PREVIEW – Ontario vs. Bakersfield, 11/23

WHO: Ontario Reign (6-6-2-1) vs. Bakersfield Condors (8-6-0-0)
WHAT: AHL REGULAR SEASON GAME
WHEN: Friday, November 23, @ 7:00 PM
WHERE: Citizens Business Bank Arena – Ontario, CA
HOW TO FOLLOW: VIDEO: AHLTV – AUDIO – Mixlr – TWITTER: @ontarioreign & @reigninsider

TONIGHT’S MATCHUP: The Ontario Reign return home this evening, following three straight games on the road, to take on the Bakersfield Condors. Ontario went 2-1 on its most recent set of road games, most recently earning a 4-3 victory over the San Diego Gulls on Wednesday evening. Tonight’s game marks the first tilt of the season between Ontario and Bakersfield.

WHAT TO WATCH FOR: Courtesy of Wednesday’s victory, Ontario has now won five of its last seven games to return to the .500 mark on the season at 6-6-2-1. The Reign are now home for a pair of games this weekend, before hitting the road for back-to-back divisional contests next week against Bakersfield and Stockton. All time, the Reign are 17-11-3-1 against the Condors and hold a 10-5-1-0 record at Citizens Business Bank Arena, despite Bakersfield taking four of five meetings in Ontario last season. From today’s morning skate, Michael Leighton was the first goaltender off for Ontario.

THE COMEBACK KIDS: Ontario continues to come from behind to win hockey games, most recently coming from three goals down on Wednesday in a 4-3 victory. The Reign have overturned a multi-goal deficit three times this season to comeback to win and, overall, have trailed in five of their six wins this season. Ontario has also won four times when trailing after the opening 20 minutes, tied for the most wins in the AHL so far this season.

PHIL IN THE BLANK: Forward Philippe Maillet continued his hot run on Wednesday as he tallied a pair of assists in the win over San Diego. With the helpers, Maillet extended his scoring streak to four games, with six total assists over the four-game span. On the season, Maillet has now collected ten points (1-9-10), with his nine helpers tied for the second most on the Reign. Read more about Maillet’s recent stretch HERE.

WALKS THIS WAY: Defenseman Sean Walker scored the game-winning goal in Wednesday’s victory, his sixth tally of the season. In just 13 games played, Walker is already one goal away from reaching his 2017-18 total and his nine points on the season (6-3-9) is the most amongst Ontario defensemen. Walker’s six tallies are tied for the fourth most in the AHL by a defenseman and his .46 goals-per-game ranks second amongst blueliners with at least 10 games played.

SHORTHANDED BANDIT: Ontario scored a shorthanded goal for the second time in its last five games, with Wednesday’s goal coming from alternate captain Sam Herr. Herr’s tally marks his second shorthanded point of the season, the only Ontario player with multiple shorthanded points. Herr is one of 13 players across the AHL with both a shorthanded goal and an assist this season, ranking tied for sixth overall in the league in shorthanded points.

ROY ROGERS: Ontario blueliner Matt Roy collected two assists on Wednesday, tallying a point on both the power play and the penalty kill. Roy has now posted a multi-point effort in two of his last three games and has collected six points in total (1-5-6) over his last six games played. On the season, Roy has now collected eight points (2-6-8), ranking tied for second on the team in scoring amongst defensemen.

reigNHL: A pair of Ontario alums had multi-point games on Wednesday with the Los Angeles Kings. Forward Austin Wagner scored his first career NHL goal in the Kings’ defeat, coming in his tenth game with the club, with the goal assisted by fellow Ontario alum Matt Luff. Additionally, Luff scored a third-period goal, with Wagner tallying an assist, marking the second consecutive game with a goal for the 6-2 winger, who scored his first career NHL goal on Monday.

INTO THE WILD: The Kings made a player transaction on Wednesday, acquiring forward Pavel Jenys from the Minnesota Wild, in exchange for defenseman Stepan Falkovsky. Jenys has collected four goals from nine games played with the ECHL’s Allen Americans so far this season, and has tallied four points (1-3-4) from 17 career AHL games with Iowa. Falkovsky, who has spent this season with the ECHL’s Manchester Monarchs, appeared in 44 games last season with Ontario, tallying seven points (3-4-7).