Jr. Reign put on a show at the Ice In Paradise showcase
The Ice in Paradise showcase was the only game this past weekend for the Ontario Jr. Reign, as they showed out with a 5-2 win.
The Saturday showcase in Goleta, California was a classic I-5 rivalry game between the Jr. Reign and the San Diego Sabers, who have already played twice this season.
Goaltender Domenik McInenly got his third start in the crease, and his number was called often throughout regulation.
Both teams opened the game evenly, with their familiarity showing in a scoreless first 10 minutes.
San Diego had a man-advantage shortly after the halfway point, which saw pressure being applied to the Jr. Reign defensive zone. McInenly stood tall in net denying any shot that came his way.
As Ontario cleared their lines a Sabers pass was intercepted by Denver Criag in the attacking zone, drawing the attention of the defenseman who left a trailing Tyler Huston wide open for the short-handed go-ahead goal.
Each side continued the transitional hockey as the first period ended 1-0.
Before anyone could blink the Sabers scored the equalizer off a poor clearance, just 45 seconds into the second period.
However, the Jr. Reign responded six minutes later during a power play. Jesiah Bennett received a pass from Craig in front of the net, mesmerizing the goalie with his stick-handling before finishing with a top-shelf backhand to take a 2-1 lead.
Throughout the remainder of the period, the Sabers were on the front foot testing McInenly and the defenseman. As San Diego outshot Ontario 16-7 after time expired in the second period.
The final period mirrored the second, as Craig scored just under a minute in. He picked up the puck at the top of his own defensive zone, flew across the blue line, and fired a shot into the top corner from the right circle.
The 3-1 lead wasn’t safe for long as the Sabers pulled within one just after the midway point of the third.
With the match now at 3-2, Craig again responded quickly with another goal in just over a minute. After a faceoff win in the right circle, he collected the puck behind the net, dodged around defenders and beat the keeper glove side for his second goal of the night.
The game would settle down until time was running out for the Sabers, forcing them to pull their goalie while on their power play for a five-on-five with an empty net.
From there it was destiny for Craig to get his hat trick, and he would do exactly that, taking the puck from his own defensive zone across the blue to put the game to bed.
Time expired just mere seconds later that gave the Ontario Jr. Reign the 5-2 win.
McInenly ended the night with 39 saves on 41 shots giving him his third goal of the season.
Up next, the Jr. Reign face the Sabers in Carlsbad on Friday, Oct. 12, before returning home Saturday to host the Lake Tahoe Lakers, who lead the Pacific Division. We hope to see you there for this exciting matchup.