Ontario Reign: Three Takeaways From 2-0 Game One Loss to San Jose

Goal Breakdown

First period: 

None

Second period: 

None

Third period: 

SJ: Pavol Regenda (1), ASST: Ethan Frisch (1), Luca Cagnoni(1)

SJ: PP Filip Bystedt (1), ASST: Colin White (1), Luca Cagnoni (2)

Stats

Goals: 

SJ: 2

ONT: 0

Shots: 

SJ: 25

ONT: 17

Power plays: 

SJ: 1/6

ONT: 0/5

Here are the three takeaways from Ontario’s 2-0 game one defeat:

Not a good performance

Something felt off when I walked into the arena and sat in the press box before warm-ups. It didn’t feel like a playoff game, and with the limited crowd capacity (1,233 was the attendance, according to the AHL website), it almost felt like a game from the 2020 Stanley Cup Playoff Bubble. When the puck dropped, the Reign were sloppy with their puck management throughout 40 minutes, and each side mustered 16 shots on goal. The game needed a goal and a winner, and the Barracuda struck twice in a span of 1:19, and that is all they needed to push past the Reign.

“I just don’t think we were ready to go fully tonight,” forward Taylor Ward said after the game.

“I think we picked our worst game of the year at the wrong time. Right from the start, guys were a little tight… we had a hard time finding our game we played all year long… It was disappointing,” said Reign head coach Marco Sturm.

To rub more salt in the wound, the Reign had one shot on goal in the third period, and a shot by centerman Francesco Pinelli hit the post.

“The energy was missing… It’s tough to explain, but the guys were not the same,” Sturm said of the team’s lack of energy.

Whether it was the limited amount of fans in the building or not, the Reign will need to have a better start in game two and be more crisp with their puck receiving, passes, and breakouts. They were sloppy all game.

Lack of discipline & special teams play a factor

In the season series, San Jose held a clear edge in special teams while the Reign dominated at five-on-five. The Reign lost both battles in this game. Despite going 5-for-6 on the penalty kill, Ontario did the one thing it couldn’t do—give multiple man-advantage opportunities to the AHL’s number-one power play. Even though Ontario killed off two penalties in the first 11 minutes of the game, lack of discipline played a factor. Ontario committed seven penalties overall (one came while the Reign were on a four-minute power play), including the game’s final four. Eventually, that amount of penalties will come back to bite you, and Filip Bystedt’s power-play goal to put the Barracuda up 2-0 was the backbreaker.

Although the Reign killed five of the six Barracuda power plays, Sturm wasn’t pleased with the lack of discipline from his squad.

“Forget about the [penalty] kill. We talk about one of the things—we want to be disciplined. And right away, we took two penalties, and that, for me, says it all. A lot of things we talked about, they were just not there,” Sturm said.

Even with the lack of discipline, the Reign had five power-play chances and came away empty-handed. Perhaps the momentum swinger came at the 21-second mark of the third period with Zack Ostapchuk receiving a four-minute penalty for high-sticking. Not only did the Reign not score, but Samuel Fagemo committed a slashing penalty with 2:46 left on the double-minor, negating a good chunk of the remaining power play.

“Yeah, maybe.. I think we got away from it altogether in the third period a bit. Something we need to learn for sure,” said Ward on whether the momentum swung after not converting on the four-minute power play and the Reign’s overall play in the third period.

If you were to ask me, in a scoreless game in the beginning stages of the third period, I would say it did, as San Jose scored almost three minutes after the power play expired. However, credit needs to be given to the Barracuda for capitalizing on their chances and holding the Reign to one shot on goal in the third period.

Discipline and taking advantage of opportunities will be key heading into game two for the Reign.

On the brink

With it being a best-of-three series, the Reign have been put on the brink of elimination. It’s sink or swim for Ontario, and they will need to have a better performance if they want to force a winner-take-all game three back at Toyota Arena. However, history isn’t on their side. Two out of 21 teams have won the best-of-three series after losing game one. The Reign have their work cut out for them.

Despite the odds, Sturm is confident his team can respond: “It was a s****y game today, but I feel good. Why do I feel good? Because I know my guys, and usually, they respond really well.”

NOTES:

*Pheonix Copley made 23 saves in the loss.

*Yaroslav Askarov stopped all 17 shots he faced for his first playoff shutout.

*Ontario’s one shot on goal in the third period was a season low for shots on goal in any period.

*Barracuda rookie defenseman Luca Cagnoni had a game-high two assists.

UP NEXT: The Ontario Reign will look to respond in game two by staving off elimination. Game time is at 6 PM PST and can be seen on FloHockey or KCAL+ (channel 9.6). You can also listen to the game on the ESPN LA app or at ontarioreign.com/radio.