3/10 REIGN FINAL – Reign 5, Wranglers 1 – Sturm, Fagemo, Ward

Backed by Samuel Fagemo’s third hat trick of the season, the Ontario Reign (30-19-3-3) earned their 30th win of the year with a 5-1 victory over the Calgary Wranglers (29-20-4-2) at the Scotiabank Saddledome on Sunday night.

Goaltender Erik Portillo earned the win in net for the Reign by stopping 38 of the 39 shots he faced. Other multi-point scorers for Ontario in the contest included Taylor Ward, who had a goal and an assist, as well as Charles Hudon who earned two helpers.

BOX SCORE

The victory extended the Reign’s current winning streak to seven games, which has vaulted them into sole possession of fourth place in the AHL’s Pacific Division standings with 66 points. Ontario is also just a single point behind third-place Tucson (67).

Fagemo’s hat trick once again evened him with Springfield’s Adam Gaudette for the AHL’s goal scoring lead. Each forward has totaled 34 goals for their respective teams this season.

7:54 into the game, Akil Thomas was the victim of two Calgary penalties in a matter of seconds. First, Thomas was hooked by Jeremie Poirier, who was attempting to shut down an open chance in front of the Wranglers’ net. As Thomas swung his momentum away from the goal, he received a hit from Clark Bishop that saw him lead with his knee. Bishop was given a major penalty for the hit and the Reign went to work on a lengthy power play advantage.

Just 10 seconds into the ensuing 5-on-3 opportunity, Fagemo hammered home his 16th power play goal of the year on as pass from Brandt Clarke to make it 1-0 Ontario. Hudon also assisted on the goal, earning his 14th man-advantage helper of the year.

With the goal, Fagemo now has the most man-advantage goals in a single season during Ontario’s AHL history. In setting the new mark, he passed former teammates Martin Frk (15, 2021-22) and Lias Andersson (15, 2022-23).

But Fagemo wasn’t done there. He scored his second goal of the period at 14:33 off a faceoff in the Calgary zone by corralling the puck near the goal line and beating goaltender Dustin Wolf with a quick wrist shot through the five-hole for his 33rd strike of the year that put Ontario up 2-0.

Nikita Pavlychev extended the Ontario lead to 3-0 just 1:15 into the second by deflecting a right point shot from Wyatte Wylie into the net for his second goal of the year. Kim Nousiainen also factored into the scoring, earning the second assist on the play.

Midway through the second period, Calgary came inches from getting on the board when a shot by Adam Klapka snuck through Portillo and was loose in the crease. William Stromgren had a look at the rebound, but Pavlychev made a play on the backcheck to keep the puck out of the net and preserve the 3-0 lead.

Before the middle frame came to an end, Ward was whistled for interference, the first minor penalty of the night to Ontario. But after killing the advantage, Hudon hit Ward in stride as he exited to penalty box with a lob pass to the offensive blue line from his own end. While free on a breakaway, Ward flipped the puck over Wolf’s left shoulder with his forehand to score his sixth goal of the season and make it 4-0 in favor of the Reign.

The Wranglers got on the board and cut Ontario’s lead to 4-1 at 5:34 of the third on a power play goal by William Stromgren.

In a late effort to get back in the game, Calgary pulled Wolf for an extra attacker with 3:28 to play. After a long shift in the defensive end, Ward and Joe Hicketts worked the puck to Fagemo, who beat the rest of the Wranglers down the ice and rolled the puck into the empty net to complete the hat trick.

Fagemo’s first goal was Ontario’s only power play strike in the contest, with both teams finishing 1-for-3 on the man-advantage in the game. The Wranglers ended with a 39-31 shots on goal advantage and Wolf stopped 26 shots in the loss for the home team.

Postgame thoughts from Reign head coach Marco Sturm as well as Hodgson are below.

Marco Sturm

Samuel Fagemo

Taylor Ward

The Reign and Wranglers go head-to-head again on Monday evening at the Scotiabank Saddledome to close this week’s series. Puck drop is scheduled for 6 p.m. PT.