REIGN FINAL – Reign 2, Gulls 1 – Hicketts, Sturm

In their first game that extended past regulation this season, the Ontario Reign (11-8-0-0) secured a 2-1 shootout victory over the San Diego Gulls (6-12-1-2) at Pechanga Arena on Saturday night in a game that saw them outshoot their rivals by a 38-22 margin.

Andre Lee netted a tying goal for Ontario in the third period and Taylor Ward scored the lone tally during the skill session, while Erik Portillo made 21 stops during the 65-minute contest before shutting the door on all three attempts he faced in the shootout.

BOX SCORE

The Gulls took a 1-0 lead at 10:58 of the first period on a wrist shot from the slot by Yegor Sidorov. Sidorov’s strike triggered San Diego’s Teddy Bear Toss.

But Ontario rebounded after the delay in action and started taking dictating the pace of play. The Reign held a 14-4 shot edge from the first 20 minutes of the game.

It was more of the same in the second, where the shots on goal were 16-4 in favor of Ontario, but the Reign were unable to solve San Diego goaltender Oscar Dansk, who stopped all 30 shots thrown at him during the first two stanzas.

Lee finally broke through at 2:58 of the third for Ontario, as the recipient of a centering feed from Jack Studnicka that he wristed into the top portion of the net for his first goal of the 2024-25 season. A second helper on the play was credited to defender Angus Booth.

The game remained a 1-1 deadlock throughout the third and overtime, which included three crucial penalty kills by Ontario to keep themselves in the game. Both teams ended the contest with an 0-for-3 mark on the power play.

Dansk finished with 36 saves on 37 Reign shots and stopped Aatu Jamsen in round one of the shootout before surrendering the difference-maker to Ward.

Portillo stopped San Diego’s Nikita Nesterenko, Nathan Gaucher and Sasha Pastujov in the shootout to secure the victory for Ontario.

Postgame reactions from captain Joe Hicketts and head coach Marco Sturm are below –

Joe Hicketts
On the importance of winning that type of game for the group
Well I think it was big. Big response after last game where we felt we didn’t play our best game. And then you know what to stick with it, we had 30 shots after two periods and we had nothing to show for it so for us to stick with it in the third, pot one, and then really lock it down to push it to overtime, that was a big point coming in, and we were able to come up with two in the first extra time game of the year so hats off to everyone. Ports played outstanding when we needed them, and then everyone else contributed in their own way.

On the penalty kills in the third period and overtime
Well, I thought I saw a lot of heart and determination. Put to the test, five-on-three for 44 seconds, I think. We were able to kill that, kill the remaining 1:15 on that second one, and then you take a penalty in overtime and you kill 1:45 4-on-3 and guys were laying out their bodies to block shots. We had some good sticks. We were winning battles, and we tried to be aggressive. And at the end of the day, especially in overtime, as the ice gets a little crappy, it’s tough as power play guys, we know it’s tough to make plays on bad ice, and we’re able to take advantage at the end.

On what he told his teammates before the third period
Well that was just it, we had to stick with it. We can’t try and reinvent the game. You know what, I thought, besides their first 5-6 minutes, we weren’t very good. We didn’t come out ready to go, whether that’s bus legs or haven’t played a couple days, I don’t know, but we have to shore that up after giving up a first minute goal the other night. But that teddy bear toss goal kind of gave us a little reset, and we were able to come out and get another start kind of, and really take over the game. And you know what, when you can consistently do that over and over again, it wasn’t anything special, we weren’t making any great plays, but we just kept to our system, kept to our structure, and we just out-worked them. When you win battles in the offensive zone, you’re going to get rewarded with chances and we had a lot of them tonight.

Marco Sturm
On his team getting the win in their first overtime game of the year
Over 60 minutes we played them pretty solid. We didn’t give them much. Unfortunately, we got down one nothing early on but we didn’t really panic. We stuck with the game plan and Andre tried it up, and had to make a few big kills there, and came with a shootout. So end of the day, those kind of games you have to win, too and I’m glad we did.

On the play of Andre Lee, coming back to the AHL
I think he’s just feeling better and better every time he touches the ice with us. It’s not easy playing with the big boys and you don’t have that many touches with the puck and here, you kind of actually do and it just takes time. Again, we’re patient, he’s patient, and that patience paid off today.

On the penalty kill coming up big late in the game
Structure wise, we were in good spots. We were in good shooting lanes. We had a few guys like Hicketts made a great block and Ports was there when we needed him. They were big ones and lately it’s been, our strength a little bit, our PK, and that’s what we need.

On Hicketts being his captain and leading the way on and off the ice
First of all that’s why he’s the captain because he leads by example every day. Secondly, I hope those young kids watch him. Just watch him and how he prepares, and how he brings it every night. If you look at his nose, and if you look at his body, his bruises, his knee, whatever it is, his teeth, he doesn’t look pretty right now, I tell you that, but it shows you he’s all out. And there’s no other better player for our defensive group just to watch every day and learn from him.

The Reign will be back on the Toyota Arena ice for their second game in as many days on Sunday to take on the Bakersfield Condors at 3 p.m.