He was conspicuously missing from Sunday’s Game 3.

All season long Brock Nixon brought a calming presence to the ice for the Colorado Eagles. The forward scored at a higher rate than anyone on the team with 30 goals, ranking second in points with 66.

But Nixon had an uncanny ability to be in the right place at the right time. Whether it was blocking shots or catching passes on the breakout, the puck found his stick.

Nixon’s postseason got off to a slow start without a point, and a jarring hit in Game 2 forced him to sit in Sunday’s embarrassing 5-1 loss. Yet in the Eagles’ biggest game of the year, once more Nixon was in the right place and time to become the hero they needed, netting the game-winner of pivotal Game 4 to boost a 4-3 Colorado win over Ontario at the Budweiser Events Center on Wednesday.

With time winding down and running out, Ontario made the first mistake and took a pair of penalties with 6 minutes remaining, setting the Eagles up with 37 seconds of 5-on-3 hockey.

As one penalty wore off, the extra 2 minutes allowed a late charge from forward Kyle Kraemer, who threw a shot on net that deflected to the left and onto Nixon’s stick. He knew what to do from there.

“Oh, it was huge. It was nice to get the power play clicking again tonight, we were able to get a couple goals, look better and look more confident,” Nixon said. “It’s a great feeling anytime you score late in the game like that. I didn’t want to be out of the lineup in Game 3, but circumstances were that I couldn’t be out there. It’s nice to be out there with the boys, and there’s nothing better than playoff hockey and winning at home.”

The Reign would mount a final offensive by pulling its goalie for the extra attacker, nearly sending the contest to overtime, but missing an open net in the last minute. The win was critical for Colorado. A loss meant going down 3-1 and two more road games with no room for error.

Colorado brought to the ice exactly what it wanted after back-to-back disappointing performances in Games 2 and 3 — a quick start.

Kraemer talked after Tuesday’s practice about focusing on the first period, the first shift, and while that opening shift didn’t produce a goal, the Eagles wouldn’t have to wait long.

Little more than 2 minutes into the contest, and the No. 1 line’s second shift of the night, captain Trent Daavettila lit the scoreboard and the building with his first score of the series to supply Colorado an early edge.

“Yeah, it was important, but scoring a power-play goal with 5 minutes left in the third period wasn’t exactly how we diagramed it,” Colorado coach Chris Stewart said.

Simply scoring first wouldn’t be good enough as Colorado did the same Sunday before surrendering five unanswered power-play goals to Ontario. The Eagles needed to get greedy.

Colorado forward Vitalijs Pavlovs found twine for his second time in as many games on the kind of play the Eagles had been lacking so far this round. Rookie Chris Knowlton flashed around the back of the net for a wrap-around try, sending a rebound out to the opposite side where a crashing Pavlovs scooped and scored for a 2-0 lead midway through the first.

Ontario would have the last laugh and cut the deficit back down with 5 seconds still standing just after a power play came to a close. The Reign’s stolen momentum carried over into the next frame as the second period played out as a mirror image of the first.

The Reign struck on their sixth man-advantage goal in the past two games in the middle of the second for an equalizer, followed by another even-strength score 3 minutes later.

The Eagles’ fantastic start felt like a long way off and a wasted effort.

But just as Ontario had in the final minutes of the opening period, Colorado would make the final play courtesy of Daavettila’s savvy patience to hold the puck before carrying it across the slot and scoring his second of the game, which set up must-win Wednesday’s thrilling conclusion.

“It’s going to take our best players playing their best for us to be successful,” Stewart said. “In any league or any sport your best players have to play their best, and we’re starting to see that and are reaping the benefits of it.”

Colorado hosts Ontario for the final time this series Friday (7:05 p.m.) as the Eagles’ last chance to take advantage of home ice and snag a 3-2 lead before the action shifts back to California for Game’s 6 and 7 (if necessary).

“This was a swing game and 2-2 is a hell of a lot better than 3-1,” Nixon said.

Cris Tiller: 970-669-5050 ext. 511, tillerc@reporter-herald.com or twitter.com/cristiller

Eagles 4, Reign 3

At Budweiser Events Center

Ontario 1 2 0 — 3