ONTARIO, Calif. -- Glenn Gawdin scored two goals in Ontario Reign’s 5-2 victory over the Iowa Wild on Sunday afternoon at Toyota Arena.
The Reign went 1-for-2 on the power play and killed off all three penalties, holding a strong defensive front.
In postgame interviews, coach Marco Sturm said the team was more aggressive on loose pucks and defending faceoffs.
Despite passing miscommunications in the first period, at least today the Reign were able to score goals - something they couldn’t achieve on Friday.
The passing was much better in the second and third periods, according to coach Sturm.
“(We) have to keep working on it (passing),” coach Sturm said. “It just makes a big difference and gives us more time in the offensive zone.”
Tyler Madden scored a power-play goal with 12 minutes remaining in the opening period, receiving help from Jack Studnicka and Martin Chromiak.
Four minutes later, Travis Boyd scored the tying goal for the Wild.
Today’s matchup was chirpy, which led to a fight between Tate Singleton and Iowa’s Carson Lambos. Singleton got multiple clean looks and dusted his hands off before heading to the penalty box.
Joseph Cecconi gave Iowa the lead halfway through the second period, but it didn’t last long.
Glenn Gawdin scored his 11th goal of the season three minutes later, and shortly after Charles Hudon found the back of the net to put the Reign on top 3-2.
And Gawdin wasn’t finished yet.
With assists from Luke Rowe and Jeff Malott, Gawdin scored his second goal of the game 2:51 into the final period, giving Ontario a two-point lead.
With three minutes left in the game, Jack Studnicka scored an empty-net goal to cap off a 5-2 win.
The Reign will have a day off before facing the Abbotsford Canucks on Tuesday night at the Abbotsford Centre at 7 p.m.