Erik Portillo made 27 saves during regulation and overtime before denying all three opportunities he faced in the shootout to help the Ontario Reign (38-21-3-4) win their seventh straight game in a 3-2 shootout defeat of the San Jose Barracuda on Saturday night at Toyota Arena. With the victory, Ontario finished a perfect 8-0-0 against their Northern California rivals in the 2023-24 season series.
The Reign climbed out of a 2-0 hole to force extra time on goals by Francesco Pinelli and Andre Lee, while Taylor Ward scored the lone tally in the shootout to put his team in the win column. Ontario continues to hold second place in the AHL’s Pacific Division with 83 points.
Ontario extended their season-high home point streak to 13 games, which dates back to Feb. 9. The Reign held a shot-on-goal edge of 44-29 in the game, and were held in check by San Jose netminder Georgi Romanov, who stopped 41 shots in a losing effort for the visitors.
The Barracuda took an early 1-0 lead when Danil Gushchin found the back of the net at 4:35 of the first period on the team’s first good opportunity on Portillo.
Despite the Reign putting 13 shots on net in the opening frame, Romanov kept his team in front by stopping all of the attempts in the first 20 minutes.
San Jose opened up a 2-0 advantage just 1:46 into the second when Tristen Robins knocked in a loose rebound that got behind Portillo. Although the Barracuda had the lead, Portillo did not allow any other shots to get by him during the remainder of the contest.
Pinelli got Ontario on the board and back in the game at 4:56 of the middle period, scoring on a move to his backhand off a rush down the left wing. Assists on the tally went to Ward and Kim Nousiainen.
The game remained a 2-1 score until the final minutes of the third period, when a shot by Lee went off Romanov’s helmet and rolled into the back of the net, tying the game. Lee’s third goal in as many games for Ontario since returning from injury came with assists by Hayden Hodgson and Steven Santini.
With the game knotted at 2-2, the teams headed to overtime. The Reign thought they had found the winner three minutes into the extra session when Samuel Fagemo wristed the puck past Romanov, but the goal was disallowed due to goaltender interference on the play.
But Ward sent the Ontario fans home happy by converting the winner in the third round of the shootout
Neither side was successful on the power play in the game, with San Jose finishing at 0-for-2 and the Reig ending at 0-for-3.
Postgame thoughts from Reign assistant coach Brad Schuler and Francesco Pinelli are below.
Brad Schuler
On the team’s belief that they can come back when facing an early deficit
There’s a strong belief system in the group when we play the Reign way. I think, in terms of a streak, we just take it one game at a time, but with the belief system there’s never any doubt. There’s no doubt with this group right now. Two points anytime of the year is really important, but for us right now, its seedings and home ice, so they are important games. I don’t think they’re going the way that we want or the way we planned, but I go back to the belief system in the group. When we play the Reign way, there’s never a doubt.
On refocusing after the disallowed goal in overtime
There’s an emotional high initially but then right away you’ve got to get refocused. You’ve got to come back down and get refocused because we’re right back at it. Let’s get the yah-yahs out. Yeah, we’re still upset but we’ve still got to get the job done and get two points.
On Erik Portillo’s strong performance in net
Ports has done a really good job all year. A lot of credit to him for keeping us in the game. For a while there we were making some plays but not getting the stuff we wanted. You look at the scoreboard and you’re like, wow we’re outshooting them. At this time of year you need timely moments of goals, saves and special teams, and Ports game us that tonight.
On Andre Lee scoring in his third straight game
I’m happy for Dre. He’s earned it. He missed some time there but he worked his way back. He’s done a really good job getting back to his identity quickly and its showed for him.
On next week’s matchup with Coachella Valley
Its two really good teams. Obviously last year was a successful season for them and they’re in a good spot again, but for us, our gameplan against that group goes back to our belief system. Top players always want to step up, especially when you face other top players. With our group, that really comes into play. It’s a top-to-bottom effort.
Francesco Pinelli
Ontario is back on the ice Wednesday night for a battle in Coachella Valley against the Firebirds at Acrisure Arena beginning at 7 p.m.
Rules for Blog Commenting
Repeated violations of the blog rules will result in site bans, commensurate with the nature and number of offenses.
Please flag any comments that violate the site rules for moderation. For immediate problems regarding problematic posts, please email zdooley@lakings.com.