Ontario Reign: Three Takeaways From 5-4 Victory Over Colorado

Glenn Gawdin and Andre Lee delivered the late-game heroics, leading the Ontario Reign to a weekend sweep over the Colorado Eagles.

Goal Breakdown

First period: 

ONT: Samuel Fagemo (27), ASST: Jack Studnicka (23), Andre Lee (9)

COL: Calle Rosen (9), ASST: Wyatt Aamodt (12), Matthew Phillips (32)

ONT: Glenn Gawdin (23), ASST: Charles Hudon (38), Martin Chromiak (19)

COL: Jacob MacDonald (29), ASST: Jack Ahcan (33), Matthew Phillips (33)

Second period: 

COL: SH Mark Senden (7), ASST: None

ONT: PP Francesco Pinelli (15), ASST: Andre Lee (10), Charles Hudon (39)

Third period:

COL: Jack Ahcan (5), ASST: Matthew Phillips (34), Jacob MacDonald (24)

ONT: Glenn Gawdin (24), ASST: Charles Hudon (40), Samuel Fagemo (16)

ONT: Andre Lee (4), ASST: Taylor Ward (14), Jack Studnicka (24)

Stats

Goals: 

COL: 4

ONT: 5

Shots: 

COL: 28

ONT: 22

Power plays: 

COL: 0/2

ONT: 1/4

Here are the three takeaways from yesterday’s 5-4 late-game comeback:

Pinelli returns to the lineup and scores

Francesco Pinelli sustained an injury in the first period of Wednesday’s loss to the Tucson Roadrunners, causing him to miss the remainder of that game and Saturday’s matchup. The second-year pro returned to the lineup and was slotted in as the 3C for Marco Sturm’s squad. Pinelli had a decent game, scoring a power-play goal (15th goal overall) on his only shot on goal of the contest. His presence in the lineup makes Ontario deeper at the center position, and not having him miss a lot of time is huge for the Reign.

Gawdin and Lee win the game for the Reign

After Jack Ahcan gave the Eagles a 4-3 lead with 2:23 to play in regulation, the Reign were tasked with scoring a goal with the extra attacker, something they have struggled with all season. The Reign have scored once when pulling the goalie for the extra attacker late in the game (October 13th; a 4-3 win against the San Jose Barracuda). In other words, the Reign needed to reverse the bad fortune.

Glenn Gawdin kicked off the late-game heroics by scoring his second goal of the night—and his 24th of the season—with 32.4 seconds remaining. But that wasn’t the end of the excitement. Andre Lee took matters into his own hands, picking up a loose puck at center ice, getting around an Eagles defender, driving to the net, and firing a shot past Adam Scheel, giving the Reign a lead they would hold onto for the win with just 11.1 seconds left.

The Reign finally achieved success when pulling the goalie late in the game. Sturm praised Lee after Saturday’s game for doing the little things well, but also mentioned that the forward would “probably want to score more goals.” Sturm might have been foreshadowing with Lee scoring the game-winning goal.

Huge weekend statement

These last two games were massive wins for the Reign. Their weekend sweep over the Eagles brought them within four points of the top seed in the division, currently held by Colorado, and kept them in second place in the division. Colorado has had the Reign’s number in recent seasons, but these two crucial victories could prove to be game-changers mentally going forward for the Reign, knowing they can win a game against the Eagles. With a chance to clinch a playoff spot this week, the Reign have now put themselves in a good position to capture the division crown as the regular season nears its conclusion.

NOTES:

*Samuel Fagemo opened the scoring for the second straight game. He is up to 27 goals on the season and is one point away from 200 in his AHL career.

*Jack Studnicka recorded his 100th career AHL assist by recording the secondary assist on Lee’s game-winning goal.

*Charles Hudon recorded three assists to give him 11 points (2 G, 9 A) in his last 11 games.

*Martin Chromiak recorded another assist to give him eight points (2 G, 6 A) in his last eight games. He has played well since Sturm put him on a line with Hudon and Gawdin, and he seems to be comfortable and has found a home on that line.

*Gawdin’s multi-goal game gave him a new career-high in goals (24) and points (56) in his AHL career.

*Lee was awarded the Reign Train Conductor hat after the game. He recorded a goal (game-winner), two assists, and a +3 rating.

*The magic number for the Reign to clinch a playoff spot is two points.

UP NEXT: The Ontario Reign will hit the road for a five-game road trip. The first game of the road trip will be in San Jose against the Barracuda on Wednesday, April 2nd. That game starts at 7 PM PST, and you can watch it on FloHockey. You can also listen to the game on the ESPN LA app or ontarioreign.com/radio.

Featured image credit: Jon Huerta/Ontario Reign

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