Ontario coach Andrew Lord may have borrowed an idea from Jim Hiller for Saturday night’s Regin game at Toyota Arena. Still looking to sort out his defensive pairs, the AHL bench boss dropped captain Joe Hicketts to the third pair prior to puck drop vs. San Diego and sent Kings prospect Jakub Dvorak up to the top pair. It was a move reminiscent of Hiller sliding Mikey Anderson to his third pair for a few games — just to let things settle a bit.
And maybe that’s just what the Reign needed after giving up six goals in San Diego the night before. Something had to change, and it did in the rematch. Well, sort of.
Ontario jumped out to an early 3-0 lead and looked to be in firm command of things. Yet, just about a minute after Aatu Jamsen scored that third Reign goal, the Gulls put one by Erik Portillo to get their offensive attack going. They added another goal before the end of the second period, before eventually tying things up 3-3 in the final frame of regulation.
No problem thought defenseman Kyle Burroughs. Playing in only his third game with the Reign, he found the back of the net two minutes into the extra session, securing a win for Lord and the Reign.
Neither team found success on the power play, with Ontario finishing 0-for-1 and San Diego unable to convert on three chances. With the Reign being outshot 32-21 it was another game where they found a way to win despite generating a shockingly low volume of shots.
Full game highlights can be viewed here:
Pregame notes and lineups can be found in the article linked below.
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