There’s plenty of optimism surrounding the Ontario Reign at the moment, especially with the club having more than a handful of the Kings top prospects on their roster. However, with their fourth consecutive defeat coming on Sunday, concerns are starting to mount.
Sure, it was their third game in four days. Yes, they were playing an afternoon affair at home after a game in Bakersfield the night before. And, of course, it can be a challenge to deal with all the lineup changes over the past week — including the arrival or return of Alex Turcotte, Quinton Byfield, Martin Chromiak, and Brandt Clarke; not to mention the departure of Lias Andersson and Jacob Moverare.
Nonetheless, that means they’ve now lost to Colorado, San Jose, Bakersfield, and San Diego over the last week. Now, despite a high-powered offense on paper, the Reign have only scored a single goal in each of their past two contests and last season’s record setting power play has gone completely dry.
Welcome to life as a pro coach, Marco Sturm. You asked for it, here it is.
LA’s top defensive prospect, 19-year-old Brandt Clarke, made his AHL debut after being loaned to Ontario earlier in the day for a two-week conditioning assignment. Sturm didn’t hesitate to use him either, giving him time on both the power play and penalty kill. Late in the game, the first-year coach showed plenty of confidence in Clarke, having him out on the ice for much of the final five minutes of regulation with Ontario trailing 3-1.
After showing off a little offense vs. the Condors on Saturday night, neither Byfield nor Turcotte stood out in Ontario’s game vs. San Diego. Byfield even had some trouble handling the puck in a few instances.
Continuing with a recent theme, Ontario’s special teams must have been frustrating for Sturm. They gave up six power plays to the Gulls and were unable to execute on any of their four-man advantages. Although Ontario killed off a long 5-on-3 penalty early on, they struggled for the majority of the opening period.
San Diego broke the ice seconds into the middle period thanks to a one time shot in the slot, after a Reign defender turned it over behind his own net. During 4-on-4 play, the Gulls extended their lead to two, before adding a third goal just 14 seconds later.
Aidan Dudas finally put the Reign on the board late in the third period, cashing in on a loose puck around the cage. Ontario went to the power play immediately following the goal by Dudas, yet they were unable to score.
San Diego added an empty net goal in the final minute of play, and they held off a final push by Ontario.
The Reign will return to action next Saturday in Henderson.
Below are select highlights from Sunday’s game:
Additional Post-game Notes
Pregame line rushes showing Quinton Byfield indeed has been moved up to the top line today… at LW though!
And, Martin Chromiak will in fact draw in. He looks to be at RW2, on a line centered by Turcotte.
— The Mayor | Team MM (@mayorNHL) November 13, 2022
The Turc Warmies Bundle pic.twitter.com/0BzwmfvvLW
— The Mayor | Team MM (@mayorNHL) November 13, 2022
And, of course, it's not a Brandt Clarke pic unless he has his tongue poking out… pic.twitter.com/zXVUnf4gvI
— The Mayor | Team MM (@mayorNHL) November 13, 2022
The All Clarke P1 Bundle pic.twitter.com/UOCpAyheJX
— The Mayor | Team MM (@mayorNHL) November 13, 2022
P1 Highlights from #theGarage
MM 📸 via @aloimages pic.twitter.com/YhMKe1WIZS
— The Mayor | Team MM (@mayorNHL) November 14, 2022
No Reign players have scored yet…
However, these guys have taken penalties:
Helenius
Spence x2
Tynan x2
Thomson x2
Clarke
Ward x3Nearing 50 penalty minutes for Ontario.
— The Mayor | Team MM (@mayorNHL) November 14, 2022
Reign trail 3-0 after 40min.
Ontario will have to go the rest of the way without Nate Thompson, he was assessed a game misconduct (aggressor) early in P2 following a fight w/ SD player.
— The Mayor | Team MM (@mayorNHL) November 14, 2022
Brandt Clarke was wide open twice (in two different locations, once out high and then down low) during the power play. He was banging on the ice both times, calling for the puck. Nada.
Reign trail 3-1 with 3:55 remaining in regulation.
— The Mayor | Team MM (@mayorNHL) November 14, 2022
Clarke tells me GM RB sat him down yesterday morning to review the situation and explain the plan to send him down to Ontario for a few games. BC said it was fairly seamless walking into the Reign room after playing with many of the guys at the NHL Rookie Faceoff tourney.
— The Mayor | Team MM (@mayorNHL) November 14, 2022
Turcotte admitted to having some nerves before the first game after not playing for so long. He talked about it being a rough six months and how happy he is to just be playing again.
"When you feel like crap first so long you kind of forget what it feels like to feel normal."
— The Mayor | Team MM (@mayorNHL) November 14, 2022
Ontario Reign coach Marco Sturm on his team losing their fourth game in a row… pic.twitter.com/Wpo6rIsOxw
— The Mayor | Team MM (@mayorNHL) November 14, 2022
Sturm on using QB at LW1 pic.twitter.com/5y3aUA42vC
— The Mayor | Team MM (@mayorNHL) November 14, 2022
Great pic by one of our photographers today… That's @AidanDudas scoring, with the puck just about to cross the goal line.
Nice job @aloimages 👍 pic.twitter.com/Xx1fGfo4iP
— The Mayor | Team MM (@mayorNHL) November 14, 2022
RELATED CONTENT:
Ontario Reign Projected Lineup vs San Diego; Brandt Clarke Debut Among Myriad of Changes
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