REIGN FINAL – Reign 7, Wild 4 – Fagemo, Sturm

An offensive outburst earned the Ontario Reign (36-21-3-1) a split of their weekend visit to Des Moines, defeating the Iowa Wild (22-33-4-1) by a final score of 7-4 at Wells Fargo Arena on Sunday afternoon.

Six skaters had multi-point efforts in the win for the Reign, including two goals apiece for Jeff Malott, Glenn Gawdin and Samuel Fagemo, who netted the game-winning strike on the power play in the third. Martin Chromiak also posted three assists in the victory for Ontario to tie his career-high with 17 on the season and reach 30 points for the year.

BOX SCORE

In his first start since November, goaltender Jacob Ingham stopped 23 shots, recording his first AHL victory of the season and the seventh of his career.

Malott opened the scoring for Ontario at 7:12 of the first, posting his first of the night and 22nd of the season on a deflection in front of the Iowa net of a shot by Joseph Cecconi. With the primary assist, Cecconi recorded his first point as a member of the Reign against his former team, while Chromiak earned the second helper on the play.

Just 37 seconds later, Glenn Gawdin made it 2-0 in favor of Ontario with his 20th goal of the year off a 2-on-1 rush alongside Chromiak. Charles Hudon picked up the second assist on the play, which saw Chromiak feed Gawdin in front for a wrist shot that flew past the outstretched arm of Iowa goaltender Dylan Ferguson.

The Reign held their lead until the final minute of the first frame, when the Wild scored twice to even the game before the first intermission. First, Michael Milne made it a 2-1 game by converting on a penalty shot at 19:11. Then Luke Toporowski buried a loose rebound near the crease during a delayed penalty to Ontario to even things up at 2-2 with four seconds left in the period.

Milne gave Iowa its first lead of the game just 1:50 into the middle frame with his second goal of the game via breakaway, putting the Wild on top 3-2.

Ontario responded at 7:32 with a power play goal by Fagemo, who blasted a one-timer into the top right corner of the net from the left circle off a feed from Reilly Walsh at the right point. Fagemo’s 24th goal of the year also included a second assist for Aatu Jamsen.

But Iowa went back in front once again by a 4-3 margin at 12:18 of the second when Gavin Hain sent a low shot through traffic that beat Ingham.

Less than three minutes later, Malott struck for the second time, netting his 23rd tally of the year with a wrist shot from the high slot during a power play at 15:11. Assists on the equalizer went to both Chromiak and Gawdin and the two teams skated off of the second intermission all tied up at 4-4.

The Reign took over in the third by putting the first 14 shots of the period on the Wild net and eventually out-shooting Iowa 15-3 in the frame. Ontario did not allow a chance on goal in the third until the final 90 seconds, well after the game was in hand.

Fagemo gave his team the lead for good at 11:40 of the final frame, scoring his second of the game and team-leading 25th of the year on the power play on a loose rebound that he jammed into the net. The initial shot came off a redirect by Jack Studnicka in the slot, who was set up by Jamsen. Andre Lee also picked up an assist on the play, which had the Reign back in front, 5-4.

Studnicka added insurance to make it a 6-4 game at 16:38 with his 16th goal of the year, which was set up by Fagemo and Caleb Jones.

Moments later, Iowa pulled Ferguson for an extra attacker and Gawdin sent a shot into the empty-net to cap off the scoring with his 21st of the year from Hudon and Cecconi.

After the lopsided shot total in the third, Ontario had the edge overall in the game 37-27. The Reign also dominated on special teams, going 3-for-4 on the power play while holding the Wild to an 0-for-1 mark. Ferguson stopped 30 attempts in a losing effort for Iowa.

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

Samuel Fagemo

Marco Sturm

The Reign will return home to Ontario for three games this week, beginning on Wednesday night when they host the Tucson Roadrunners at Toyota Arena at 7 p.m.