AHL Ontario Reign

Reign Suffer Shutout to San Diego

March 12, 2022 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Ontario Reign News Release


Two goals from Benoit Olivier-Groulx and a shutout performance by goaltender Olle Eriksson Ek led the San Diego Gulls (21-25-2-0) to a 4-0 win over the Ontario Reign (33-11-4-3) Saturday night at Pechanga Arena. The loss marked the first time Ontario has been shutout during the 2021-22 season.

Goaltender Matt Villalta got the start in net for the Reign and made 20 saves in a losing effort. Despite the defeat, Ontario remains in second place in the AHL's Pacific Division with a points percentage of 0.716.

San Diego took a 1-0 lead in the first, scoring on its second shot of the game when Olivier-Groulx beat Villalta for the first time at 4:49 of the opening period.

The Gulls extended their lead in the second period with a 2-on-0 goal by Hunter Drew at 6:26 and a deflection in front of the net by Bryce Kindopp at 9:39. San Diego's lead was 3-0 after 40 minutes.

Olivier-Groulx added on with his second unassisted goal of the night at 3:28 of the third period to make it 4-0 in favor of the Gulls.

Eriksson Ek finished the game with 22 saves in his team's victory. It was the second win for the Gulls in eight meetings with the Reign so far this season, both of which have come in their home building. The Gulls had a 24-22 edge in shots on goal during the contest.

Forwards Akil Thomas and Martin Frk led Ontario with five shots on goal apiece in the loss. Neither club had success on the man-advantage, with the Reign successfully killing off four San Diego power play chances and finishing with a mark of 0-for-2 themselves.

Chris Hajt

On first time being shut out by an opponent

There were some chances when we went to the net. I thought both teams had a number of them actually. Fagemo and Vilardi walked in there, they also hit a post on the power play. Give credit to their goaltender. He played well. We did have opportunities but overall we're obviously disappointed with losing tonight.

On the penalty kill's success tonight

The last game we allowed three [power play goals] and up until that point we had been trending in the right direction on our penalty kill, so it was good to see the fact that we were a little more dialed in. Matty [Villalta] made some big saves on it, but also there was some more urgency in what we were trying to do, so we'll take some positives and build on it.

On having a break until next Friday's game

We're going to get a couple days of rest here, which is really important. We've had a lot of games and a lot of travel this last month. We'll get a little time at home, take a breath, and then get back to work. We'll get back to who we are and the details of our game and have a few really good days of practice leading into next week.

On making adjustments and staying positive during tough games

You look at all the options and try and make reads and decisions as a coaching staff to try and get a little spark. There's always talk, there's always chatter about something we can do better or watching for a certain read. The communication is constant all game.

The Reign return to the ice on Friday night to host the Bakersfield Condors at Toyota Arena at 7 p.m. PST.

Check out the Ontario Reign Statistics



American Hockey League Stories from March 12, 2022


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