Notes From the Ontario Reign’s 4-3 OT Preseason Win Over the San Diego Gulls

Ontario Reign hockey returned to the Inland Empire after a three-month hiatus following their Game 5 double-overtime elimination by the Coachella Valley Firebirds in the Pacific Division Semifinal round. In the team’s lone preseason home game a week before the regular season starts, the Reign beat their rivals down south, the San Diego Gulls, in a back-and-forth contest.

Scoring

First period:

ONT: Jack Hughes (1), ASST: Michael Mastrodomenico (1), Vojtech Čihař (1)

ONT: PP Kaleb Lawrence (1), ASST: Henry Brzustewicz (1), Aatu Jamsen (1)

Second period: 

SD: Matthew Phillips (1), ASST: Yegor Sidorov (1), Ryan Carpenter (1)

SD: Herman Träff (1), ASST: Zach Murray (1)

Third period:

ONT: Nate Corbet (1), ASST: Ryan O’Hara (1), Brendan Gorman (1)

SD: Sasha Mutala (1), ASST: None

Overtime:

ONT: Aatu Jamsen (1), ASST: Michael Mastrodomenico (2), Kaleb Lawrence (1)

Stats

Goals: 

SD: 3

ONT: 4

Shots: 

SD: 27

ONT: 30

Power plays:

SD: 0/0

ONT: 1/2

The Reign ran a lineup that mixed players who should start the year with the Reign with depth players expected to play in the ECHL. With that in mind, here are some notes from the preseason opener:

Split game in net

The Kings’ possible future in net has arrived, and we got our first glimpse of the duo. Hampton Slukynsky, 21, started the game for Ontario and played the first 30 minutes, stopping 14 of 16 shots before being relieved by Carter George, 20, for the rest of the game. George stopped 10 of 11 shots and earned the victory. Both goalies had strong saves, particularly Slukynsky in the second period when the Reign were under siege. Don’t look too much into them splitting time in the game. It’s just a preseason thing, as the coaching staff wanted to see both rookie netminders get playing time.

Activating defenseman

The Reign have always mirrored the Kings’ playing style to make the transition smoother for when players get called up. The Reign’s defensemen were more active in the offensive zone than at any other point last season. One of those was Nate Corbet’s transition goal, which gave the Reign a 3-2 lead with 18:05 left. With Peter Laviolette preaching that philosophy of defensemen going after it, we should see it on the Reign this season.

Aatu Jamsen shows off the silky mitts

Aatu Jamsen possesses rare skill for a seventh-round pick. From watching the game, Jamsen looked like he added muscle in the offseason (I can’t confirm that), but it’s clear that when he has the puck on his stick, you can expect excitement. Jamsen almost pulled off the preseason highlight reel with dazzling stickhandling around two or three Gulls players before Damian Clara secured his inner-slot shot. Jamsen would score the overtime game-winning goal with his patient pace and backhand attempt. Last year was a strong second half from Jamsen; now we’ll see if he puts it together for a full season.

Henry Brzustewicz and Vojtech Čihař get a look

Although most of the skaters were mixed with players expected to be on the Reign and Swamp Rabbits, we did catch two of the promising skating prospects. Henry Brzustewicz and Vojtech Čihař, both 19, recorded a secondary assist each and saw time on the power play, with Brzustewicz quarterbacking the top unit. Both players are coming over from the CHL, but Čihař doesn’t need any requirements because he was a European import in the CHL draft. Brzustewicz, on the other hand, is eligible, and teams can place CHL prospects drafted in the first round on their AHL squad.

NEXT GAME: The Reign will conclude their preseason schedule with a matchup against the Coachella Valley Firebirds on Sunday, September 27th, at 5 PM PST.

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