REIGN FINAL – Reign 3, Wranglers 2 (OT) – Malott, Sturm

Jeff Malott scored in the final minute of overtime to give the Ontario Reign (29-14-2-1) back-to-back wins over the Calgary Wranglers (29-15-4-1) in extra time on Monday afternoon at the Scotiabank Saddledome by a score of 3-2. The win moved the Reign into second in the Pacific Division and trimmed the gap to just two points between themselves and the first-place Wranglers.

The winning strike was part of a three-point day for Malott (1-2=3), who factored in on all of Ontario’s goals. Glenn Gawdin also scored his 100th career AHL goal in the second period, while Martin Chromiak struck on the power play in the third.

BOX SCORE

Erik Portillo stopped 24 shots to earn his second win of the week against Calgary in between the pipes and improve to 15-5-3 overall on the season.

With the sweep of Calgary this week, Ontario also improved to 15-5-0-1 on the road this season which is the best mark of any Western Conference team away from home.

The Wranglers struck first to open the scoring at 11:28 of the first during a 5-on-3 power play. Jeremie Poirier was the first man to a loose rebound in front of the net to make it 1-0 in favor of the home team.

Calgary extended their lead later in the frame when Martin Frk scored at 18:58, putting themselves in front 2-0 at the end of the opening period.

Ontario got on the board and cut their deficit back to one when Gawdin netted the lone goal of the middle frame at 7:55. After controlling a faceoff in the offensive zone, Gawdin sent a backhand shot toward the net that floated by goaltender Devin Cooley for his 15th strike of the season to make it a 2-1 game.

Assists on the tally went to Gawdin’s linemates Malott and Charles Hudon, both of whom extended lengthy active point streaks, with Hudon posting points in six straight (3-6=9) while Malott has been on the scoresheet in five consecutive contests (6-3=9).

Reign entered the third trailing by a goal but began on the power play after an elbowing penalty to Calgary’s Artem Grushnikov at the final buzzer of the second.

Chromiak capitalized on the opportunity, scoring his ninth goal of the season at 1:33 on a shot from the left circle that came with assists by Malott and Hudon and evened up the score at 2-2.

The game remained even for the rest of regulation and the two teams continued into overtime for the second straight game in Calgary.

Malott got his team the extra point with a wrist shot off the rush from the right circle that snuck under the right arm of Cooley and into the net for his 16th goal of the year. Assists on the deciding strike went to Jack Studnicka and Joe Hicketts.

Ontario held a 30-26 advantage in shots on goal during the contest after out-shooting Calgary 12-6 in the third period.

Both clubs had a power play goal in the game, with Ontario finishing 1-for-6 while Calgary ended at 1-for-5. Cooley suffered his second consecutive overtime loss for the Wranglers in goal, stopping 27 saves.

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

Jeff Malott

Marco Sturm

Ontario will conclude its three-game road swing on Wednesday night when they visit the San Jose Barracuda for the first time this season at Tech CU Arena. Puck drop is scheduled for 7 p.m.