Ontario Reign vs Abbotsford Canucks

Martin Frk’s overtime winner gives the Ontario Reign a 4-3 win over the Abbotsford Canucks. Sodergran, Fagemo, Madden also find the net.

It would again take more than 60 minutes, but the Ontario Reign came out on top, winning 4-3 against the Abbotsford Canucks in overtime on Tuesday.

The Reign led 2-0 early before three straight goals put the Canucks ahead late in the third. Ontario would tie it after pulling the goalie before Martin Frk scored on the power-play in overtime.

Game Recap

Here’s how Ontario lined up for this one:

In the first period, the Reign controlled the play at 5 on 5 – out-attempting the Canucks 15-11 and out-shooting them 11-10. The hosts scored twice just 34 seconds apart to take a quick 2-0 lead; the first from Johan Sodergran:

Fellow Swede Samuel Fagemo would strike next off a deflection:

The Reign could have had more, but Michael DiPietro made a couple of big saves to keep the score 2-0:

DiPietro ended the game with 26 saves.

The second period was a little bit tighter. The teams each had eight shots on goal, and Abbotsford, aided by five power-play attempts, out-attempted the Reign 19-14.

Ontario killed a 5-on-3 Canucks’ power-play midway through the period. Matt Villalta made two big saves, and Jaret Anderson-Dolan had two key blocks while it was still down two men to keep the score 2-0 at the time.

Abbotsford would get on the board late in the period on a goal from Carson Focht:

Four minutes into the third period, Brayden Burke took an offensive zone tripping penalty, leading to a Canucks power-play. Sheldon Dries would convert, tying the game at two:

With just over four minutes to play, Abbotsford took the lead on a Justin Bailey goal that beat Villalta between the legs.

Ontario pulled Villalta with just over two minutes left, and it paid off. TJ Tynan found Tyler Madden in the slot for the tying goal:

Final Shot Attempts

vs. Abbotsford Shot Attempts For Shot Attempts Against CORSI CF%
All Strengths 59 54 5 52.21%
All Strengths HD 14 17 -3 45.16%
5v5 43 37 6 53.75%
5v5 HD 10 12 -2 45.45%

Box Score

The full box score can be found here.

Thoughts and Takeaways

  • I really liked Villalta’s game – continuing the strong play in net this early season for the Reign. However, like Ingham Sunday, there is one goal that he’d probably like to have back, that being Bailey’s go-ahead goal.
  • TJ Tynan has assists in every game – five in total – to start the season. He’s been as advertised so far.
  • Jacob Moverare is picking up where he left off last season. With 15 points in just 26 games in 2020-21, the second-year defenseman has a point in all three games so far in the 2021-22 campaign.
  • There’s probably no one that loves playing with Tynan more than Martin Frk. His OT winner was his third goal of the season, two of which have been assisted by the reigning AHL MVP. The 28-year-old winger also leads the Reign and the entire AHL in shots on goal (15). As long as Tynan keeps feeding him, Frk will keep shooting.
  • This was our first look at Markus Phillips this season. He paired with Sean Durzi. There was nothing glaring to speak about one way or the other. He jumped up in the play offensively a couple of times.
  • After sitting out the first game against Abbotsford, Johan Sodergran drew back into this one on the fourth line with Brett Sutter and Brayden Burke. He responded with a goal. The Swedish forward had a strong preseason as he works on establishing a consistent role for himself.
  • Tyler Madden skated with TJ Tynan and Martin Frk last game and was on the receiving end of a number of scoring opportunities. Head coach John Wroblewski swapped Madden and Fagemo to put the Swede with Tynan. I’d say the line overall didn’t create the same number of chances, but Fagemo did pick up a goal off a deflection.
  • We talked throughout the preseason about how the Reign defense corps was going to be active. That’s holding true so far. Defensemen accounted for four assists in this game. Through three games, six Reign defensemen have points – three of them multiple.

The Ontario Reign are back in action on Friday night against the Bakersfield Condors; 7 pm PT from Toyota Arena in Ontario.

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