A three-point night from Glenn Gawdin powered the Ontario Reign (21-10-0-1) to a bounce-back win over the Iowa Wild (12-20-2-0) by a score of 5-2 on Sunday afternoon at Toyota Arena.
Charles Hudon and Jack Studnicka also netted a goal and an assist for Ontario in the victory, while Caleb Jones produced two helpers in the win from the blueline.
Tyler Madden got the Reign on the board first at 8:50 of the first with a power play goal that snuck by the glove of Wild goaltender Samuel Hlavaj to make it 1-0 for Ontario. Assists on Madden’s fifth goal of the season went to Jack Studnicka and Martin Chormiak.
Iowa evened the game at 1-1 on a goal by Travis Boyd at 12:37 of the opening period and the two teams remained tied at the first intermission.
The Wild went in front 2-1 at 10:47 of the middle frame when Joe Cecconi joined the rush and finished in front of the net to give Iowa its first lead of the contest.
Ontario wasn’t down for long, however, as Gawdin redirected a shot by Reilly Walsh into the goal to tie things back up at 2-2 just 3:02 later at 13:49. Hudon factored into the play as well, earning the second assist on his linemate’s first strike of the night.
Hudon then made it 3-2 with a goal of his own later on at 16:56 of the middle period from Gawdin and Caleb Jones. The Alma, Quebec native’s 12th of the year came off a wrist shot from the slot that beat Hlavaj over the glove.
Gawdin tacked on insurance at 2:51 of the third with a long range wrister from the top of the left circle that also went high glove and made it a 4-2 game. Assists on the tally went to Luke Rowe and Jeff Malott.
Iowa attempted to get back in the game by pulling Hlavaj for an extra attacker with less than four minutes remaining in the third and Jack Studnicka put an end to their chances at a comeback with his eighth goal of the season off a feed from behind the net by Samuel Fagemo. Jones also recorded an assist on the play, his second helper of the game.
The Reign held a 33-23 shots-on-goal advantage in the contest and netted the only power play goal of the day, going 1-for-2 on the man-advantage while holding the Wild to an 0-for-3 mark.
Erik Portillo got the start for Ontario and stopped 21 shots to earn his 11th win of the season while Hlavaj turned out 28 shots in a losing effort.
Postgame reactions from Hudon and head coach Marco Sturm are below –
Charles Hudon
On the response after Friday
For our line, I think we knew we didn’t play well on Friday, so we just told ourselves that we need to be better and help the team. We’re a good group. We’re a big line of leadership too, so we just felt like we had to respond. That was a great win. We’ll get ready for the Canadian road trip. It’s just good for the team, all the guys.
On the Penalty Kill
I think every single one, it’s a must do now. We need to get better on every aspect of the game. I think PK or power play, those special units, those can win a series in playoffs. So that was good for the boys and good for Ports.
On the team’s mindset today
Be yourself, play the Reign Train, the way that we’ve been playing since the start of season. I think Friday we didn’t really do it. I think that was a different team. It was a different group on the ice. I think today we just showed that we’re back as a unit, back as the Reign Train, and we just have to keep going.
Marco Sturm
On today’s win
It took us a little bit. I think especially the first half. We were just not the same. It was a tight game. I thought we had the start we wanted a little bit but not much was going on. We didn’t want to give up anything and just get into the game a little bit. We had the one nothing lead. I think the more and more we played, and the more and more we played our game, I think the more and more we felt comfortable. The third period was definitely our best.
On the Reign’s first line
Those are the guys we rely on but sometimes some other guys have to step up too. In big moments and moments when you need a win and guys to step up that’s usually your best players. Gawds and all three of them took over after 30 minutes. It was leading the way.
On facing Hlavaj
We always knew, we have to be better. We didn’t really talk about the goalie. Yes, he had a good night the first night, but that was not our concern. For him as a goalie, I think he kind of raises his game when he doesn’t allow a goal against. He was good. He was really good the two games we played. For us, it was more about our play.
The Reign hit the road for a two-game series this week in Abbotsford against the Canucks that begins on Tuesday night at 7 p.m. inside the Abbotsford Centre.
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