The Ontario Reign (8-7-0-0) scored twice in the final five minutes of the first period and never relinquished the lead on their way to a 4-1 victory over the San Diego Gulls (4-11-1-1) in the opening contest of this season’s SoCal Series on Saturday night at Pechanga Arena.
Glenn Gawdin led the way for Ontario with three assists against his former team, while Jack Studnicka and Jeff Malott each posted a goal and an assist and goaltender Erik Portillo turned out 33 of 34 shots to earn the win in between the pipes.
Ontario’s late tallies in the first came from Samuel Fagemo and Studnicka, giving them a 2-0 lead at the first intermission.
Fagemo netted the opening goal of the game at 15:55, taking a feed from Studnicka and burying a wrist shot underneath the glove of goaltender Oscar Dansk. Fagemo’s seventh tally of the season also had a second assist by Joe Hicketts, who kept the puck in at the blue line to continue the Reign’s chance in the offensive zone.
Studnicka then made it 2-0 in the final minute of the frame, scoring during 4-on-4 play after Andre Lee won a race to a loose puck in the Gulls’ end. Lee then dropped the puck to Studnicka who let a wrist shot go that found its way to the twine. Gawdin earned the second helper on the play.
Roman Kinal got the Gulls on the board at 5:02 of the second, cutting Ontario’s lead down to a single goal at 2-1. But it would end up as the lone San Diego strike during the contest.
Malott pushed the Reign back in front by two 35 seconds into the third period with his second goal of the year. The strike, which came three seconds after an Ontario power play expired, was a result of Malott jamming at a loose puck in the crease until it made its way past Dansk. Assists on the play were credited to both Gawdin and Reilly Walsh.
The Reign continued to hold their lead for the remainder of the third and added a final tally when Charles Hudon scored an empty-net goal at 17:26 of the final frame from linemates Gawdin and Malott.
San Diego had a 34-29 edge in shots on goal during the game and got 25 stops from Dansk in a losing effort. Neither club was successful on the man-advantage, with the Gulls finishing 0-for-4 on the power play while Ontario ended at 0-for-5.
Postgame reactions from Gawdin, Studnicka and head coach Marco Sturm are below –
Glenn Gawdin
On playing against his former team as a visitor in the building
It was a little bit weird. Obviously, you get comfortable being on that other side. I mean, there was a few emotions, but nice to get the win and no complaints.
On the way he and his line have come together
I think we can all say we had a slow start, and I think we’ve continued to build each game, and we’ve been getting rewarded lately so it’s good to see. They’re two smart players, so it’s easy to play with them and we’re finding the back of the net so we’re going to keep this thing rolling.
On his confidence level, leading the AHL in scoring during November
Yeah, confidence is definitely high. It feels good, going into games. But credit to my linemates, credit to our systems, I think it’s the reason why I’m having success, and a lot of guys are, so continue with that, and hopefully helps us win games.
On the upcoming week of practice before Friday’s game
It’s nice to have a week of practice. We’ve kind of been going pretty good lately, so it’s nice to kind of reset, get everybody’s body rested and do what we can to get ready for Friday.
Jack Studnicka
Marco Sturm
On the importance of winning before a long week of practice
It would have been a long week. At least it feels better now we had a few games here on the road and came home with four points so that’s good. So we’re going to enjoy the day tomorrow and then go back to work on Monday.
On the play of Jeff Malott
He’s been good, he’s been very good. Very simple, he works extremely hard, so that’s good and his area is around the net, and that’s exactly how he scored today. I wasn’t too happy with the power play today, but [his goal] set the tone right away in the third so I thought that was the key moment of the game.
On Andre Lee’s assist on Studnicka’s goal
Those kind of plays on the end, when they pulled the goalie he made that big block there, so that’s the game he has to play and the game we want him to play too. So even though he was with the Kings a little bit this year, he has to remind himself too. He has to go back to his game, the grinding game, to get things going and then you can move forward.
On the play of Erik Portillo
He was really good. I’m not gonna lie, not like I was nervous, but, for him, for a goalie, it’s tough to not play for a whole week and just practice, and also against really good shooters, like NHL shooters. So I was a little bit worried, but, he felt very comfortable, I think, right away, and he made some really good stops.
Ontario returns home for their next matchup, Salute To Service, on Friday night at Toyota Arena against the Texas Stars at 7 p.m.
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