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As the Reign traveled to Kern County Wednesday to play the Bakersfield Condors, focus in the locker room likely shifted toward sending a message against a Pacific Division rival who is the current (and likely) first round opponent in next week’s Calder Cup Playoffs.
Having skated away from their last two meetings with a pair of 4-3 wins and in the midst of a 9-1 run over the past 10 games, Ontario looked to jump out and make their mark early on the road – and they did just that.
The Reign were first on the board courtesy of another signature Sammy Fagemo (42) power play goal. The young sniper has 19 PP tallies and leads the American Hockey League by four – in large part due to his lethal one-timer.
However, Ontario’s 1-0 lead was nullified minutes later on an odd-man rush where forward Francesco Pinelli was defending and inadvertently deflected the puck past Reign goaltender Erik Portillo.
As the game flipped to the middle frame, the Condors scored an early goal on a 2-on-1 against Portillo to take a 2-1 lead that remained throughout the period. The Reign had several attempts to beat opposing goalie and ex-Reign netminder Jack Campbell, but just couldn’t sneak one by him.
In any game, the first 40 minutes of play for Ontario is critical to their overall plan. When leading after two periods, the Reign have a record of 28-0-3, with three shootout losses; however, when trailing after two periods, they came into Bakersfield with a 3-15-1 record.
Not so fast, this time around.
Facing a 2-1 deficit entering the final period of play in Bakersfield, whatever coach Marco Sturm said during intermission seemed to make a difference. Ontario had 16 shots in the final frame of regulation against only seven shots from the home team. Coupled with a few lineup adjustments, his squad found more jump in their game and a couple goals.
The Reign scored on two consecutive power plays, as Pinelli (12) tied the game and Brandt Clarke (10) netted the go-ahead goal just 50 seconds later to make it 3-2.
Pinelli ties it up#ReignTrain | #ONTvsBAK pic.twitter.com/zJtzMRN3Ns
— Ontario Reign (@ontarioreign) April 18, 2024
VOLUME WARNING!!! @JoshSchaeferPxP is yelling because CLARKE PUT THE REIGN IN THE LEAD
#ReignTrain | #ONTvsBAK pic.twitter.com/RyAcxdrftS
— Ontario Reign (@ontarioreign) April 18, 2024
With roughly five minutes remaining in the third and on a 4-on-4 opportunity, the Condors picked up a fortunate rebound in their own zone for an odd-man chance they converted to tie the game 3-3.
In overtime, Ontario outshot Bakersfield 3-0 and Martin Chromiak (14) was the hero when he forechecked a Condor coming out from behind his own net and poke-swept the puck away from the skater to surprise Campbell with the puck on net.
The win against Bakersfield marked Ontario’s 18th victory in their past 22 games.
As for playoff seeding, the Tucson Roadrunners won as well – meaning the Reign remain third in the Pacific Division and are still slated to play the Condors in the first round. Of course, this could change, so all eyes will be on the final two games of the season this weekend in Colorado.
The Starter, Portillo: After getting the tap from his head coach, Portillo has played three consecutive games for the first time since he began sharing the net with veteran Aaron Dell. While the results have been three straight wins, the rookie netminder’s peripheral numbers in that stretch showed a .885 save percentage and a 3.33 goals-against-average. These are not as strong as his season averages, though it may be a commentary on the defensive play of his team rather than his personal game. Goaltending will be one of many topics to keep an eye on heading into the postseason.
The Rookie, Clarke: On Wednesday, Clarke was named in a league-wide vote by players, coaches, and media to the 2023-2024 AHL All-Rookie Team. And of course, in a flair of dramatics, the young blueliner had a multi-point night (1G, 1A) in Bakersfield giving him nine points (2G, 7A) over the past 10 games. In 48 games this season, Clarke has 10 multi-point efforts and is currently riding a 4-game point streak.
Thomas Returns: Akil Thomas was inserted to his usual spot as the second-line centerman and chipped in with an assist in his comeback game. Afterward, Sturm mentioned that it might take some time to get Thomas acclimated back to the AHL after his recent call-up to the Kings. The 24-year-old reportedly took a ribbing from his head coach upon his return, teasing him for not coming over to say ‘hi’ during practices at Toyota Sports Performance Center. Sturm was happy to see Thomas have success in his time with the Kings, meanwhile he’s glad to have his dependable forward back in the lineup.
Pinelli’s Scoring: The 21-year-old freshman is used to scoring – he netted 41 goals in 65 games last season in the Ontario Hockey League. Im his first professional campaign, Pinelli has had to adjust and learn to play against men as a young rookie. While he may not have filled the net in the first half of the season the way he maybe expected to, LA’s second-round selection has scored four goals in the past seven games. The Reign will turn to their bottom six forwards for depth scoring come playoff time and Pinelli has earned his bench boss’ trust down the stretch.
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