PREVIEW – Ontario vs. San Diego, 1/6

WHO: Ontario Reign (10-15-3-2) vs. San Diego Gulls (16-11-1-3)
WHAT: AHL REGULAR SEASON GAME
WHEN: Sunday, December 6, @ 3:00 PM
WHERE: Citizens Business Bank Arena – Ontario, CA
HOW TO FOLLOW: VIDEO: AHLTV – AUDIO – Mixlr – TWITTER: @ontarioreign & @reigninsider

TONIGHT’S MATCHUP: The Ontario Reign are back in action after a quick turnaround, as they host the San Diego Gulls this afternoon in another edition of the So-Cal Series. Ontario kicked off 2019 on the losing end with a 2-1 defeat against the Western-Conference leading San Jose Barracuda last evening on home ice.

WHAT TO WATCH FOR: Ontario has found success against San Diego thus far this season, with a 3-1-0-1 record versus the Gulls and a 2-0-1 record on home ice in Ontario. The Reign won a wild, 7-6 shootout victory at Citizens Business Bank Arena the last time these two teams met. Forward Philippe Maillet tallied a hat trick in that game for Ontario, while forward Kalle Kossila collected four points for San Diego. Maillet leads all scorers in the season-series to date with seven points (3-4-7) from five games played. Ontario did not skate this morning, with the back-to-back and the early start.

A TALE OF TWO TEAMS: This afternoon’s matchup pits perhaps the hottest team in the AHL against one of the coldest. San Diego enters tonight’s action unbeaten in its last ten games played (8-0-0-2), the longest running streak throughout the league. Ontario, on the other hand, has not won in regulation in its last 12 games, a streak that dates back to early November, and is just 2-8-2 over that span.

THIRD-PERIOD THRILLER: The last time these two teams met, on Saturday, 12/22, the game entered the third period with a 3-2 Ontario advantage before the two teams combined for seven goals and more than 50 penalty minutes in the third period alone, forcing overtime at 6-6. The seven combined goals in a period is the second most for Ontario this season (eight goals, 4-4, on Oct. 6 in Stockton), while the 102 combined PIM’s on the evening is season-high.

KALE ME MAYBE: Ontario defenseman Kale Clague scored his team’s only goal last evening, a second-period tally from the point. Clague has now collected eight points (2-6-8) over his last 11 games played and leads all Reign skaters in goals (2) and points (3) this season against San Jose. Overall, Clague has now totaled 15 points (3-12-15), with his 12 helpers tied for seventh most in the AHL amongst first-year blueliners.

FOR THE LOVE OF PETE-RSEN: Reign goaltender Cal Petersen turned aside 27 of the 29 shots he faced yesterday. Since returning from the Kings last week, Petersen is 0-2-0, but has posted a .917 save percentage and a 2.58 goals against average. In his time at the NHL level, Petersen recorded a 5-4-1 mark, to accompany a .924 save percentage, a 2.61 goals against average and one shutout.

MAC TRUCK: Ontario defenseman Kurtis MacDermid collected the primary assist on Clague’s goal yesterday evening, his eighth helper of the season. MacDermid now has 11 points (3-8-11) through 30 games played and is on pace to set a new AHL career high for points in a season. The 6-5 defenseman did not add to his total of 114 penalty minutes, but still leads the AHL in the category, 31 clear of San Diego’s Corey Tropp.

HEY NOW, YOU’RE AN ALL-STAR: Forward Sheldon Rempal and defenseman Sean Walker were selected on Wednesday to represent the Reign at the 2019 AHL All-Star Classic. Rempal leads all Ontario skaters with 24 points (8-16-24) on the season and ranks third in the AHL in points-per-game (1.09) by a rookie. Walker is currently on recall to the NHL with the Kings, but his 0.85 points-per-game pace is fourth most amongst AHL blueliners with at least 20 games played.