Copley, Reign find third straight win after defeating Silver Knights

ONTARIO, CA. -- Pheonix Copley finished with 35 saves as the Ontario Reign clutched onto a 4-3 victory over the visiting Henderson Silver Knights Friday night.

Despite Ontario completing the game with only 16 shots on goal, compared to the 35 shots from Henderson, the Reign made the shots when it counted - paving the way for another tally in the win column.

“The first 10 minutes we were under siege,” Reign coach Andrew Lord said. “We were slow out of the gates and he (Copley) was excellent … most likely his best performance of the year”

Coming into tonight’s matchup, the Reign had been outscored 8-2 by the Silver Knights and held a losing record of 0-2-0 against Henderson this season.

The Reign (11-6-1-0) have had no problem gaining power play advantages this season, but finding the net during those power plays is easier said than done.

Ontario went 0-for-5 on the power play during its first two games against Henderson (9-7-1-0), but tonight would be different.

Tonight they would go 2-for-3, while Henderson went 1-for-3.

Andre Lee kicked off the scoring 5:23 into the opening period, finding the back of the net just seven seconds into the Reign’s man-on-man advantage after Henderson’s Jaycob Megna was called for a hooking penalty.

Taylor Ward would score his 10th goal of the season and the second power-play goal of the game in period two, giving Ontario a comfortable 2-0 lead.

But, as they say, never get too comfortable.

Matyas Sapovaliv found a power-play goal of his own and Tanner Laczynski scored to tie the game in the second period.

After almost 15 minutes had passed in the final period, Laczynski scored his second goal of the night, giving the Silver Knights their first lead of the game.

But the Reign didn’t surrender, rather their grit and resilience carried them to victory.

Less than three minutes after Laczynski’s goal, Angus Booth scored his first goal of the season and 98 seconds later, Cole Guttman found the back of the net for the game-winning goal.

“We’ve been growing as a group,” Lord said. “Obviously tonight - good to win - not our best game, but I think we’ve been playing some really good hockey as of late, especially last week. And we continue to put performances together.”

The Texas Stars (5-10-2-0) will visit the Reign Sunday at Toyota Arena at 5 p.m. PST.