Utah 4, Reign 3, OT.
Goaltender John Murray came on in relief after Jeff Zatkoff tweaked a muscle midway through the third period, and coughed up a 3-2 lead by allowing two Utah goals on eight shots.
In Murray's defense, the referee/Brad Mehalko (depending on your point of view) did him no favor when Mehalko was hit with a hooking (not slashing, as tomorrow's editions will read) penalty with 59 seconds left in regulation. That put the Reign at a 5-on-4 disadvantage for the rest of the third period and the start of overtime. Tom May's game-winning goal came with 3 seconds left on Mehalko's penalty.
Jon Francisco had a good game - two goals and an assist - and Andrew Martens scored the Reign's other goal to make it 3-1 just 35 seconds into the third period. Utah made it 3-2 two minutes later, then scored the last two after Zatkoff was pulled.
Zatkoff's status for today isn't known. He could be healthy enough to start, back up, or not be ready to go at all. In the case of the latter, the Reign could be in trouble because Kellen Briggs isn't eligible to return from 3-day injured reserve, and Dennis Cook was in uniform for the Grizzlies as their emergency backup.
The Reign could be without Mike Howe today, too. He took an elbow to his head with about nine minutes into the game, then had to be helped off the ice and didn't return. If he can't go, the Reign have defenseman Ryan Card, who was a healthy scratch Friday.
Dan Knapp became the third different Reign defenseman to play forward when he started at left wing.
Also, I spoke to Denny Johnston after the game. He apparently hasn't totally healed from a broken wrist enough to play, and technically hasn't joined the Reign because he didn't pass his physical after Manchester cut him earlier in the week.
This was a physical, physical game which sets the stage for an interesting rematch in 24 hours. More details in tomorrow's editions.