January 23: Reign game breakdown

Reign game breakdown
Jonny Brodzinski scored on a fake shot to backhand to forehand move in the shootout and Jack Campbell stopped all three San Diego shooters to go with his 30 saves in the game and the Reign beat the Ducks affiliate 3-2 on Sunday in Ontario. Leading for nearly 30 minutes spanning from the second period to late in the third, the Reign allowed the Gulls to tie it with just 1:04 left in regulation. Overtime saw a few chances early but slow-it-down play was also on display and gave way to the shootout. In the first period, the Gulls had struck first when Zac Larraza intercepted an attempted breakout pass and flew a shot over Campbell’s glove. The Reign battled through a rough opening 20 minutes in which they were outshot 14-5 but managed to get a goal from Brodzinski with 1:03 remaining in the frame. The Reign took the lead in the second on a mark by Patrick Bjorkstrand from the top of the left circle on a set-up by Sam Herr.

Best quote
Brodzinski, on his move in the shootout and if it was planned: “That’s my go-to for pretty much any shootout or anything like that. Maybe don’t put that in the paper but yeah, just fake shot, try to get him to bite either way and either bring it to the backhand or forehand usually works.”

Three stars
–Jack Campbell – Making his 21st straight start on a quick turnaround after starting in Saturday’s win over San Jose, Campbell improved his record to 6-1-0-0 on the back-end of back-to-backs this season. He did not bite on fakes in the shootout and forced Kevin Roy to miss wide, stopped Chris Wagner’s five-hole attempt and with a chance to win it, made a blocker/pad save on Kalle Kossila. “It’s always been something I’ve always enjoyed but obviously it helps to have guys on your team who have some great moves,” Campbell said of the shootout. In regulation, Campbell helped his team dodge trouble as they were not only outshot but had to get through three penalty kills in the first period.
–Jonny Brodzinski – Brodzinski expanded his team lead (now 13 goals) when he and Mike Amadio turned a neutral zone turnover into a goal. As Amadio brought the puck into the Reign zone off the left wing, he found in the high slot Brodzinski, who slammed a rolling puck by Gulls goalie Kevin Boyle. When he was called upon to be the crucial first shooter in the shootout, he did not disappoint. His coach was in awe of the move: “Like here you think you’ve got Jonny and he’s like, bar down, bar down, or he just puts a laser right through the goalie. And then all of a sudden he pulled that move out. Ohh, man was that nice,” Mike Stothers said.
–Cameron Schilling – Ontario’s newest defenseman, just acquired on Saturday, said he got to the arena with 10 minutes to spare before the team was required to be there. “The first thing he said when he came in was he wanted to play, so that’s encouraging,” Stothers said. So, Schilling was in the lineup alongside captain Vincent LoVerde. Considering the travel, the 28-year-old, left-handed shot fit in almost seamlessly — he played high minutes and was in on the penalty kill and during overtime. He even recorded his first point, a secondary assist on the Bjorkstrand goal.

Turning point
San Diego was buzzing most of the third period, pinning the Reign in their zone and finally converted late. A shot by Brandon Montour from the slot was deflected by Paul LaDue but as the puck went high and off the glass behind Campbell, it went right to Corey Tropp just outside the crease for an easy goal.

Stat fact
–25 percent – The clip in which Bjorkstrand, who played in his 13th game of the season, is scoring. He has four goals on 16 shots this season.

Lineups and injuries
For a second straight night since the trade of Michael Latta, the Reign dressed all 12 of their forwards available as Michael Mersch, Joel Lowry and Paul Bissonnette remain out.

This and that off-ice
The Reign donned red super hero-themed dark red jerseys to benefit the American Red Cross, which were auctioned off afterwards. Adrian Kempe’s went for a high of $3,100 while Campbell’s was second-highest at $2,100.

Next up
The team will practice Monday and have a recovery day on Tuesday before hosting Bakersfield on Wednesday at 7 p.m. Ontario is 2-1-1-0 against the Condors this season.