ONTARIO, Calif. -- For a majority of the season, the two teams that have been in a narrow race for the top of the AHL Pacific Division standings are current first place Ontario Reign and second place Colorado Eagles.
And tonight both teams had the pleasure of playing one another.
So what else could be expected besides fights, chirping and aggressive play for 60 minutes?
The best two teams in the division came to Toyota Arena to battle it out Wednesday night and the Reign endured a 4-3 shootout loss to the Eagles, ending their seven-game win streak.
“They’re obviously chasing us in the standings,” Reign captain Joe Hicketts said in postgame interviews. “They got a good team so we were expecting that push, but to play a game like that is very important for us going forward. We got to learn from our mistakes there in the second (period).”
The Reign had a dominant start with Francesco Pinelli earning their first goal 3:17 into the opening period.
Logan Brown and Glenn Gawdin would assist on Martin Chromiak’s 20th goal of the season, giving Ontario the 2-0 lead heading into the second period.
Gawdin extended his multi-point game streak to nine games, adding two points tonight with an assist and a goal.
While period one was all Ontario, the tables were bound to turn.
And they did - because period two was all Colorado.
The Eagles added three goals on seven shots while the Reign only had five shots, not scoring once.
Alex Barré-Boulet, Wyatt Aamodt and Tristen Nielsen were able to slide their puck past Ontario goalie Erik Portillo, giving Colorado its first lead of the game.
Gawdin’s 13th goal of the season came to tie the game and eventually send the matchup to overtime.
After a scoreless five-minute, 3-on-3 overtime, the game went to a shootout.
Danil Gushchin and Nielsen made a goal for Colorado while only Guttman scored for Ontario, handing the Eagles the victory.
Portillo finished with 17 saves and Ontario went 0-for-3 on the power play.
“(Colorado) is obviously a great team,” Chromiak said. “I think it was two really good teams playing against each other. We started off well, we were the better team in the first, they were better in the second. I just think we have to learn from it and be more consistent.”
Up next:
Ontario Reign (38-16-1-2; 79 points; 1st place) travel to Coachella Valley (30-20-5-0; 65 points; 5th place) to face the Firebirds at 7 p.m. Friday.