PREVIEW – Ontario @ Colorado, 3/12

WHO: Ontario Reign (21-26-5-2) @ Colorado Eagles (30-22-3-1)
WHAT: AHL REGULAR SEASON GAME
WHEN: Tuesday, March 12, @ 6:05 PM (Pacific)
WHERE: Budweiser Events Center, Loveland, CO
HOW TO FOLLOW: VIDEO: AHLTV – AUDIO – iHeart Radio (Away Feed) – TWITTER: @ontarioreign & @reigninsider

TONIGHT’S MATCHUP: The road trip continues for the Ontario Reign, who begin a two-game set in Colorado this evening. Ontario enters tonight’s action off of a weekend sweep in Tucson, winning 3-1 and 5-2 over the Roadrunners on Friday and Saturday respectively.

WHAT TO WATCH FOR: The Reign and Eagles will square off tonight and tomorrow at Budweiser Events Center, the final matchups of the season between the two teams. The Reign are 2-3-1 to date against the Eagles, but have won each of the previous two meetings, most recently a 2-0 win on February 23, courtesy of a 47-save shutout from Peter Budaj. Colorado, however, was victorious in both of the previous matchups on home ice, winning a pair of games in October. Cal Petersen was the first goaltender off for Ontario, while forward Nikita Scherbak was on late after morning skate.

TALE OF TWO TEAMS: The Reign, winners of five of their last six, and Eagles, winners of six straight, square off tonight as two of the hotter teams in the AHL, though they’ve won in different ways. Ontario has scored 25 goals over its last five games played, while the Eagles have allowed just six goals on its six-game winning streak, posting a shutout in three of their six victories.

TIED AT THE TOP: Reign forward Matt Moulson currently leads all Ontario skaters with 55 points this season (25-30-55), placing him tied for the franchise’s single-season scoring record. Moulson is currently even with his brother-in-law, Sean Backman, who collected 55 points during the 2015-16 season. Moulson is also two goals shy of Jonny Brodzinski’s single-season goal record of 27, set during the 2016-17 season.

THE SIXTH SENSE: Ontario forward Mike Amadio tallied his sixth goal of the season in Saturday’s victory, as he extended his scoring streak to six games. Amadio has collected 11 points (4-7-11) over the scoring streak and has now scored a goal in three consecutive games. The third-year forward has amassed 21 points (6-15-21) over 19 games played in the AHL with the Reign this season, scoring at a 1.11 points-per-game clip.

THIS IS 40: Reign netminder Cal Petersen stopped 46 of the 47 shots he faced in his most recent start, a 3-1 win over Tucson on Friday. Petersen has now faced at least 45 shots in each of his last six starts in which he has gone the distance, making at least 40 saves in each of them and posting a 4-2-0 record and a .937 save percentage in those contests, to go along with a 3.19 goals against average.

LILO AND MITCH: Ontario forward Zack Mitchell led his team with three assists in Saturday’s win, the first time he’s collected a trio of helpers in one game in his professional career. Mitchell recently saw an eight-game point streak come to an end, but has collected 14 points (5-9-14) over his last 11 games played. The Orangeville, ONT native has tallied 23 points (9-14-23) in 48 games played this season.

BLUE-LINE BONANZA: The Reign lost defenseman Kale Clague to a broken foot on Friday in Tucson (the rookie blueliner is expected to be out four weeks) but added Daniel Brickley back into the fold, who returned to the Reign lineup on Friday after nearly a two-month absence due to a lower-body injury, suffered on January 9 in San Jose. In the two games in Tucson, Brickley posted a +2 rating with four shots on goal and two penalty minutes.