Ontario, California. Riding high on a two game win streak and back to back games putting up six goals the San Diego Gulls headed to Ontario for the second of a home-and-home with their closest and oldest rival.
Coach McIlvane stuck with the same lines and pairings as the 6-4 win the night before but gave Calle Clang the start on the back to back.
Owen Lindmark and Roman Kinal were the only scratches, Tyson Hinds the only player on the injury list.
First Period:
The back and forth frenetic pace carried over from the night before and the Reign enjoyed the better of the opportunities in the early goings before the Gulls managed to front a response of their own.
A broken play that saw McKeown fumble the puck and two Gulls collide and take each other out behind the play saw the Reign skate in on Clang on a three on one and open the scoring as former Gull Glen Gawdin sent a shot that beat the Gulls goaltender on the outnumbered break. 1-0 Reign,
The Gulls hit right back with an instant response as the fourth line kept Ontario hemmed in their zone while throwing shot after shot on the Reign net.
Ontario weathered the storm while preventing the Gulls other lines from becoming similarly inspired and some quick passing by the Reign in the San Diego zone saw them get another by Clang as Glen Gawdin was set up for a one-timer that squeaked through the Swedish net-minder near the goal-line. 2-0 Reign.
As time wound down to the final seconds – a drive to the Reign net for a loose puck by Judd Caulfield ended in a post whistle scrum with several punches thrown by Ontario defender Joe Hicketts and no call. The Gulls heading to the first intermission down by two but deserving to be as only Calle Clang, Stian Solberg and the fourth line had shown up to play through the first twenty minutes. Shots were 10-5 Ontario.
Second Period: Ontario Reign 2 – San Diego Gulls 0
San Diego started the period well – playing a more considered game and holding possession for much of the first six minutes of play while steadily closing the Reign’s lead in shots.
But things took a turn when Aatu Jamsen was left alone at the top of the circles and as the puck was fed to him he wired a shot that beat Clang clean. 3-0 Reign.
The Gulls hit right back and finally got on the board as Jan Mysak deflected a Sasha Pastujov shot by Reign goaltender Erik Portillo. 3-1 Reign.
Glen Gawdin thought he had the hat trick as he batted in a deflected puck from behind the goal line but it was immediately waved off as having been played by a high stick.
Calle Clang was swapped for Ville Husso soon after the washed out goal and it was noted on the broadcast that he was slow to get to his post on the sequence and then seemed to be skate gingerly to the San Diego bench.
Tempers flared and spilled over after Tim Washe found himself being jumped by two different Reign players who took down a linesmen in the process of trying to get to him. After the standard four on four sequence ended – with Ontario once again dominating possession and chances – the Gulls went right back to the attack and drew a call as Justin Bailey was cross-checked in front of the Ontario net.
With just under six minutes left in the period and with the Gulls continuing to press a Reign turnover saw Noah Warren get his first AHL goal as he fired a shot from near the blue line that beat Portillo through traffic. 3-2 Reign.
Smelling blood the Gulls played essentially the entirety of the remaining seven or so minutes in the Ontario zone – generating chances and creating chaos in front of the Reign net.
The home team withheld under the barrage and took a narrow one goal lead into the second intermission with San Diego looking the much better team in the second half of the set of twenty. Shots were 10-6 on the period to make it an almost even 16-15 Ontario overall.
Third Period: Ontario Reign 3 – San Diego Gulls 2
It was all San Diego for the first six minutes of the period as they continued their search for the equalizer. With the constant and non stop pressure mounting they finally drew a call as Tristan Luneau took a stick up high during a board battle.
Glenn Gawdin again tried for the hat trick goal as he was sprung on a short-handed break but was stopped by Villle Husso – as Ryan Carpenter attempted to control the rebound in the corner he was tripped by Gawdins errant stick to send the Gulls to a five on three.
Ontario managed to kill the two man advantage opportunity with some aggressive defense at the circles and despite some further chances created at five on four they could not convert.
The Reign started to settle things down after the flurry of penalties, picking up some momentum from the kills and earned a Power Play of their own as Stian Solberg was called for cross checking. A Gulls three on one shorthanded break somehow did not end up in an equalizer as Judd Caulfield was buried by a Reign defender without even having the puck and the chaos that followed saw bodies everywhere in the crease but no puck in the net.
With time winding down and the Reign defending their lead with some stifling defense through the neutral zone the Gulls saw some further anxious moments as Glenn Gawdin batted down a high pass at the blue line and went in on Husso with Nik Brouillard fighting to dislodge the puck. As Husso eventually stopped his attempt he was awarded a penalty shot and Husso calmly stopped that as well.
Ontario iced the puck courtesy of their goaltender and an offensive zone face-off win by Ryan Carpenter saw Matthew Phillips dive to get a shot on the Reign goaltender, the rebound created went to a crashing Tim Washe who out muscled his would be defenders on his way to tying the score. 3-3 tie game.
Ontario made sure to kill the remaining time as San Diego continued to sense further opportunities and we headed to overtime.
Overtime:
The Gulls terrible luck with the extra session this season continued as despite creating some very high danger chances they were victimized by an odd man break on the counter rush. Ontario taking the win 4-3 but San Diego able to claw back a point from a game in which they certainly did not play the full sixty minutes.
Post Game Notes:
Concern For The Wu Clang – Return Of The Mac Suchanek?
Having left the action midway through the second period after the washed out Gawdin goal it was noted on the broadcast that Clang appeared to skate gingerly to the bench.
If his departure is due to injury and that injury has him out longer than a week then we might see the return of Tomas Suchanek who has the better record in Tulsa with a 3-1-0 and 3.00 GAA, although Vyacheslav Buteyets did get the Oilers most recent win over Allen.
Speaking of potential roster transactions – I noted on Twitter that with Ryan Strome skating but not cleared to play the Ducks forward group is starting to get a little crowded. With Jansen Harkins returning from injury Sam Colangelo has been scratched for four straight games now and although the Ducks will need to carry a spare forward – once Strome comes back that likely means Johnston also sits. My bet is Colangelo gets sent down as one of the waiver exempt forwards in the line-up.
Ripe Rivalry
After some so-so years the Reign – Gulls fiery rivalry feels like it is finally back, in fairness it was largely due to San Diego being terrible the last few years and giving a clearly more superior Ontario team no challenge at all. As rookies have acclimatized, veterans have been given two year deals and extensions and the Ducks depth has finally filtered through to pad out the line-up it feels like the Gulls are finally on even-keel with the Reign again.
These games are always fun but also tactically baffling as you have to wonder – how both teams seem so willing to allow the middle of the ice. Break-outs are no issue. Odd-man breaks are plentiful. Passing lanes can always be found and shot totals are routinely plus thirty.
It feels like defense and set-plays are completely forgotten in favor of finishing every check even it means taking yourself out of the play.
Standings Update
The point earned in the OT loss gives the Gulls a total of 11 on the season now, pulling them into a tie with San Jose and Coachella Valley but also moving above them in points percentage into fifth place in the division. This has to be the tightest and craziest start to a season for the Pacific that I can remember from a Gulls perspective as five teams are separated by one point. At this stage the only clear leader is the Eagles who have stormed out to six point lead over their next closest team in Henderson.
The Gulls now have another week to recover before three games at Pechanaga featuring Bakersfield (4-4-2), San Jose (5-5-1) and the lowly Abbotsford Canucks who are dead last with a 2-8-0 record. This could be a good opportunity to build some more wins on this current point streak.
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