In part two of this SoCal series, Ontario defeated San Diego for the second time in as many days on Saturday, this time by a final score of 5-1.
Special teams played a huge role in Ontario’s victory, including shutting down all four Gulls power play opportunities. Kings prospect Akil Thomas was key on the Reign PK by taking away passing lanes, while longtime buddy Aidan Dudas caused havoc all over the place — even creating a short-handed, offensive zone chance. Additionally, Ontario capitalized on one of their two, man-up occasions, thanks to a blast from Samuel Fagemo.
San Diego had a quick start to the game, as they found the back of the net less than four minutes into the opening frame. Ducks prospect Brayden Tracey scored on a wrap-around, after Reign goalie Matthew Villalta had trouble playing the puck out of his crease. After that early bobble, the 23-year-old netminder settled down and shutout the Gulls for the remainder of the game.
Ontario showed resilience and pushed back strong to score five minutes later. Austin Wagner was hard on the forecheck when he found a loose puck and bounced it off a scrambling Olle Eriksson Ek to tie things up.
Just three minutes into the middle frame, San Diego appeared to score a goal off of Blake McLaughlin’s skate. After a long review, the officials took it off the board due to a kicking motion. This sequence of events resulted in a major shift in momentum, beginning with Rasmus Kupari making a cross-ice pass to Jordan Spence just a few minutes later. He slapped it wide off the back wall, with the puck taking a favorable bounce to the 22-year-old Kupari, who whipped it into the net.
After scoring a pair of goals in less than a minute, the Reign began to run away with the game. Fourth-line heavy, Jacob Doty, showed off an impressive individual effort; he stripped a Gulls defender of the puck and went in on a breakaway, where he scored despite being hooked by the rushing defenseman. With that tally, the Montana native tied his point total from last season in just five games. Then, 52 seconds later, Tobie Bisson danced around multiple defenders before he found Dudas in the slot for a goal.
In the final frame, the home team extended their lead via a powerplay goal from Fagemo. Kupari batted a loose puck up to Spence, who fed Fagemo for the one-time shot, ringing it off the post and in.
Secondary scoring remains a key storyline to Ontario’s early success this season, as three of the four goals came from bottom-six forwards, plus several defensemen found themselves on the scoresheet.
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— The Mayor | Team MM (@mayorNHL) October 23, 2022
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Lead photo by Daniel Stopani
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