The Ontario Reign dug themselves a hole, then out of it, but wound up on the losing end on a buzzer-beater from the San Jose Barracuda.
Final. See you all next year! pic.twitter.com/MA9WUyOlwa
— Ontario Reign (@ontarioreign) January 1, 2026
Goal Breakdown
First period:
ONT: PP Cole Guttman (6), ASST: Glenn Gawdin (18), Nikita Alexandrov (17)
Second period:
SJ: Oliver Wahlstrom (9), ASST: Kasper Halttunen (6), Colin White (12)
SJ: Ethan Cardwell (4), ASST: Quentin Musty (16), Jimmy Huntington (12)
SJ: SH Filip Bystedt (9), ASST: None
ONT: Kenny Connors (7), ASST: Jack Hughes (6), Koehn Ziemmer (7)
SJ: Egor Afanasyev (9), ASST: None
Third period:
ONT: Cole Guttman (7), ASST: Taylor Ward (8)
ONT: Tim Rego (1), ASST: Cole Guttman (13), Nikita Alexandrov (18)
SJ: Lucas Carlsson (8), ASST: Cam Lund (13), Egor Afanasyev (6)
Stats
Goals:
SJ: 5
ONT: 4
Shots:
SJ: 31
ONT: 22
Power plays:
SJ: 0/1
ONT: 1/4
Here are the three takeaways from Wednesday night’s defeat:
Strong first, poor second
The Reign started this game with a strong opening 20 minutes, followed by one of their poorest periods, the next 20 minutes. For the first 20 minutes, the Reign were 100% the better team. Their passing was crisp, the puck management was solid, and they were one or two strides ahead of the Barracuda. The result was a 1-0 lead and a 12-4 advantage in shots on goal.
Then the second period happened.
That was the complete opposite for the Reign and looked like a team on the second night of a back-to-back. San Jose picked up the pace and forced turnovers. They were the team that skated better than the hosts and outshot them 17-4. The result was a four-goal period and a 4-2 lead for the visitors.
It’s a learning lesson for the Reign, even on the second night of a back-to-back, that if you sleepwalk in a period against any team, it can be disastrous.
— SJ Barracuda (@sjbarracuda) January 1, 2026
E🐐 with 40 seconds left in the 2nd period! pic.twitter.com/9eR7fDAbED
— SJ Barracuda (@sjbarracuda) January 1, 2026
Cole blooded
Cole Guttman was far and away the best player on the ice for the Reign for the second straight evening. He was dangerous and made plays any time the puck was on the blade of his stick.
He opened the scoring in the first period on his first power-play marker of the season and recorded a fight. In the third period, he added his second tally off the rush to pull the Reign within a goal, and added a helper on Tim Rego’s goal after his breakaway attempt was denied.
THIS GUY GOT GUTTS!! (*This is a goal by Cole Guttman if you didn’t catch that pun)
1-0 ONT pic.twitter.com/kJ3jwbOo92
— Ontario Reign (@ontarioreign) January 1, 2026
GO GUTTY GO!!!! 🙌 pic.twitter.com/NV53FxUDae
— Ontario Reign (@ontarioreign) January 1, 2026
The assist gave him a Gordie Howe hat trick, and he played a hand in three of the four Reign goals. Guttman’s skill and creativity have been exceptional and consistently noticeable on the ice, making him a potent threat in the Reign’s offense.
Go off, Gutts!! 🙌🍎👊 pic.twitter.com/dNT4QYv1h2
— Ontario Reign (@ontarioreign) January 1, 2026
“He was exceptional. You can see the speed, puck control, and creativity in open ice. He was a big piece of our game of almost clawing back a win there,” Reign head coach Andrew Lord said of the forward after the game.
The former Junior King has four points (2 G, 2 A) and a shootout winner in two games since returning from his two-game suspension.
Controversial ending?
San Jose’s Lucas Carlsson put a stamp on the season series with a buzzer-beater to close out the game and 2025. Carlsson’s eighth goal of the season came with zero seconds on the clock, which prompted a review for the officials.
Watching live and on a replay, it was close, but it didn’t look like the puck crossed the goal before the clock hit triple zeros, in my opinion. After the officials stayed with the call on the ice, which was a good goal, after the review, the Reign and their fans were irate.
Lord, after the game, said he saw the clock hit zero, but also mentioned that he and the coaching staff don’t have access to all of the angles behind the bench that maybe the officials do.
You be the judge, but either way, this season series ends how it started: intense.
LUCAS CARLSSON SCORES WITH 1 SECOND LEFT IN THE GAME TO MAKE IT 5-4🤯 pic.twitter.com/DXf98iYN7Q
— SJ Barracuda (@sjbarracuda) January 1, 2026
NOTES:
*Glenn Gawdin extended his point streak to nine games with an assist.
*Nikita Alexandrov extended his point streak to six games with his pair of assists.
*Tim Rego scored his first AHL goal to tie the game at four in the third period.
TIM REGO WITH HIS FIRST AHL GOAL!!! 🤩 pic.twitter.com/grwvAwmHPG
— Ontario Reign (@ontarioreign) January 1, 2026
Only up from here, Timmy!! 🙌 pic.twitter.com/ASoWdYHfNl
— Ontario Reign (@ontarioreign) January 1, 2026
*Filip Bystedt, Oliver Wahlstrom, and Egor Afanasyev’s tallies gave them each three goals in the season series against the Reign, the most on the Barracuda.
*Gawdin was the leading scorer for the Reign (0 G, 8 A, 8 Pts) in the season series against the Barracuda.
*Kenny Connors snapped a seven-game goalless skid with his goal in the middle frame.
KEN👏NY 👏CON👏NORS pic.twitter.com/Xjkw47NqYj
— Ontario Reign (@ontarioreign) January 1, 2026
*The Reign finished the season with a record of 3-4-0-1 against the Barracuda. Every single game was chippy.
*The Reign are now 4-5-0-0 on the second night of a back-to-back.
*Pheonix Copley made 26 saves in the loss.
UP NEXT: The Ontario Reign will start 2026 with a matchup against the Coachella Valley Firebirds on Saturday, January 3rd. It will be the first matchup between the two teams. That game will start at 6 PM PST. You can watch it on FloSports or on KCAL+ (channel 9.6). If you can’t watch the game, you can listen to it on the Ontario Reign radio network or on the ESPN LA app.
Featured image credit: Megan Sanders/Ontario Reign
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