Three takeaways from 5-4 OT win against San Jose

The Ontario Reign survived a late collapse as Samuel Fagemo’s overtime heroics gave the Reign a big two points.

Mischief Managed#ReignTrain | #SJvsONT | @quickquack pic.twitter.com/v7vGhMp9xp

— Ontario Reign (@ontarioreign) January 7, 2024

Goal Breakdown

First period:

ONT: Samuel Fagemo (14), ASST: Charles Hudon (11), Kim Nousiainen (3)

ONT: Samuel Helenius (4), ASST: Wyatte Wylie (3), Cole Krygier (7)

Big Samuel Helenius makes it’s 2 – 0 +200 Points to Hufflepuff #ReignTrain | #SJvsONT | @quickquack pic.twitter.com/BPvSggm48v

— Ontario Reign (@ontarioreign) January 7, 2024

Second period: 

ONT: PP Akil Thomas (10), ASST: Samuel Fagemo (12), Charles Hudon (12)

Third period: 

SJ: PP Radim Simek (4), ASST: Jacob Peterson (8), Nathan Todd (14)

ONT: Samuel Fagemo (15), ASST: Cody Haiskanen (1), Jacob Moverare (10)

SJ: Shakir Mukhamadullin (5), ASST: Ethan Frisch (3), Tanner Kaspick (3)

#85 Mukhamadullin on the doorstep! 🔥 pic.twitter.com/xis9VTG3iu

— SJ Barracuda (@sjbarracuda) January 7, 2024

SJ: PP Scott Sabourin (8), ASST: Nathan Todd (15), Radim Simek (8)

SJ: Scott Sabourin (9), ASST: Cole Cassels (19), Radim Simek (9)

Overtime: 

ONT: Samuel Fagemo (16), ASST: TJ Tynan (23), Jacob Moverare (11)

Stats

Goals:

SJ: 4

ONT: 5

Shots: 

SJ: 25

ONT: 27

Power plays:

SJ: 2/3

ONT: 1/6

Here are the three takeaways from Saturday’s 5-4 overtime victory

Too close for comfort

Everything looked good until it wasn’t. The Ontario Reign led 3-0 heading into the third period and looked like they would be on cruise control the rest of the way. Not so fast, said the Barracuda. San Jose scored their first goal of the two-game weekend series, a power-play goal, less than two minutes into the third period to trim the Reign lead down to two goals.

After Samuel Fagemo re-directed a Cody Haiskanen shot to give the Reign their three-goal lead back, it looked like everything was under control again. Well, it wasn’t. San Jose struck back 1:16 later to make it 4-2. Then, things started to unravel slowly. After a Haiskanen tripping penalty, Scott Sabourin re-directed a Nathan Todd shot in front of Jacob Ingham for a power-play goal to make it 4-3 with 4:06 to play. Sabourin would score again to tie the game with 2:05 to play after Cole Cassels threw the puck toward the net, which went off Sabourin and in.

That’s four third-period goals the Reign allowed, three of which came in a span of 5:19, and they got outshot 13-3 in those 20 minutes. Heading into the third period with a three-goal lead, you’re expected to close. You can bet that type of play in the third period will not make head coach Marco Sturm happy.

Back2Back goals for #49 Scott Sabourin! We have a tie game! pic.twitter.com/ckuWfwD8w4

— SJ Barracuda (@sjbarracuda) January 7, 2024

Swede victory

It was a Swede (yes, that was intentional) night for Samuel Fagemo. Fagemo got the scoring started on the first shot of the game at the 42-second mark. Without a doubt, Fagemo was the Reign’s best player, as he was very noticeable on both the power play and five-on-five. For the night, Fagemo recorded his second career AHL hat trick, the game-winning goal in overtime, four points, and a game-high eight shots on goal.

One of my knocks on Fagemo has been his five-on-five play, and since the return of the holiday break, he has looked better in that category. With the Kings in need of a right-handed shot in the lineup and on the power play, they may not have to look far for one if Fagemo keeps this up.

.@samuelfagemo HATTTTTTTTTYYYYY IN OT TO WIN#ReignTrain | #SJvsONT | @quickquack pic.twitter.com/kmPc9eUnWM

— Ontario Reign (@ontarioreign) January 7, 2024

Hit the road

After a short three-game homestand, the Ontario Reign will hit the road for a five-game road trip. Four of those five games will be up North in Canada against the Calgary Wranglers and Abbotsford Canucks, while the other game is against the San Jose Barracuda, which is the first game of the road trip. The road has been kind to the Reign, as they are 5th in the AHL in road win percentage at .700. With how close the standings are in the Pacific Division, there will be plenty of points at stake.

Notes:

*Samuel Fagemo recorded his 8th multi-point game in 21 games with the Reign this season.

200 POINTS FOR SLYTHERIN @samuelfagemo FINDS THE NET JUST :42 IN#ReignTrain | #SJvsONT | @quickquack pic.twitter.com/DpIm8rjoRD

— Ontario Reign (@ontarioreign) January 7, 2024

*After going scoreless in three games (12/20-21/28), Akil Thomas has recorded six points in his last four games.

.@AkilThomas2 gets Ravenclaw on the board, with this sweet power play goal!#ReignTrain | #SJvsONT | @quickquack pic.twitter.com/OKTqYdJoTH

— Ontario Reign (@ontarioreign) January 7, 2024

*Cody Haiskanen recorded his first point as a member of the Reign with a primary assist on Samuel Fagemo’s second goal of the night.

*The Reign improved to 4-0-0 on the season against the Barracuda.

UP NEXT: The Ontario Reign hit the road to kick off a five-game road trip. The first game of the trip is against the San Jose Barracuda on Tuesday at 7 PM and can be seen on AHLTV.

Featured image credit: Ontario Reign