Back on home ice, the Reign looked to make it three-straight wins as they squared off against the San Jose Barracuda.
From the opening face off, it was all Reign in the first period. Nikita Pavlychev got things rolling early, scoring a wrist shot from the slot only 2:13 into the game, his first of the year.
Two more were scored in the opening frame, a bank shot off the skate of Pinelli gave the Reign some insurance, followed by Fagemo scoring his first of the night later in the period.
Although head coach Marco Sturm felt like the Reign did not play their best hockey in the first, it got the job done, and gave them a much needed cushion.
In the second, the Barracudas flipped the script, Jack Studnicka scored back to back goals early in the period, making it a one-score game.
Joe Hicketts would come through and save the day for the Reign. The veteran defenseman, who’s been injured for the majority of this season, scored a wraparound try giving the Reign a boost that they desperately needed.
It was all Reign from there on out. Fagemo would rack up two more goals on the night, giving him a hat trick. Charles Hudon and Kevin Connauton also lit the lamp in the 8-2 final.
Here are my three takeaways from the win
Samuel Fagemo, Obviously.
What more can you say about Samuel Fagemo this season? The Swedish born forward picked up five points in the win, including the aforementioned hat trick.
Fagemo’s three goals in the game puts him at 28 on the season, good for second in the AHL, behind Springfield Thunderbirds’ own Adam Gaudette.
With the Kings struggling up at the NHL level, you have to think that they maybe recall Fagemo at some point before season’s end.
Winning against bottom feeder teams
With the Gulls coming up Friday night, it is important that the Reign win against the teams below them in the standings.
Currently sitting in sixth in the Pacific, every point means so much down the stretch. It seemed as if the Reign wrote the Barracudas off in the second period, and it almost came back to bite them.
When asked about the Reign play early on, Marco Sturm said, “We were very lucky, let’s be honest, we took advantage of the opportunities but it was definitely not our best.”
Erik Portillo continues his strong play
Another strong performance from Erik Portillo. Although it was a blowout 8-2 win, San Jose managed to string up 40 shots against Portillo, turning away 38 of them.
The Barracudas had a lot of prominent chances to even the score in the second period. Portillo turned away some very tough shots, keeping it a one score game.
I do believe that without the play of Portillo, this game could’ve definitely turned on its head in favor of San Jose.