PREVIEW – Ontario vs. San Jose, 2/10

WHO: Ontario Reign (14-23-4-2) vs. San Jose Barracuda (26-10-2-4)
WHAT: AHL REGULAR SEASON GAME
WHEN: Sunday, February 10 @ 1:00 PM
WHERE: Citizens Business Bank Arena – Ontario, CA
HOW TO FOLLOW: VIDEO: AHLTV – AUDIO – Mixlr – TWITTER: @ontarioreign & @reigninsider

TONIGHT’S MATCHUP: The Ontario Reign close out their week on home ice with the Western Conference’s top team, the San Jose Barracuda, in town. Ontario was defeated by a 6-4 margin last time out on Friday, against the San Diego Gulls.

WHAT TO WATCH FOR: The Reign were unable to complete a weekend sweep over their So-Cal rivals, the San Diego Gulls, after winning in San Diego on Wednesday. The Reign now host San Jose this afternoon in a rare 1 PM matinee faceoff, the third meeting of the season between the two teams in Ontario. Overall, Ontario is 1-4-0 this season against the top team in the West, but did win the last time they squared off, with a 3-1 decision in San Jose, behind 37 saves from Cal Petersen. The two teams will meet twice more this season following tonight’s game, once in each city. The Reign did not take a full team skate this morning with the early start time.

MATT ON THE MARK: Ontario forward Matt Moulson broke both the 20-goal and 40-point marks on Friday against San Diego, as he scored twice and added an assist in the defeat. Moulson’s two goals marked his fifth multi-goal game of the season and his 11th power-play tally. Moulson is now tied for second in the AHL in power-play goals this season and leads all Reign skaters with 18 points on the man advantage.

MULTI-POINT MAILLET: Reign forward Philippe Maillet collected multiple points for the second straight game, as he tallied a goal and an assist in the loss against the Gulls. Maillet followed up a four-point evening (0-4-4) from Wednesday in San Diego, which tied a season-high for points in a game and an AHL career high for assists in a game. Maillet now ranks second on the Reign in points with 31 (9-22-31) on the season.

THE WYSZARD OF OZ: Ontario blueliner Craig Wyszomirski collected his first point of the season in a Reign jersey with an assist on Maillet’s second-period goal. The 6-5 blueliner has now skated in six games this season with Ontario and has posted a +4 rating with the Reign, and a +7 rating across nine AHL games with Ontario and Utica. Wyszomirski has also tallied ten points (2-8-10) from 27 games played with the ECHL’s Manchester Moanrchs this season.

TOP GRUN: Reign forward Carl Grundstrom found the scoresheet for the second straight night with a helper on the Reign’s first goal on Friday. Grundstrom followed up a three-point night from Wednesday, in which he scored his first two goals with Ontario and tied an AHL career high with three points. Grundstrom has now collected five points (2-3-5) from four games played since he joined the Reign last week.

ENDLESS LUFF: Ontario has received reinforcements with forward Matt Luff rejoining the team. Luff, who was assigned by Los Angeles late on Friday, has collected six goals and 12 points from 12 AHL games played with the Reign this season, in addition to seven goals and 10 points from 30 NHL games with the Kings. Luff was most recently in the Reign lineup in late-January, in a back-to-back set against Colorado.

HOME SWEET HOME: Tonight’s game marks the beginning of a stretch with nine of the Reign’s next ten games coming on home ice in Ontario, with the lone outlier being a February 16 tilt in Bakersfield. The stretch, which extends into early-March, leaves just five home games remaining from there on out. The Reign will face seven different foes in the nine games, including two apiece against San Jose and Iowa.