A three-goal comeback by the Ontario Reign (21-13-1-1) forced overtime on Sunday afternoon at Toyota Arena, but the Calgary Wranglers (27-212-1-0) came away with the extra point on a winning goal by Ilya Solovyov in the final minute of the extra session.
Four different goal scorers found the back of the net for Ontario in a losing effort including Jack Studnicka and Taylor Ward, who led the way with a goal and an assist each.
The Wranglers got out in front early with a pair of goals in the first four minutes of the game from Jeremie Poirier at 2:22 on the power play and Dryden Hunt during even strength play at 3:44.
In between the goals, Francesco Pinelli dropped the gloves with Calgary’s Lucas Ciona at the 3-minute mark and then Jacob Doty shed the mitts against Jarred Tinordi at 3:13.
Andre Lee got the Reign on the board at 1:30 of the second, scoring his second goal of the season off a deflection of a shot by Ward. Angus Booth earned the second helper on the play, which cut the Wranglers lead to 2-1.
But Calgary responded with two more goals in a span of 50 seconds when Sam Morton made it 3-1 at 6:56 and William Strömgren extended the lead to 4-1 with a power play goal at 7:46.
Ontario wasn’t done, however, bouncing back to net two tallies of their own before the end of the frame to cut the score to 4-3 at the second intermission. First, Glenn Gawdin converted on with one second remaining in a 5-on-3 power play opportunity, wristing a puck past goaltender Waltteri Ignatjew for his 14th of the season at 15:33 with assists by Martin Chromiak and Reilly Walsh. Then it was Ward who found the back of the net from the inside of the left circle with his fourth of the year off a feed by Studnicka at 17:18.
The Wranglers held on to their one-goal edge for the majority of the third, but Studnicka picked up a free puck in the Calgary end and beat Ignatjew under the blocker the even the score at 4-4 for Ontario at 14:28 of the third. The tying tally was Studnicka’s ninth goal of the year and came unassisted, forcing the game to overtime.
Solovyov wristed a shot by Erik Portillo at 4:08 of OT to give the visitors the extra point and even the season series between the two teams, with each club winning one.
Ignatjew earned the win as the busier goaltender, stopping 32 shots, while Portillo made 15 saves and suffered the loss. The Wranglers finished 2-for-4 on the power play, while Ontario ended at 1-for-4 on the man-advantage.
Postgame reactions from Lee and head coach Marco Sturm are below –
Andre Lee
On playing in an intense game
It was fun. I like the way we battled back into the game, the effort from the second, to the third, to overtime. The start obviously has to be better.
On the way his line had success
I think we felt a lot better after every shift. We talked about it before the game, just do the simple things, get to the net, and it’s going to go our way. Once you find that momentum, kind of just build on it throughout the game.
On coming back after being down 4-1
I think it says a lot. After the first period, we came into the locker room and everyone just told ourselves to dig in. It’s not going to be easy. I think it taught us a lesson that we believe in ourselves and we’re able to come back like that. Obviously, it would have been better to get the two points.
On adjusting back to the AHL
It’s been good. I think for me, it was very easy to get back down here and be with the team. A lot of guys are from last year and it’s easy to get to know the new guys as well. So that part was really good. It’s been great jumping into action, getting more minutes and more touches. It’s been helpful.
Marco Sturm
On facing Calgary
I think it’s always exciting. First of all, when you play against them. There is no hiding in their game. They always have a good team and they always play really hard. They did it again today. Unfortunately, we were not ready for probably half of the game. Then slowly figured out what we have to do. Glad we came back to get that point. Unfortunately end up losing but I think it’s a good point for us, hopefully a point in the right direction.
On the team’s slow start where they got behind
I think it was more about us than anything else. We wanted to avoid some turnovers and penalties again. Special teams were big again but at the end of the day we have to have numbers and have to frustrate them. They frustrated us first and it makes a big difference.
On the line of Lee, Studnicka, and Ward
That’s why I kept them together. They’ve been good for a few games, very reliable against good players. That’s why I put them against the number one line out there. They’re not just playing good in our end but they also scored against them. That was by far the best game from that line. I think all three of them had an excellent game today.
The Reign and Wranglers will conclude their two-game set this week in Ontario on Tuesday night at Toyota Arena for their third meeting of the 2024-25 season. Puck drop is scheduled for 7 p.m.
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