ONTARIO, Calif. -- Samuel Fagemo scored his 21st goal and is now tied for the most goals in the AHL as the Ontario Reign dominated with a 6-1 victory over the Calgary Wranglers on Tuesday night at Toyota Arena.
After a tough overtime loss against the Wranglers on Sunday night, this win was needed. Not only because Calgary stands in first place in the AHL Pacific Division, but also because the Reign were on a four-game losing streak before tonight.
The Reign killed all four penalties and went 2-for-4 on the power play.
“Special teams today were really good,” coach Marco Sturm said in postgame interviews. “Power play got us a few goals and I liked our puck speed…And also on the PK (penalty kill), I think we had a little bit more jump, we were a little bit ahead of them. Overall we were quicker on our pucks and battles.”
The opening period was stagnant until the last five minutes, as Ontario ended with only eight shots on goal and Calgary with six.
The Wranglers scored first with a goal from David Silye. And directly after came roughing penalties for both Jeremie Poirier and Martin Chromiak as they got into a tussle.
In the midst of the four-on-four play, Calgary’s Martin Frk took another roughing penalty, resulting in a four-on-three power play for Ontario.
With 30 seconds left in the period, Charles Hudon found the back of the net for the 14th time this season to even the score.
Ontario produced a dominant second period from start to finish, showing a fast-paced offense that was going to score no matter what advantage or disadvantage came their way.
The Reign added four goals as four different players scored, while simultaneously shutting down Calgary’s offense completely.
Andre Lee started it off with a power-play goal 1:42 into the second, giving Ontario its first lead - little did they know they wouldn’t get behind again.
Two minutes later, Taylor Ward added to the score before Tyler Madden scored his 6th goal of the season.
“We’ve had a stretch of a couple of games where we weren't that great,” Tyler Madden said. “And we knew we had to do a little extra tonight, especially against Calgary being at the top of the stands.”
A short-handed goal by Francesco Pinelli finished off the period, giving the Reign a 5-1 lead heading into the third.
Samuel Fagemo scored his 21st goal of the season to cap off the game as Ontario beat the first place Wranglers, 6-1.
“Any win is a good win,” coach Sturm said. “But you always want to win against the top team. Calgary is the best team and maybe (they) didn’t show it today but we beat them…and that for me is a good sign.”
The Reign will face the Bakersfield Condors at 7 p.m. Friday night at Mechanics Bank Arena.