and teammates was Angus Booth. The 20-year-old was a mainstay in the lineup on the backend when healthy and was consistently one of the Reign’s better defensemen. Below are quotes from captain Joe Hicketts and coach Sturm.

“Really good year… when young guys come in, you know I’ve been around a while now, and you try and make their transition to professional hockey a little easier. It’s why I asked him and Frankie [Pinelli] to live with me… but the strides Boother [Booth] took this year were great. He put the work in, and it was able to translate onto the ice.” -Hicketts evaluating Booth’s first professional season.

“He was excellent. I think that injury threw him off a little bit, but overall, what a great season he had. I’m really looking forward to seeing more and seeing him grow as a person and hockey player.. I think he can easily make the jump to the NHL because he’s that good. If you would’ve told me a year ago, I would probably say not as fast. But he proved everyone wrong.” – Sturm on Booth’s season when asked how the young defensive core progressed throughout the season.

Given Chromiak’s struggles for a majority of the season, it was good to see him finish the year strong and post career highs in goals (18), assists (21), and points (39) in his young professional career. As for Booth, earning the amount of praise he did all season for a young defenseman is incredible. He may be a name you might hear more of next season.

Both goalies played well in the series

The goalies played excellent in this series. Askarov stopped 46 of 47 shots he faced and showed why he could be a star in net for the Sharks for years to come. He posted a 0.50 goals-against average and a .979 save percentage in the two games of this series. If Askarov shows up in San Jose’s next series against the AHL’s number-one offense, the Colorado Eagles, they have a good chance at advancing.

Pheonix Copley wasn’t bad himself for the Reign. Copley did all he could to give the Reign a chance to win both games, and that is all you can ask from your netminder. The veteran netminder turned aside 23 shots in consecutive games and made a key save on Ethan Cardwell’s breakaway attempt just past the midway point of the second period to keep the Baracuda lead at 1-0.

Copley finished the series with a 2.05 goals-against average and a .920 save percentage. He provided stability between the pipes for the Reign after Erik Portillo went down with an injury in mid-February.

“I didn’t know what to expect. I was telling myself early on I was 100% not really knowing in training camp I wasn’t as strong as I needed to be… going that long without playing a game, it’s tough to make reads and get in the flow of game action. So, I think that probably took the longest. The strength came back fairly quickly within a couple of months of playing games.” – Copley on his first year back after his ACL injury he suffered in December of 2023.

NOTES:

*Samuel Fagemo led all skaters with seven shots on goal.

*Colin White finished the series with three assists and led all Barracuda skaters with three points.

*San Jose will face Colorado in a best-of-five series in the Pacific Division Semifinal round.

*I originally picked the Reign to win this series in three games. Credit to the Barracuda for winning this series even without three impactful forwards, including AHL’s leading scorer and MVP, Andrew Poturalski.

UP NEXT: The Reign season is over. Their next game will be in October. Thank you for following along all season!

Featured image credit: Christopher Mora/Ontario Reign

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