REIGN FINAL – Reign 4, Wranglers 3 (OT) – Hudon, Sturm

A late goal in the third period by Charles Hudon forced overtime and Francesco Pinelli found the back of the net during the extra session for the Ontario Reign (28-14-2-1) to cap off a 4-3 come-from-behind win over the Calgary Wranglers (29-15-3-1) on Saturday afternoon at the Scotiabank Saddledome.

Shawn Element and Jack Studnicka also found the back of the net for Ontario in the victory, while Erik Portillo recorded the win in between the pipes with 17 saves. The Reign moved one point closer to the first-place Wranglers in the Pacific Division standings, remaining three points behind the top spot with three games in hand.

BOX SCORE

Calgary took control of the game halfway through the opening period when former Reign forward Martin Frk scored at 10:12 to make it 1-0 in favor of the home team.

The teams traded tallies in the second, with each club scoring twice on the other during the middle period. First, the Wranglers extended their lead to 2-0 on a shorthanded goal by David Silye at 3:20.

Ontario made it a one-goal game again just 1:08 later when Element netted his eighth strike of the campaign off a feed by Taylor Ward. Element’s shot from the right circle beat netminder Devin Cooley over the right shoulder at 4:28 and had a second assist credited to Angus Booth.

But Calgary responded quickly, pushing their lead back to two goals at 3-1 on Frk’s second tally of the contest at 4:54.

The Reign struck on the power play to bring themselves back within one at 8:57 when Studnicka finished a play down low in the offensive end for his 13th of the year. Tyler Madden sent the puck from the right-wing half wall to Andre Lee on the goal line, who tapped it into the slot for Studnicka who quickly finished with a shot under the right arm of Cooley.

Ontario continued to trail 3-2 for most of the third until Jeff Malott was able to rush the puck deep into the Calgary end. After circling the back of the net, Malott left a centering pass to Hudon, who wristed the puck past the glove of Cooley to tie the game with his 17th goal of the season. A second helper on the play was recorded by captain Joe Hicketts.

The game continued into overtime, with the teams even at 3-3 after Hudon’s goal.

Pinelli’s first career OT winner was the only shot of the extra session, which came off a pass by Martin Chromiak, who stole the puck away from Ilya Solovyov in the Calgary end. Chromiak quickly centered it to Pinelli, who put a fluttering wrist shot past Cooley to put his team in front for good at 1:29 of the 3-on-3 period. The goal was the 12th of the season for the second-year attacker, while Chromiak’s helper was his 13th on the year.

It was just the second time Ontario has been outshot during the 2025 portion of their schedule, with the Wranglers holding a slight edge in the category, 20-19.

The Reign, however, had the lone power play goal of the day, going 1-for-3 while Calgary was 0-for-1 on the man-advantage. Cooley suffered the loss in the Calgary crease, stopping 15 shots in a losing effort.

Postgame reactions from Hudon and head coach Marco Sturm are below –

Charles Hudon

Marco Sturm

The Reign and Wranglers conclude this week’s series in Calgary at the Saddledome on Monday afternoon at 1:30 p.m. PT.