Goaltender Pheonix Copley shined on Friday night, as the Ontario Reign held off the San Diego Gulls for a thrilling 2-1 victory in their first matchup of the season.
The Alaska native stole the show, turning away 44 of 45 shots from the home squad.
It was a wild opening period despite no one finding the back of the net. Both teams had great scoring chances early on, yet neither squad was able to capitalize. San Diego’s Rocco Grimaldi and Ontario’s T.J. Tynan each had a breakaway chance; neither were able to tickle twine. It was a high-paced, back-and-forth first period that saw the Reign show off great puck movement in the offensive zone.
San Diego came out hungry in the middle stanza, making Ontario chase the game. The 30-year-old Copley stood on his head for Ontario, making save after save to keep it goalless. He denied a Gulls shooter on a breakaway with a gorgeous glove stop, and moments later pushed aside a penalty shot opportunity for Blake McLaughlin. The Reign were able to build some momentum late in the period, including a post hit by Jacob Doty. Despite being outshot by San Diego 21-9 in the second, Ontario escaped the period deadlocked at a scoreless game.
Ontario started the third period on a power play. Although they didn’t score, they managed to create some momentum. Moments later, Aidan Dudas broke the scoreless tie by picking up some loose change around Lukas Dostal’s cage. The play was all started by Kings prospect Tyler Madden who made a nice pull-and-drag shot, then picked up his rebound and threw it in front of the net. Dudas was able to get his hands on it and bury it into the open cage.
Eight minutes after that goal by the feisty forward, Alan Quine notched his second goal in as many games to extend the Reign’s lead to two. TJ Tynan made a beautiful pass through the defender’s legs, onto Quine’s stick, who wristed it into the top right corner. On the goal, Tynan, the reigning back-to-back AHL MVP, picked up his eighth point of the season. He now has at least one point in all four games.
At 16:14 of the third period, San Diego finally broke through thanks to a powerplay goal from Rocco Grimaldi. The former second-round draft pick of the Florida Panthers blasted a slapshot past a screened netminder. It was Grimaldi’s first goal in a Gulls sweater. He also posted a team-high 11 shots.
Ontario improved their record to 3-1 in the young season as they were able to hold off a late push from the Gulls. The same two teams will rematch in Ontario on Saturday night.
Tonight’s announced attendance was 9,398.
Gulls coach Roy Sommer – “I’ll tell you what, we ran into a hell of a goalie. The people that came tonight got to witness a goaltending battle. I think we had 46, 47 shots on net, probably 25 scoring chances and only one went in. We hit a couple of posts. It wasn’t for a lack of effort or the way we played. Hell of an entertaining hockey game, I’ll tell you that. … I would say that if we play like that, we’re going to win a hell of a lot more than we’re going to lose.”
Warmies in San Diego #ReignTrain
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— The Mayor | Team MM (@mayorNHL) October 22, 2022
As noted in today's pregame article, @Andrelee71 is skating warmups. Getting closer to a return, just not tonight in SD. pic.twitter.com/CgLWMOry7E
— The Mayor | Team MM (@mayorNHL) October 22, 2022
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📸 @mikezitekphotos pic.twitter.com/xTpnEudfAx— The Mayor | Team MM (@mayorNHL) October 22, 2022
Lead Photo via Mike Zitek
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