Tyler Madden and Aidan Dudas each found the back of the net, and Cal Petersen turned out 27 shots as the Ontario Reign (34-29-5-1) defeated the Abbotsford Canucks (38-24-3-4) by a score of 2-1 on Saturday night at the Abbotsford Centre.
Reign captain TJ Tynan was also on the scoresheet, recording an assist for the third consecutive game, while Tyler Inamoto also picked up a helper for his first career AHL point. The win gave Ontario sole possession of fifth place in the Pacific Division standings with three regular season games remaining on its schedule.
The Reign broke through first at 15:13 of the first period during the team’s first power play opportunity of the game. After Lias Andersson hit the post with a shot from the right circle, Ontario kept the pressure on and Tynan eventually found Madden open in the slot for a quick finish to make it 1-0. Jacob Moverare earned the second assist on the play, getting the puck down low to the Reign captain from the top of the zone.
Ontario held on to its lead for most of the second period until there were just over five minutes remaining. Right after a media timeout, the Canucks kept the puck in on the wall and a shot by Danila Klimovich beat Petersen under the arm to tie the game at 1-1.
Dudas put the Reign back in front at 2:06 of the third with his 12th goal of the season from Taylor Ward and Inamoto. After a shot by Inamoto was kept away from the net, Ward scooped up the puck behind the cage. Dudas was camped out in the slot and was ready when the puck came his way on a feed in front.
Petersen stopped all 12 shots that came his way in the final frame to preserve the lead for Ontario and earn his 16th AHL victory of the year.
Ontario picked up the win despite totaling its lowest shot total of the season, only mustering 18 opportunities on net against Abbotsford’s Spencer Martin, who made 16 saves. The Reign converted for the only power play goal of the night, finishing 1-for-3 on the man-advantage while holding the Canucks to just 0-for-1.
Marco Sturm
Aidan Dudas
The Reign return to action on Wednesday night when they travel to Coachella Valley for a matchup with the Firebirds at Acrisure Arena at 7 p.m.
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