With Points in Last 5 Games, Reign Take on Rival Gulls
- Updated: December 13, 2016
It’s been a great run for the Ontario Reign, as over the past week they proved to be unbeatable, mostly. Two victories and one overtime loss puts the team at 10-5-5-0, gaining points in their previous five games. Trading overtime victories with the Tucson Roadrunners – winning 3-2 on Wednesday then losing 5-4 on Friday, the Reign finished off the week with a 5-2 victory Saturday over the Charlotte Checkers. The Reign – presently in third place in the Pacific Division – will next play the rival San Diego Gulls December 13 at 7 p.m. at the Valley View Casino Center in San Diego.
In the December 7 overtime win against the Roadrunners, newly assigned Teddy Purcell scored the winning goal on a breakaway 2:18 into the extra period. In a game where the shots were basically even – Ontario’s 36 to Tucson’s 37 – the Reign took the first period with two goals and the Roadrunners took the third period with two goals. Goalie Jack Campbell got the win, saving 35 on 37 shots, and was deemed “our best player tonight” by Reign coach Mike Stothers. But it was the goal by Purcell, playing his first game since being assigned by the NHL affiliate Kings, that put the team over the top.
Said Purcell, through the Ontario Reign Insider Lindsay Czarnecki, “I haven’t been playing in a while. I felt a little rusty in the first period. I was trying to catch my breath and get a little more polish in my game. We gave up a late one there and gave them an extra point but it felt good, as the new guy, to come in and get one for the boys.”
Coach Stothers, enjoyed Purcell’s performance. “That was an NHL goal. First of all, he pulled away while carrying the puck, which is pretty impressive, and then to make the play he did to score the goal was great.”
In the December 9 loss to the same Roadrunners team, Ontario outshot its opponent 37 – 28 but still came up short in overtime. It looked bleak in the beginning as the Roadrunners led 3-0 at the end of the first period. A second period goal by Mike Amadio (4), from Vincent LoVerde and Purcell with 36 seconds remaining in the second kickstarted the Reign drive. Two third period goals by Michael Mersch (6) helped the team to even the score. It didn’t take long in overtime however for the Roadrunners to take the match, with Christian Fischer scoring 26 seconds into the extra period.
In the December 10 match, Ontario scored five goals on 23 shots, while Campbell – who started his fifth straight game – finished with 19 saves on 21 shots, improving his record to 7-2-2. An all around strong win, the Reign has gone 4-0-1-0 in last five games, with a penalty kill now 72-for-92 (78.3 percent) and a power play 19-for-73 (26 percent). With two assists in this game, Teddy Purcell has registered points in all three of his games with his new team.
Coach Stothers saw a better start this game than the previous night’s game.
“We talked about the start,” he said. “It’s nice to see us respond in the right way. It’s a lot easier to play when you have three than when you’re trailing by three. We gave ourselves a chance. You get behind and you’ve got to play catch-up. As a fan you get pumped up and excited for games that are back and forth and lots of scoring. But as a coach, it’s not how you win. We’re here to win a championship.”
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