Tucson answered late in the period as captain Austin Poganski scored on the power play to cut the deficit to one, but the Reign struck again with a short-handed goal in the final minute to restore their two-goal lead.
Kevin Rooney scored short-handed late in the third period to bring the Roadrunners within one with just over three minutes remaining, but Ontario sealed the win with an empty-net goal with 1:06 left.
Forward Miko Matikka and rookies Daniil But and Dmitri Simashev each recorded an assist, while Owen Allard led Tucson with two points from a pair of assists.
HIGHLIGHTS
INDIVIDUAL NOTES
- Sunday’s goal extended Scott Perunovich’s goal streak to a season-high two games dating back to Feb. 7 at Calgary (2-0-2 in that span) and his point streak to a season-best four games dating back to Jan. 31 vs. Colorado, totaling four points (2g, 2a) during the run.
- Scoring his 3rd power-play goal and 14th goal of the season to cut the Roadrunners deficit to 3-2, Austin Poganski is one goal shy of matching his career-high for goals in a season (15 in 2024-25).
- Poganski now has goals in back-to-back games (2-0-2) and six points (3g, 3a) in his last six games dating back to 2/6 at CGY.
- Daniil But tallied a point for the second straight game with Sunday’s assist (1-1-2 in that span) and now has six points (2g, 4a) in his last seven games dating back to 11/23 vs. COL.
- Dmitri Simashev recorded an assist for the second-straight game with Sunday’s secondary assist on Austin Poganski’s second-period goal for his 18th assist of the season.
- Sunday’s helper marked Simashev’s sixth power-play assist of the season, which leads all Roadrunners rookies and is tied for the third-most on the team.
- Owen Allard recorded his first multi-assist game of the season and second multi-point game of the campaign (previous 1-1-2 on 11/15 at COL).
- Kevin Rooney has two goals and three points in his last three games and six points (3g, 3a) in his last five games dating back to 2/7 at CGY.
- Sunday’s tally marked Rooney’s first short-handed goal of the season and 11th of his AHL career.
THE RUNDOWN
FIRST PERIOD
The Roadrunners controlled play early and didn’t allow a shot on goal until six-and-a-half minutes into the game. However, Ontario scored on its first shot, as Andre Lee beat Tucson goaltender Matthew Villalta with a quick wrister from the high slot off the rush to give the Reign a 1-0 lead.
Tucson regrouped and controlled play for much of the remainder of the period, but a double-minor high-sticking penalty in the final minute gave Ontario a four-minute power play that carried over into the second period.
SECOND PERIOD
Tucson killed off the remaining three-plus minutes of Ontario’s power play to open the period and kept the deficit at one before finding the equalizer shortly after.
Defenseman Scott Perunovich beat Ontario netminder Erik Portillo with a hard wrister from the high slot to tie the game 1-1 at 6:03.
The Reign answered with a pair of power-play goals in a span of less than five minutes to swing the momentum back in their favor. Lee restored Ontario’s lead at 8:45, scoring his second of the game on a quick snap shot from just outside the crease.
Ontario doubled the lead at 13:17 on its second man advantage of the period, as Martin Chromiak blasted a one-timer from the left circle to make it 3-1.
Tucson responded less than two minutes later when captain Austin Poganski buried a rebound from the low slot on the power play at 15:13 to pull the Roadrunners within one.
However, the Reign struck late in the frame on the penalty kill as Kenny Connors threaded a lead pass to Jared Wright on a two-on-one, and Wright slipped the puck through Villalta’s five-hole to give Ontario a 4-2 lead with 18 seconds remaining.
THIRD PERIOD
Tucson earned an early power play just over five minutes into the period after Glenn Gawdin was whistled for interference, but the Roadrunners were unable to convert.
Down two late, Tucson found life on the penalty kill after a hooking call sent Ontario to the power play with five minutes remaining. Kevin Rooney pounced on his own rebound and scored short-handed to pull the Roadrunners within one, 4-3, with 3:19 left.
Villalta was pulled for the extra attacker with just over two minutes remaining, but Wright scored his second goal of the night into the empty net to seal Ontario’s 5-3 victory.
UP NEXT
The Roadrunners open a six-game road trip at San Diego on Wednesday. Puck drop is set for 8 p.m. AZT at Pechanga Arena. Fans can listen live on FOX Sports 1450 AM and the iHeartRadio app and watch on AHLtv on FloHockey.