The Ontario Reign looked to start March strong, as they met with the San Diego Gulls Friday night for the sixth time this season.
There was no score after the first frame.
The fourth line was notably strong, especially rookie Francesco Pinelli, who looks to be coming into his own late in the season.
In the second, while on the power play, Samuel Fagemo scored a beautiful one-time goal, tying the AHL lead in goals scored with 29.
Credited to some marvelous passing by the entire power-play unit, highlighted by a cross-zone feed from Charles Hudon, everyone on the ice touched the puck leading to the goal.
Later in the period, right as a power play expires, Hudon made a perfect back door pass to an open TJ Tynan, giving the Reign some insurance heading into the final frame.
Another tight period came in the third, where the Gulls would outshoot the Reign 14 to 4, mainly due to a 5 minute major on Hayden Hodgson.
Akil Thomas would end up scoring the empty net dagger, leading to a 3-0 win for Ontario, their 4th straight.
Here are my three takeaways from the win
Special Teams Is The X-Factor:
The special teams for the Reign has played a big factor in their success all season.
Going 2 for 5 on the power play, and 3 for 3 on the penalty kill, I would argue that the special teams won this game for Ontario.
Not to mention, one of the power plays for the Gulls was the five minute major on Hayden Hodgson, which the Reign killed smoothly, was a huge turning point in this game.
Samuel Fagemo continues to dominate on the power play as well. I would like the Kings to call him up and consider placing him on the second power play unit.
Aaron Dell Stays Hot
This contest marks the second game in a row where Aaron Dell came out with a win, this time a shutout.
Head coach Marco Sturm gave some credit to goalie development coach Adam Brown, saying he’s “done a good job working with him the last few weeks and now both our goalies are dialed in right now.”
With Erik Portillo playing good as of late, and Aaron Dell starting to heat up, Reign fans have a lot to look forward to as we head into the final stretch of the season.
Finally, Home Game Vs San Diego
Today was the first game against the Gulls in Ontario since the opening week of the season.
The fans showed out Friday night, rowdy and loud. You can tell it fueled some of the players on both teams.
Sturm even acknowledged how good the crowd was, saying “I think that was the best crowd we’ve had all year.”
Hockey in Southern California is alive and well, which is awesome to see.