Jayson Megna’s second goal of the game 16 seconds into overtime secured an extra point for the Colorado Eagles (35-19-4-3) in a 4-3 defeat of the Ontario Reign (36-15-5-3) Saturday night at Toyota Arena.
Forward Samuel Fagemo continued his hot streak, scoring twice for Ontario in a losing effort, while defender Helge Grans picked up a career-high three assists. By securing one point in the standings, the Reign held on to second place in the Pacific Division with a 0.678 points percentage for the season.
More from Reign Assistant Coach Chris Hajt and Grans below –
Fagemo opened the scoring with power play goal 6:14 into the first period to give Ontario an early 1-0 lead. His strike came on a deflection of a shot by Grans and also had a second assist from forward Martin Frk.
Dylan Sikura responded for Colorado with a power play goal of his own at 14:56 of the first to even the game at 1-1.
The Reign re-took the lead on a goal by Cameron Gaunce at 18:21 of the first, a seeing eye shot that found its way past goaltender Justus Annunen into the top left corner of the Colorado net to make the score 2-1. Assists on the play went to Grans and Ontario captain Brett Sutter.
But the Eagles responded right away to tie the game at 2-2 with 16 seconds left in the opening frame on a goal by Gabriel Fontaine.
In the second, Megna gave Colorado the lead for the first time at 5:21 with his first goal of the evening, putting the Eagles in front 3-2.
The Reign fought back and tied the contest at 3-3 when Fagemo netted his second power play goal of the game at 14:41 of the middle frame from Grans and forward TJ Tynan. The assist extended Tynan’s point streak to six games, all of which have included at least one helper. His 85 points and 72 assists on the season both lead the AHL.
The score remained even throughout the third period with action at both ends of the ice. Ontario goaltender Matt Villalta made multiple key stops late in regulation and helped send the game into overtime.
But Megna capitalized on the first chance of the extra session, flipping a shot over the shoulder of Villalta, who finished with 23 saves in the game, just seconds after the opening faceoff for overtime.
Colorado held a 27-18 edge in shots on goal, while the Reign power play scored on both of their opportunities, finishing 2-for-2 in the game. The Eagles went 1-for-2 on the man-advantage and got 15 saves from Annunen who secured the win.
Chris Hajt
On tonight’s effort compared to last night
First of all, we were looking for a response, getting back to Reign hockey, and establishing our game right away. We thought we did that. Credit to the guys for adjusting to what we needed to adjust and coming ready to play against a really good team. There was a playoff-type feel to the game and every little play, every little inch was important. Overall, it was a response that we wanted to have. We’re disapooihted that we didn’t get the two points but all-in-all, after yesterday, we’re going to take that and move forward and continue to get better every day.
On tonight’s overtime period
It was right there. It is what it is. The last one went our way and this one didn’t. We’re going to move forward from it and put ourselves in a position to get those two points, hopefully in regulation. There were some big plays. Matthew Villalta made some a big save with about three minutes left that was huge. Again, it had a playoff-type feel and those games are fun to be in. We thought every guy contributed to the game, which was great.
On Samuel Fagemo’s impressive run of form
He’s a guy that’s scored during his career in every place he’s been, so its something that he’s done well. All parts of his game have really improved. He’s worked on wall play, checking better, and being systematic in everything that he does. He has a lethal shot and the ability to make plays in the offensive zone and he’s really brought it. He had two huge goals tonight. The power play got it done and they were able to create momentum or keep momentum for our team when we needed that. He had some huge goals.
On Helge Grans’ impact
Helge is a terrific human being. He’s a really good kid. It’s hard to believe that he’s 19-years-old and doing what he’s been doing. He’s put in the time and worked so much with Matt Greene and Sean O’Donnell. He puts that work in every day and gets better every day. He’s been put into a lot of situations where he’s done an excellent job in defensive situations and on the penalty kill. At the end of the game, we thought he did a great job. He has character, the ability to make plays, and an excellent shot. We’re happy for him. He had some personal success but also played well in the team framework today.
Helge Grans
On tonight’s performance compared to last night
We tried to play these games as playoff games. Every game is so important right now. I think we had a good bounce back from yesterday. Last night, we were not here in the building almost. Today I thought we played a good hockey game but unfortunately lose. It was a better hockey game and I thought we had a good performance.
On having a chance to play Colorado three more times
It’s a schedule where we have a lot of games, and we can’t stay in the past too much. We have to go through the game, see what we need to improve and just move on.
On connecting with Samuel Fagemo on two goals tonight
It’s fun. Sammy has got 26 goals now, or something like that, and it’s so cool. I’m very happy for him. He’s a great guy and I’m happy to be out there with him.
The Reign now look ahead to a home-and-home series with the Stockton Heat that begins on Friday night in Stockton at 7 p.m. and finishes up inside Toyota Arena next Sunday afternoon at 3 p.m. PST.
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