Reign Fall in Early Hole in Loss
March 27, 2022 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Ontario Reign News Release
The San Diego Gulls (26-25-2-1) used a pair of first period goals to take an early lead and got 42 saves from goaltender Olle Eriksson Ek to earn a 5-1 win over the Ontario Reign (34-14-4-3) on Saturday night at Pechanga Arena. In a losing effort, Ontario held a shots-on-goal edge of 43-26 in the game, including a season-high for shots in a period with 19 in the second.
Forward Akil Thomas had the lone goal for the Reign, scoring his first tally of the season during a 5-on-3 power play in the opening period. Ontario remains in second place in the AHL's Pacific Division with a points percentage of 0.682.
San Diego jumped out to the lead in the first on goals by Lucas Elvenes at 6:20 and Alex Limoges at 16:21 to build an early advantage.
Before the end of the opening frame, the Reign cut into the deficit when Thomas struck near the end of a lengthy 5-on-3 power play to make it a 2-1 game at 18:17. Assists on the strike went to forwards Jaret Anderson-Dolan and TJ Tynan.
Tynan's assist gave him 80 points on the season and put him back in a tie for the AHL's overall scoring lead.
Despite a 19-8 shots on goal advantage for Ontario in the second, the Gulls extended their lead to 3-1 with the only tally of the frame when Hunter Drew beat goaltender Matt Villalta with a wrist shot at 17:32.
After Reign captain Brett Sutter made a play to keep the puck from crossing the goal line on a penalty kill early in the third that held his team within two, San Diego added on at 6:25 on a tally by Bryce Kindopp.
In a desperate attempt at a comeback in the closing minutes, Ontario pulled Villalta for an extra attacker, but Jacob Perreault won a battle for the puck in the neutral zone before putting a shot into the empty net for the final strike of the game.
Villalta ended the game with 21 saves in a losing effort for the Reign. Thomas' power play goal was the only man-advantage strike of the contest, with Ontario ending at 1-for-4 while holding San Diego to an 0-for-2 mark.
Chris Hajt
On staying positive despite falling behind early
The bench was very positive. We had opportunities and their goaltender played very well. We weren't able to capitalize on some opportunities in key moments of the game and they capitalized on some of theirs, and that's the game. Our guys kept pushing and kept very positive on the bench, so we'll take that. We have to have a short memory. We have to learn from what happened today and then go forward for tomorrow with the quick turnaround.
On generating a season-high 19 shots in the second period
Having a shot mentality allows you to create more opportunities. We'll take the 19 shots and move forward, but also, look and see if we can continue to get more. Again, it just didn't go our way tonight and we'll have to refocus for tomorrow.
On Akil Thomas scoring his first goal of the season
Akil works on his game every day. He takes his craft very seriously. He's always in the gym, always in the shooting area, always working trying to get better. It's great to see him and the guys were very happy for him today. I guess the lesson is that he won so many faceoffs, in general tonight, but it was four or five on that five-on-three [power play], so he got rewarded for it. Those are the little things that turn into big things. We're all happy for him and to go through what he went through, and for how long he was out, and to now push through and come back, it's good for him.
Akil Thomas
On scoring his first goal of the season
I had a couple chances before I scored. It's been frustrating all season not burying my chances, but luckily tonight it went in and it's something to build off of. [The loss] is obviously disappointing but it's something to build off for sure...It felt really good because I've been trying to bear down on my chances during practice and shooting after practice. I've just been trying to do everything I could outside the game to work on it. Luckily tonight, it went in. The support I've got from my teammates and the coaching staff really helped me because it's not easy going so many games without contributing to the team. I really want to thank my teammates and my coaches for just sticking with me and giving me support.
On the team rebounding after losses
It's way better playing tomorrow than having a week between games. I think we're going to forget about it and then come strong tomorrow afternoon and totally forget about it, learn from it, and move on.
It's a quick turnaround for the Reign, who are back in action on Sunday afternoon when they host the Grand Rapids Griffins at Toyota Arena at 3 p.m. PST.
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