Reign #FancyStats Recap: Ontario Revoir, Mike
The Reign play one of their best weekends yet, but must say goodbye to their best player. How big a loss is Mersch? Also, Jeff Schultz tells us how he thinks Mersch's game will translate to the NHL.
All scoring chance, Corsi, and faceoff counts are estimated.
This weekend, the Reign are home for a back-to-back against the Bakersfield Condors and San Jose Barracuda.
Notes
- How will Ontario compensate for the call-up of Michael Mersch? In my mind, his absence creates an Anze Kopitar-like hole in the Reign lineup. Not that I'm suggesting Mersch is anywhere as good a player, but the young winger is just as vital to Ontario's success as Kopitar is to LA's. As we saw in our Reign #FancyStats 1st quarter review, "Big Mike" has been that dominant in every zone: Forechecker, backchecker, play driver, front net presence. If you've missed any of his recent highlights, check here. Otherwise, enjoy yet another example of his chemistry with Nic Dowd:
- Yesterday at practice, I asked Jeff Schultz his thoughts on how Mersch's game would transition to the NHL. As the only defenseman with NHL experience on Ontario's current roster, I was curious in particular about how he thought Mersch's array of moves around the net would translate:/
"I think it will be an easy transition for him. I think he showed a lot of it in training camp.
"He's a big body, he's strong on his skates, he's got a good nose for the net, likes to take the puck to the net. Like the Kings like to say, he plays a heavy game, kind of in the corners, in front of the net. So it should be a pretty smooth transition for him. It would be strange not to see him do well, just with the type of game he plays and the type of game that the Kings play.
"I have full confidence that he'll do well up there."
- And finally, after long, fruitless relationships with the post and crossbar, Jonny Brodzinski hooked his first professional goal. Brodzinski looks like he's taking Mersch's place by Dowd this Saturday:
12/5/15
This 3-1 victory was perhaps the Reign's most dominating performance this season. After Charlotte had the temerity to open up shooting with a 5-1 advantage, Ontario took 33 of the next 39 shots.
Even Strength Scoring Chances
| 1 | 2 | 3 | TOTAL | |
| ONT | 4 | 10 | 6 | 20 |
| CHA | 3 | 1 | 2 | 6 |
Even Strength Corsi
| 1 | 2 | 3 | TOTAL | |
| ONT | 27 | 24 | 15 | 66 |
| CHA | 13 | 5 | 12 | 30 |
Faceoffs
| Name | FOW | FOL | FO% |
| K. Newbury | 12 | 6 | 66.7% |
| A. Crescenzi | 11 | 4 | 73.3% |
| R. Horvat | 0 | 4 | 0.0% |
| N. Dowd | 9 | 9 | 50.0% |
Individual Even Strength Corsi
| Number | Player | CF | CA | CF% |
| 4 | K. Gravel | 18 | 10 | 64.3% |
| 5 | V. LoVerde | 32 | 9 | 78.0% |
| 7 | V. Zykov | 12 | 5 | 70.6% |
| 9 | A. Kempe | 19 | 6 | 76.0% |
| 11 | K. Newbury | 11 | 5 | 68.8% |
| 15 | P. Bissonnette | 11 | 6 | 64.7% |
| 16 | S. Backman | 18 | 6 | 75.0% |
| 18 | J. Samuels-Thomas | 18 | 7 | 72.0% |
| 20 | K. MacDermid | 24 | 5 | 82.8% |
| 21 | A. Crescenzi | 11 | 3 | 78.6% |
| 23 | N. Ebert | 17 | 10 | 63.0% |
| 24 | R. Horvat | 19 | 8 | 70.4% |
| 25 | S. Sabourin | 14 | 9 | 60.9% |
| 26 | N. Dowd | 24 | 13 | 64.9% |
| 27 | M. Mersch | 18 | 11 | 62.1% |
| 33 | K. Raine | 24 | 14 | 63.2% |
| 39 | J. Auger | 19 | 9 | 67.9% |
| 55 | J. Schultz | 17 | 12 | 58.6% |
Lines
Ontario Reign
9 Kempe - 11 Newbury - 16 Backman
27 Mersch - 26 Dowd - 39 Auger
18 Samuels-Thomas - 21 Crescenzi - 7 Zykov
15 Bissonnette - 24 Horvat - 25 Sabourin
20 MacDermid - 5 LoVerde
4 Gravel - 33 Raine
55 Schultz - 23 Ebert
31 Budaj
29 Houser
Charlotte Checkers
25 Bowman - 10 Ryan - 14 Shugg
11 Boychuk - 33 Karlsson - 16 Tolchinsky
21 Woods - 12 Sutter - 24 Brown
18 Hagel - 38 Wohlberg - 26 Sandlak
5 Carrick - 6 Murphy
4 Lowe - 9 Biega
27 Chelios - 36 Cornell
22 MacIntyre
1 Tirronen
12/6/15
While Charlotte pushed back a tad more the following night—for half the game, the score was actually knotted up at one apiece!—the Reign answered every Checkers volley with extreme prejudice, on way to a 5-1 rout.
Even Strength Scoring Chances
| 1 | 2 | 3 | TOTAL | |
| ONT | 3 | 8 | 4 | 15 |
| CHA | 1 | 3 | 1 | 5 |
Even Strength Corsi
| 1 | 2 | 3 | TOTAL | |
| ONT | 14 | 22 | 16 | 52 |
| CHA | 12 | 17 | 16 | 45 |
Faceoffs
| Name | FOW | FOL | FO% |
| A. Kempe | 1 | 2 | 33.3% |
| K. Newbury | 8 | 4 | 66.7% |
| P. Bissonnette | 1 | 0 | 100.0% |
| J. Samuels-Thomas | 0 | 2 | 0.0% |
| A. Crescenzi | 6 | 7 | 46.2% |
| R. Horvat | 5 | 5 | 50.0% |
| N. Dowd | 10 | 4 | 71.4% |
| M. Mersch | 0 | 1 | 0.0% |
| J. Auger | 1 | 0 | 100.0% |
Individual Even Strength Corsi
| Number | Player | CF | CA | CF% |
| 4 | K. Gravel | 13 | 16 | 44.8% |
| 5 | V. LoVerde | 21 | 17 | 55.3% |
| 8 | Z. Leslie | 9 | 15 | 37.5% |
| 9 | A. Kempe | 15 | 9 | 62.5% |
| 11 | K. Newbury | 11 | 10 | 52.4% |
| 12 | J. Brodzinski | 12 | 20 | 37.5% |
| 15 | P. Bissonnette | 7 | 6 | 53.8% |
| 16 | S. Backman | 16 | 12 | 57.1% |
| 18 | J. Samuels-Thomas | 13 | 16 | 44.8% |
| 20 | K. MacDermid | 19 | 19 | 50.0% |
| 21 | A. Crescenzi | 16 | 8 | 66.7% |
| 24 | R. Horvat | 12 | 15 | 44.4% |
| 25 | S. Sabourin | 10 | 6 | 62.5% |
| 26 | N. Dowd | 15 | 12 | 55.6% |
| 27 | M. Mersch | 17 | 9 | 65.4% |
| 33 | K. Raine | 19 | 9 | 67.9% |
| 39 | J. Auger | 10 | 12 | 45.5% |
| 55 | J. Schultz | 22 | 14 | 61.1% |
Lines
Ontario Reign
9 Kempe - 11 Newbury - 16 Backman
27 Mersch - 26 Dowd - 39 Auger
18 Samuels-Thomas - 21 Crescenzi - 12 Brodzinski
15 Bissonnette - 24 Horvat - 25 Sabourin
20 MacDermid - 5 LoVerde
4 Gravel - 33 Raine
55 Schultz - 8 Leslie
31 Budaj
29 Houser
Charlotte Checkers
25 Bowman - 10 Ryan - 14 Shugg
11 Boychuk - 37 Rashid - 33 Karlsson
18 Hagel - 12 Sutter - 24 Brown
26 Sandlak - 38 Wohlberg - 16 Tolchinsky
5 Carrick - 6 Murphy
4 Lowe - 9 Biega
27 Chelios - 36 Cornell
1 Tirronen
22 MacIntyre
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