After an, at times, dominant Game 1 performance from the Ontario Reign, the series shifts for one of many trips down the 5 (Or 15) freeway to Valley View Casino in San Diego.
In the first of a 1-1-1-1-1-1-1 series in San Diego, the Reign come in on the backs of a 5-3 victory at CBBA on Thursday night. Michael Mersch and the third pairing of Schultz and Raine played massive parts in a well earned Reign victory.
In what could be a pivotal game, with Game 3 coming tomorrow night in Ontario, the Gulls have made a few changes to the lineup after a lackluster two periods on Thursday night. The Reign will be looking for a mimicked performance of Game 1, while San Diego will be trying to move on a second period that showed flashes of the game they are capable of playing but failed to replicate through three full periods.
The Difference So Far
The Reign came out stomping in Game 1. They dominated with a heavy forecheck and smothering neutral zone play. That ultimately put the Gulls behind two goals and behind mentally. While they did certainly fight back, the overbearing effect of the Reign forecheck presence carried a weight all night with San Diego. Shifts were often one and done, and the Gulls Powerplay may have put forth their most frustrating performance of the year.
Michael Mersch was also an incredible force in Game 1, combining excellent defensive play with a three point game on offense. In post game Coach Mike Stothers alluded that the goals were all "Very Mike Mersch" goals. Nic Dowd also had an excellent game with a strong assist on Vincent LoVerde's Powerplay marker.
Another difference was the San Diego's often high octane Powerplay, which failed to convert on the evening. The Gulls had the third ranked Powerplay in the entire AHL, but struggled to generate any chances, and were soundly befuddled by the shot blocking and pressure applied by the Reign's penalty kill crew of Jordan Samuels-Thomas, Justin Auger, Nic Dowd, Michael Mersch, and Andrew Crescenzi.
While Budaj was not kept busy for the majority of Game 1, he did out duel Matt Hackett. The latter has had the difficult job of stepping in for a red hot Anton Khudobin.
Lineups (Projected, subject to change)
The Reign are not expected to make any changes from Game 1
Newbury - Dowd - Backman Mersch - Kempe - Auger Herr - Crescenzi - Samuels-Thomas Lowry - Amadio - Bissonnette
MacDermid - LoVerde Forbort - Gravel Schultz - Ebert
Budaj Houser
The Gulls are potentially making three changes to their lineup, with college players Kale Kossila coming out, as well as Andy Welinski, and Brian Cooper coming out on the back end.
Ritchie - Wagner - Kase Laganier - Bailey - Tropp Zolnierczyk - Mueller - Noesen Cramarossa - MacKinnon - McGrattan
Megna - Montour Larson - Theodore Piskula - Bickel
Hackett Faragher
Coming into the lineup are journeymen Harry Zolnierczyk, and Joe Piskula. With Swedish defenseman Jacob Larsson making his pro debut for the Anaheim system. Larsson was a former first rounder with the Ducks in the 2015 draft.
Keys to the game
Defense, defense, defense. Oh, and some offense. The Reign got an outburst of five goals, four with a goaltender in. However, it really came on the back of a tremendous defensive performance that limited the lethality of a usually high paced, mobile, Gulls offense. The Gulls have elevated Chris Wagner into a top line position, as well as the highly skilled Czech winger Ondrej Kase. They are looking for a much more sustained offensive threat this game versus Game 1. The Reign had all hands to the pump, with four lines playing good in all three zones as well as putting forth excellent special teams.
Also, the Gulls will need perhaps a better performance from Matt Hackett. The goals he allowed were by no means his fault, but the one that he would probably want back was the Joel Lowry go-ahead goal in the third.
For Ontario, it is simply do more of what you did in Game 1. For San Diego, try to emulate the start of the second period where they had sustained pressure and evened the game.
We have Reign/Gulls Game 2 coverage coming soon as the game kicks off at 7:10.
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