Superman Opening Performance by Goalie Campbell
- Updated: October 16, 2016
As my wife and I walked out of the Valley View Casino Arena Saturday night, a couple of San Diego Gulls fans couldn’t help but stop us – with our LA Kings jerseys proudly displayed – and congratulate us on the “incredible” play of the Ontario Reign goalie Jack Campbell. (The Reign is the AHL affiliate of the NHL Kings.) These two men were upset but in awe by what one of them termed play from “another zone.” Another Gulls fan, Monica Robertson of Ocean Beach said, “That goalie was like a wall tonight. Nothing was going to get by him.”
And so it was for the superman feat of Campbell in the Reign’s season opener against their arch rivals, taking a 2 – 0 shutout before 7,017 in attendance.
In a night that saw the Reign goalie make 36 saves, including the staving off of two five-on-three power plays, the team didn’t need much offense, though that did come early in the game as Ontario outshot the Gulls 9 to 1 through the first 10 minutes.
In fact deep into the first period, it did come to mind that the Reign team was killing the Gulls team, 0 – 0. Though the Reign hit the post three times throughout the night, the team did find the back of the net on two occasions.
At 2:58 of the first, T.J. Hensick found himself alone coming in on Gulls goalie Matt Hackett, and pounded the stick on the ice in order to get Sean Backman’s attention. A perfect setup pass was tipped in by Hensick giving the Reign the 1 – 0 lead.
Goal two came on a five-on-three power play at 7:51 of the second period as Michael Mersch, stationed in front of the Gulls net, tipped in a fast pass by Backman.
The Gulls gathered their own momentum at times, especially with the five-on-three skating advantages: once in the first period at 13:53 and then in the second at 4:06. A couple of fights seemed to also spur on the Gulls, notably a pounding by Gulls Stu Bickel on Reign Michael Latta. Though flurries came in the last five minutes of the second and at the halfway mark of the third, the numerous scoring opportunities netted nothing for the Gulls. This included 17 shots in the final period, bringing the finally tally of shots to 36 – 27 in favor of San Diego.
The final three minutes of play saw the Gulls pull its goalie for a six-on-five advantage. Here is where Campbell, the unquestioned “Number One Star of the Game,” sealed the deal with, at 18 seconds, a dead-to-rights glove save against Mike Sgarbossa. Amazing. 
According to the Ontario Reign Insider, Lyndsay Czarnecki, Reign coach Mike Stothers said Campbell had a “good game.” “(He) had some real nice saves for us so good for him, I’m very happy for him,” he said.
Said Campbell, quoted by the Insider, “It was awesome to be in there. It’s just a great group of guys. We had a great first. I thought we really took it to them. And then you know they’re going to push back at home in the third. Even though they were attacking we were still blocking shots and making simple plays, and I was really impressed with the guys’ effort out there tonight.”
As those two Gulls fans walked on after the game, they had to mention that last cat-like, lightning-fast glove save of Campbell, as well as the idea, “If your goalie Jonathan Quick ever gets hurt, the Kings could bring that guy up in a heartbeat.”
Hmmm, after Saturday night’s performance, that may not be such a bad idea.
The Ontario Reign’s next game is its home opener against the Texas Stars at 7 p.m., Friday, October 21 at the Citizens Business Bank Arena in Ontario.
Stay with us at Calisportsnews.com as we will keep you up-to-date on all things Ontario Reign and the rest of the California sports teams! All Cali, All the time!
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