There were some notable lineup changes for Abbotsford. Chase Stillman dressed for the first time since October after recovering from an injury. Nils Åman returned to the front group, while Sawyer Mynio settled back on the blue line. Nikita Tolopilo got the start and took on Eric Portillo at the other end.
Tolopilo was sharp from the opening puck and was able to put aside a series of Reign shots in the opening 20 minutes. Abbotsford took the only penalty of the frame, but killed it successfully. Despite the Reign’s shot advantage, the match remained scoreless after one goal.
The Canucks needed to generate more offense if they wanted to change the momentum. However, the penalty problems in the second period made that difficult. After Tolopilo held on, Ontario broke into the power play. A Martin Chromiak shot slipped through Tolopilo’s legs and settled loose in the crease before Cole Guttman rammed the ball home to give the Reign a 1-0 lead. Abbotsford got their first powerplay later in the period but struggled to create quality chances and headed into the third trailing by one.
The reaction in the final frame was immediate. Just under two minutes later, Nils Åman led a rush up the ice, followed up his own rebound, wrapped around the net and slotted in the goaltender’s puck to tie the game at 1–1. The equalizer gave the home team energy and ten minutes later they scored again. Nikolai Knyzhov fired a shot from the blue line and Nick Poisson was in the perfect position to tap the ball home, giving Abbotsford their first lead of the evening.
As time went on, the Government did everything they could to even the score and pulled their goalkeeper for the extra attacker. In the final seconds, Arshdeep Bains came up with a huge block to seal the win.
Abbotsford skated away with a 2-1 come-from-behind victory, securing their first win of the second half and their first win over Ontario this season.
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