PREVIEW – Ontario vs. Tucson, 4/7

WHO: Ontario Reign (23-31-6-4) vs. Tucson Roadrunners (33-23-5-3)
WHAT: AHL REGULAR SEASON GAME
WHEN: Sunday, March 7 @ 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 conclude their second-to-last week of the season with a Sunday afternoon matinee against Tucson. The Reign are 1-1 thus far on the week, courtesy of a 3-1 win over Grand Rapids on Wednesday and a 6-1 defeat to San Diego on Friday.

WHAT TO WATCH FOR: The Reign and Roadrunners square off for the final time in the 2018-19 season. Ontario sits at 4-2-1 in the season series to date, with a 2-1-0 record in Ontario and a 9-8 lead in total points. The Reign swept a weekend set in Tucson in early-March and also won the most recent two meetings in Ontario earlier this season. Expect goaltender Cal Petersen to be back between the pipes this afternoon for the Reign, with a final lineup to come with no full morning skate, being an afternoon game.

MATINEE MADNESS: Ontario and Tucson have faced off twice this season in a Sunday afternoon matinee, with both games being wild affairs. On November 25, the Reign stormed back from four goals down to claim a 7-6 victory in overtime, courtesy of a Brett Sutter game-winning goal. One week later on December 2, Philippe Maillet netted the first hat trick of his professional career, including the overtime game-winner, with Ontario victorious by a 5-4 final.

FOR PETE’S SAKE: Reign goaltender Cal Petersen turned aside 40 of the 41 shots he faced on Wednesday, the 13th time this season he’s faced at least 40 shots on goal. In starts in which he’s gone the distance this season, Petersen has faced an average of 38.7 shots on goal on an Ontario team that has conceded 36.4 shots against per game on average, an AHL most. Petersen’s shots faced total is nearly nine shots higher than the AHL average of 29.8 shots allowed per game.

OPEN MIKE NIGHT: Center Mike Amadio was assigned to the Reign yesterday from the NHL’s Los Angeles Kings and is expected to complete the 2018-19 season with Ontario. Amadio has amassed 22 points (6-16-22) from 24 games played with the Reign thus far this season. The third-year forward also recently enjoyed his most successful spell with the Kings, as he posted five points (2-3-5) in his most recent six-game recall at the NHL level, with seven points (4-3-7) from his last nine NHL games overall.

AUSTIN 3:16: Reign defenseman Austin Strand scored his team’s lone goal in Friday’s defeat in San Diego. Strand found the back of the net in the third period, with one of his game-high and career-high eight shots on goal. The rookie blueliner has now scored five goals on the season, tops on the team amongst active defensemen. Strand has amassed 15 points in total during his freshman campaign.

I’M LOVIN IT: The Reign added defenseman Connor McDonald on an ATO on Friday. McDonald joins the Reign from Bowling Green, where he skated with the Falcons for the last four seasons. McDonald helped lead the program to its first NCAA Tournament appearance since 1990, as BGSU qualified for the 2019 edition of the event. The 6-1 blueliner amassed 32 points (7-25-32) over 161 career NCAA contests.