REIGN FINAL – Reign 5, Eagles 4 – Lee, Gawdin, Sturm

Goals by Glenn Gawdin and Andre Lee in the final minute sent the Ontario Reign (38-22-3-1) past the Colorado Eagles (38-18-5-3) in come-from-behind fashion by a 5-4 score on Sunday afternoon at Toyota Arena.

Gawdin scored twice in the contest, while Lee and Samuel Fagemo each netted a goal and an assist and Charles Hudon posted three helpers. The win moved Ontario within four points of Colorado at the top of the Pacific Division standings and trimmed its magic number to clinch a berth in the Calder Cup Playoffs to two points.

BOX SCORE

Fagemo got the Reign in front first in the opening frame for the second straight day, scoring on Ontario’s first shot of the afternoon at 1:11 off a stretch pass by Jack Studnicka. Fagemo’s 27th tally of the season gave Studnicka his 23rd helper of the year.

It only took 29 seconds for the Eagles to even up the game, however, as Calle Rosen finished off a goalmouth scramble with a tying tally at 1:40 of the first.

Ontario went back in front 2-1 when Gawdin put a wrist shot from the high slot over goaltender Adam Scheel and into the net for his second goal in as many days. Gawdin’s linemates Hudon and Martin Chromiak each earned assists on the strike.

The Eagles got even again before the end of the period, scoring on a one-timer by Jacob MacDonald at 17:45.

Colorado then took its first lead of the night at 9:55 of the second on a shorthanded goal by Mark Senden that made it a 3-2 game.

The Reign managed to get back in the game in the final minute of the second when Francesco Pinelli scored his 15th of the season to shift the game’s momentum just before intermission at 19:22, tying the score at 3-3. Lee and Hudon worked the puck deep into the offensive zone on the power play before finding room to slip it to Pinelli for a redirect in front of the net.

The game remained even throughout the third, but the Eagles broke through and made it 4-3 at 17:37 of the final period when Jack Ahcan forced a shot through traffic at the Reign net and past netminder Jacob Ingham.

Ontario managed to get Ingham off the ice in exchange for an extra attacker with just over a minute left on the clock. That’s when Hudon got control of the puck beneath the goal line and hit Gawdin with a centering feed in the slot. A quick release beat Scheel to tie the game with 32 seconds remaining. Fagemo also factored in on the play, earning the second assist.

Then, after Ingham made a save with his right pad, the rebound was controlled by Studnicka, who sent it to Taylor Ward in neutral ice. Ward absorbed a collision and left the puck off to Lee for a final rush down the right wing into the Colorado zone. Lee moved in on goal and slipped the puck past Scheel to put the Reign in front for good with 11 seconds left on the clock.

Ontario managed its five goals on just 22 shots, while the Eagles ended with 28 attempts on goal. Ingham made 24 stops to pick up his second AHL win of the campaign, while Scheel suffered the loss for Colorado after 17 saves.

Pinelli’s power play strike was the lone man-advantage goal of the contest, with Ontario going 1-for-4 and the Eagles ending at 0-for-2.

Postgame reactions from Lee, Gawdin and head coach Marco Sturm are below –

Andre Lee
On his game-winning goal
I knew it was not a lot of time left, so I was thinking just get it down deep. But then the D had a wrong step on me, so figured I would take it to the net. Luckily, it went in.

On Pinelli’s 2nd period power play goal
It was really important. We talked about it in the room that we got to take advantage of those opportunities we get. I was happy to see it go in there.

On where the team is in the standings
We know they’re a couple points ahead of us. I wasn’t really thinking about it at the time, but looking back at it now, I think  it was important. Both these games this weekend against them. Now we have eight games left and we just have to continue on this road.

On the play of his line
I think over the two games now since we played with each other, I think we have good chemistry. We talked between the periods and before the game. We kind of know our roles and know what we bring to the team. So it was nice to see Fagemo get that first one in the game early and then we just built on that.

Glenn Gawdin

Marco Sturm
On the last minute of the game
I think that just shows you what hockey is all about. You see it all the time, every year, and finally we saw it here in Ontario. It was on our side. Give the guys a lot of credit. Played a good enough game in the third period. PK was really good in the third because we needed it just to calm us down. Guys believed we could still win the hockey game.

On Glenn Gawdin’s play
He’s just so reliable, all the time. The faceoffs, the special teams, you name it. I think we got a little bit lucky at the start there with two shots and two went in the net. Overall, it’s hard having back to back games against a good team. I think the big guys showed up again today. The young guys got to learn. They got to learn a lot. The big guys, the older guys, they’ve been through it, and that’s why you could see the difference today.

On how the crowd was this weekend
We felt it and we talked about it. We just talked about it in the room. How great it was this weekend, having such a good crowd behind us. I do believe that will push us forward and push us to a win. I think there’s a reason why we struggle on Wednesdays. I think that’s part of it. During the week we don’t get a crowd like that, so it was definitely nice to see this weekend. Having a big crowd and a loud crowd too, behind us.

On Andre Lee
He did a lot of good things again today. He had the confidence. He was confident enough to make that one move. It surprised not just their D, I think all of us in the building.

Ontario hits the road next week, beginning with a Wednesday night matchup in San Jose against the Barracuda. Puck drop is scheduled for 7 p.m. inside Tech CU Arena.