ONTARIO, Calif. -- In his first two AHL starts, Carter George only allowed one goal, helping the Reign to a 2-1 victory over the San Diego Gulls Friday night at Toyota Arena.
George had his first start on April 12, shutting out San Jose in a remarkable win.
Tonight, he saved 27 out of 28 shots, proving that although this may only be his second start - he sure isn’t playing like it.
The 18-year-old is playing as if he’s been out there for years.
Calm, collected and comfortable.
“Very impressive,” coach Marco Sturm said in postgame interviews when asked about George. “I’ve seen a lot of goalies, but at that age, and just being so calm too…I wish we would’ve kept them (San Diego) off the score sheet, but again, he was excellent.”
Tonight was the season finale of the SoCal series, and the aggressiveness and emotionality was as extreme as ever.
With a total of 16 penalties, Ontario went 1-for-6 on the power play while San Diego went 1-for-4.
The opening period was predominantly fights, penalties and neither team finding the back of the net.
But halfway through the second period Charles Hudon was rushing down the ice, preparing to score - but was held almost the entire way to the net, resulting in a penalty shot opportunity.
An opportunity in which he cashed in, giving Ontario the 1-0 lead.
Kaleb Lawrence scored a power-play goal 13:29 into the second, receiving help from Caleb Jones and Glenn Gawdin.
Sam Colangelo netted a power-play goal with six minutes remaining in the game, but that was all the Gulls could produce - and the only thing George would give them.
The Reign will conclude their regular season tomorrow against the Abbotsford Canucks at 6 p.m. at Toyota Arena.
Ontario’s record stands at 43-24-3-1 while Abbotsford stands at 43-24-2-2, tying them up and making tomorrow night that much more important.
Whoever wins tomorrow will be the determining factor for sole possession of second place in the AHL Pacific Division.
“We’re gonna take it day by day, “ coach Sturm said. “And we want to finish the season the right way. We want to finish with a win. And hopefully go with a good mindset and with a good attitude and lots of happy faces into the playoffs.”