The Ontario Reign Got a Point but Dropped Their Fifth Straight Game With an Overtime Loss to The San Jose Barracuda

The Ontario Reign continued their losing skid in a hard-fought overtime loss to the San Jose Barracuda last night.

Scoring

First period:

ONT: Taylor Ward (3), ASST: Cole Guttman (8), Jack Hughes (2)

Second period: 

SJ: Brendan Hoffman (3), ASST: Carson Wetsch (4), Roland McKeown (1)

ONT: Kaleb Lawrence (2), ASST: None

SJ: Donovan Houle (3), ASST: Cam Lund (2)

Third period: 

None

Overtime: 

SJ: Cam Lund (1), ASST: Alex Barre-Boulet (3), Luca Cagnoni (1)

Stats

Goals:

SJ: 3

ONT: 2

Shots: 

SJ: 26

ONT: 23

Power plays:

SJ: 0/1

ONT: 0/1

The Reign had a strong opening period but held only a 1-0 lead. For the third straight game, the Reign opened the scoring but wound up on the losing end for a fifth straight contest.

Here are my takeaways from last night’s game:

Not finding ways to win

The Reign are in a funk and haven’t put together a collective 60-minute effort during this five-game slide. For the third straight game, they scored first, after getting behind the eight ball in eight straight games, but couldn’t hold the lead. Puck or game management, one little hiccup, playing well in 10-12 minute spurts, or one period letdown, the Reign have had everything go against them, it seems. Last year’s theme was finding ways to win. They haven’t been able to do that lately. They salvaged a point in last night’s defeat.

Taylor Ward comes back and doesn’t miss a beat

Taylor Ward was loaned back to the Reign on Tuesday, which saw the Kings call up Kenny Connors. Ward was placed on the second line with Cole Guttman and Kenta Isogai and didn’t miss a beat. When playing with Guttman, you need to be in the right spot and ready to receive the puck, given his playmaking ability.

Ward is the perfect complement to his style because he has an underrated shot at the AHL level and always finds the soft spot on the ice, putting himself in position to score. The two proved to be like peanut butter and jelly when Guttman found Ward in the slot for a 1-0 Reign lead after the former failed a backdoor tap-in moments earlier.

In his first game back, he didn’t miss a beat.

George plays well despite the loss

The Reign aren’t using the three-goalie rotation anymore after Hampton Slukynsky was assigned to the Greenville Swamp Rabbits (ECHL). To balance playing time for all three, it was the only solution to the logjam in net. So, Erik Portillo and Carter George are now the two netminders on the roster.

George got the starting nod, and I thought he played well, especially in the third period when San Jose had about a nine-minute stretch of controlling the pace of play. His puck tracking and composure stand out. Unfortunately, he made what appeared to be a game-saving stop in overtime with a good push across the crease, but the puck squeaked past him and rolled over the line off Cam Lund’s shot for a San Jose win. He stopped 23 of 26 shots.

NOTES:

*Kaleb Lawrence scored his second goal in three games.

*Aatu Jamsen saw his three-game goal streak snapped.

*Cole Guttman extended his point streak to three games with his assist on Ward’s goal.

*Kenta Isogai left the game in the first period after losing an edge on the attack and crashing into the post hip/side first. Isogai appeared to be in pain and was helped off the ice, hunched over, by Guttman and the athletic trainer before heading to the locker room. He returned to the game in the second period, but we’ll see if there are any aftereffects heading into Friday’s game when the lineup is announced.

*San Jose defenseman Luca Cagnoni had a game-high four shots on goal.

*Kenny Connors was in the lineup for the Kings in their 7-2 win over the San Jose Sharks last night. He recorded his first NHL point with an assist on Erik Haula’s goal. Congrats, Kenny!

UP NEXT: The Ontario Reign hit the road for a back-to-back weekend tilt against the Abbotsford Canucks. The first meeting is on Friday at 6 PM PST. You can watch the game on Flosports or listen on the Ontario Reign radio network.

Featured image credit: Megan Sanders/Ontario Reign

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