REIGN FINAL – Reign 4, Canucks 3 (OT) – Wroblewski, Madden

After surrendering a late goal and falling behind in the final five minutes of regulation, the Ontario Reign (2-0-0-1) got a strike from Tyler Madden that sent the game into overtime and eventually defeated the Abbottsford Canucks (1-1-1-0) on a power play tally by Martin Frk in the extra session Tuesday night at Toyota Arena.

BOX SCORE

Johan Sodergran and Samuel Fagemo also scored in the first period for Ontario, while TJ Tynan picked up assists on each of the team’s late goals. Goaltender Matthew Villalta made 26 saves and recorded his second victory of the season.

More from Head Coach John Wroblewski and forward Tyler Madden below.

Ontario came out firing on all cylinders in the first, dominating play and scoring twice in the opening frame. First, after a faceoff win in the offensive zone, Sodergran knocked home a loose rebound that was left in the crease off a shot by Austin Strand to make it 1-0. The tally was the first for Sodergran, who missed all of the 2020-21 AHL season with an injury, since a game in Bakersfield on February 7, 2020.

Then just 34 seconds later it was Fagemo who made it 2-0 by redirecting a shot from defender Jacob Moverare past goaltender Michael DiPietro.

The Reign picked up more momentum early in the second when Abbotsford was unable to convert on a lengthy 5-on-3 opportunity, but the tide of the game started to turn late in the frame when Carson Focht scored to make it 2-1 with just 1:03 left on the second period clock.

The Canucks tied the game up at 4:29 of the third when Sheldon Dries converted on the power play and then took the lead with just 4:20 to play on a goal by Justin Bailey.

In the waning moments, Ontario pulled Villalta for an extra attacker and Tynan set up Madden for his first strike of the season to even things back up at 3-3 and force overtime.

Abbotsford’s Madison Bowey was called for tripping 15 seconds into the extra frame and the Reign called timeout to set up a play. Late in the man advantage, a shot by Jaret Anderson-Dolan hit the post, but Frk got enough of a shot on the rebound to beat DiPietro and win the game for Ontario.

Frk’s three goals lead the team through three games, while Tynan, the reigning AHL Most Valuable Player, has earned five helpers in the first week of the 2021-22 season.

Ontario finished 1-for-4 on the power play, while Abbottsford ended at 1-for-5. The Reign led in shots on goal, 30-29.

Next up Ontario will host the Bakersfield Condors and San Diego Gulls on consecutive days at Toyota Arena this weekend beginning Friday at 7 p.m. PST and concluding Saturday at 6 p.m. PST.

John Wroblewski
On the team’s start to the season compared to last year
Yeah like I said the other night if you would’ve been able to sign up for three points after the first weekend I would’ve taken it and now five points after three games, we’re very excited about where we are in the standings and I don’t even think we’ve come close to playing our best hockey and what we can do in that room. We’ve got some bases we’ve got to cover before we play a really stingy Bakersfield team on Friday night and then there’s another big battle on Saturday against San Diego.

On the challenge of facing a new team in back-to-back games
They haven’t changed much since I saw them in Rochester. Travis Green was the coach then for Utica and since he’s taken over with Vancouver, the AHL team hasn’t lost their identity one bit. They’re a tenacious forechecking team, they run two forwards hard on every forecheck, and they’re diligent and determined in the trenches. So it’s a huge matchup for us because I think that’s probably the area where a lot of people have questions about our group whether it’s young guys if they’re ready to play on the walls or go to the net-front or whether it’s just our lineup in general if we’re determined enough to play in those areas. If we show the courage and willingness and also the ability to be real good in the trenches and along the walls at the net, then our skill will open up on the line rush too. I don’t know if it was a mental break that we decided to take or if it was just the flow of the game, but we lost our diligence and I thought that Abbotsford played a really gritty game and were tough to play against.

Tyler Madden