REIGN FINAL – ONT 3 , COL 2 – Lord, Gawdin

 The Ontario Reign (15-7-1-0) defeated the Colorado Eagles (16-6-0-1) Friday night by a final score of 3-2 in front of 5,089 fans at Blue Arena. The Reign and Eagles will meet again Saturday, Dec. 13 at 6:05 p.m. (PST).

Glenn Gawdin scored a pair of power-play goals 33 seconds apart from one another in the third giving the Reign a 3-1 lead midway through the final frame. The Eagles drew first blood 39 seconds into the final 20 minutes before Taylor Ward scored his team leading 11^th tying the game. The Reign have now won four straight games as Pheonix Copley made 27 saves and is victorious in three straight.

Neither team found the back of the net in the first period as the Eagles outshot the Reign 10-8 with Ontario killing off the lone penalty called in the stanza.

The game was scoreless after the second period as the Reign outshot the Eagles 13-10. Ontario killed off a penalty in the front half of the period and then went short-handed for the second time in the contest with 50 seconds left but the Eagles went to the box with nine seconds left in the stanza.

Tristan Nielsen gave Colorado a 1-0 lead 39 seconds into the third period with a four-on-four goal on a backhand shot from the right circle beating Copley short-side. Then just 2:12 later Taylor Ward (11^th) provided the equalizer when he went blazing in down the left side blowing past the defender through the neutral zone. A few feet above the top of the crease Ward sent a shot upstairs over the glove of Miner into the top right corner. Ontario received a four-minute power-play when Jake Wise was assessed a double minor for high sticking. Glenn Gawdin (4^th) gave the Reign a 2-1 advantage just five seconds into the man advantage with a tip in front off a point shot from Samuel Bolduc. Cole Guttman stretched his point streak to seven-games with the secondary assist. Gawdin (5^th) then struck 33 seconds later making it 3-1 on a spin around shot from the high slot into the top left corner. Bolduc got the first assist and now has seven in his last four games while Andre Lee received the secondary helper increasing his point streak to four games. Jayson Megna made it a one score game with 4:50 remaining in regulation but the Reign held off a late push for the win.

Pheonix Copley made 27 saves for his third straight win and his fifth victory in his last five games while Trent Miner made 30 saves in the loss. The Reign outshot the Eagles 33-29, just the fourth time this season Colorado has been outshot. Ontario went 2-for-5 on the power-play and 2-for-2 on the penalty kill.

BOX SCORE

Postgame thoughts from Andrew Lord and Glenn Gawdin.

Lord
On Victory
Resilient, for sure. Obviously, they have exceptional talent and their depth. It’s impressive, the speed they play at I thought we managed it for the most part. Obviously, Copley was tremendous and it allowed us to settle into the game. You know, the first 10, we were under siege and then I think we grew into it about the you know, maybe the first 10 of the second was really good. Hung on a little bit later in the second. And then, you know, what can you say, Ward with a huge goal there, after they get the one four on four, and then the two power play ones with Gawdin and that unit was tremendous. And then I like the way we saw it out. I thought we stayed aggressive enough and found a balance late in the game there to close it out. 

On Copley
Yeah, I mean, he’s an exceptional goalie. Obviously, I’m not a goalie coach, but you know, his leadership, his character, his ability on the ice, obviously, you know, we had a difficult start to the year. You get claimed, you go, you don’t really play much, you’re sort of bouncing around. It takes a little bit of time to get back into your rhythm and that’s exactly what’s happened here. Now he’s being the goalie that he is.  We’re really fortunate to have him at this level.  So awesome night for him, really happy to for him. 

On Ward
Yeah, he’s just so strong on his feet, strong on the puck and protects pucks. Could be heavy, awesome shot, obviously. And yeah, you could tell on the walls, down low, on the offensive zone and that play really summed it up. You know, he really took the team on his back there. That was, that was an exceptional individual play to really get us back on track, because the first couple minutes was a bit squirrely.

On Gawdin
Yeah, he’s just so steady. You know, he can do a little bit everything. Great PK, power play, five on five, both ends of the rink, obviously, face offs and that’s what starts that one. I really like Bolduc walking middle there. He’s got a great shot. He utilizes it. You know, Gawdin gets into the inside there and gets, obviously, a tip on it, which is great. The next one was awesome too.  Really good shot. But yeah, those are two big goals. When you think of leaders, you know, our leadership groups exceptional, and you know, Copley, Ward, Gawdin are all part of it and they had a big impact.

On Finding Different Ways to Win
Yeah, I think it just speaks to their character. You know, they really care about each other. To a man, you can tell it’s a close knit group. When you have that, when you have that belief, and when you have really good depth, and guys that can do a little bit of everything, you have the ability to win different styles of game.  Obviously we want a good, tight, checking, low event game for the most part, but we do have the ability to win other ways. I do think we got to limit them a little bit more. tomorrow, they had some really good looks, and cops was there to bail us out and.

Gawdin
On His Face-off Play
I take a lot of pride in winning face offs.  Going back to my rookie year it was a reason why I started to play more. So I think early on, I realized how important they were, and I’ve tried to continue that in my game.  If you get a goal or assist or even a good ozone shot or a D zone clear, those face offs are important, and things can happen.

Overall on the Game
 I think just sticking with it. I thought we played a good game. Obviously, was a close one. I think it was a game of mistakes. We were saying that in the room stayed composed, stay patient, our time will come.  Obviously you don’t want to give up the first one, but I thought we answered well. Ward  scored shortly after and I don’t think we really missed a beat on the bench. Everyone was into it. 

On Winning Five Straight One Goal Games
 You got to find ways to win those. I think to stay into our structure and our systems. Even though that’s cliche, I think it helps, and it’s been working for us. I think if we do the little things right we have a good chance to win and sometimes that’s,  winning by one goal.