The Ontario Reign had their chances, but Abbotsford made one more play and held on for a 2-1 win Friday night at Rogers Forum in front of 2,906 fans.
Ontario dropped to 5-7-1 and will look to split the weekend series Saturday at Rogers Forum at 4 p.m. PT.
Abbotsford struck first late in the opening period when Ty Mueller buried a rebound at 18:54. The goal came after Michael Mastrodomenico was whistled for hooking at 2:21, a penalty Ontario successfully killed off. Mueller’s tally came from Sayer Mynio and Ben Berard, and it gave the Canucks a 1-0 edge after 20 minutes.
The Reign answered in the second. Kaleb Lawrence, who scored his third goal in his last four games, tied it at 15:28 by beating Nikita Tolopilo glove side from the low slot. Koehn Ziemmer picked up the assist on the equalizer.
But the tie lasted only 34 seconds.
Trey Fix-Wolansky put Abbotsford back in front almost immediately, finishing a chance from Kole Lind and Braeden Cootes to make it 2-1. That goal stood as the difference, and a scoreless third period closed the door on Ontario.
The Reign had a late opening to force the issue. Fix-Wolansky took a roughing penalty at 8:34 of the third, and Anri Ravinskis was then called for delay of game at 9:17, giving Ontario a two-man advantage. The Reign couldn’t cash in.
Ontario finished 0-for-3 on the power play and 4-for-4 on the penalty kill. Abbotsford also controlled the shot clock, outshooting the Reign 34-22 overall and 22-11 through two periods.
Erik Portillo made 32 saves on 34 shots in the loss, while Tolopilo stopped 21 of 22 to earn the win.
The period-by-period flow told the story: Ontario killed off early pressure, tied the game in the second, then watched Abbotsford answer right away and protect the lead the rest of the way.
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