REIGN PREVIEW – Ontario at Henderson 11/3

WHO: Ontario Reign (6-0-1) at Henderson Silver Knights (3-2-1)
WHAT: AHL REGULAR SEASON GAME #8
WHEN: Wednesday, November 3, @ 7:00 PM (Pacific)
WHERE: Orleans Arena – Las Vegas, NV
HOW TO FOLLOW: VIDEO: AHLTV – TWITTER: @ontarioreign & @ShafReign

TONIGHT’S MATCHUP: The Ontario Reign are in the Silver State to face the Henderson Silver Knights for the first time during the 2021-22 season Wednesday night at Orleans Arena. The Reign are coming off a road sweep of the Abbotsford Canucks north of the border last weekend with a 5-2 win Friday before a 3-2 overtime victory on Saturday. Ontario has earned at least a point in their first seven contests. Henderson, now in its second year as an AHL franchise, is 3-2-1-0 in six outings after posting a 25-13-0-1 regular season record during its inaugural season.

WHAT TO WATCH FOR: Wednesday’s matchup is the first of eight between Ontario and Henderson this season, with each team hosting four apiece at their respective home venues. The Silver Knights began their season with a home sweep of Colorado before falling to Abbotsford on consecutive nights. Most recently, Henderson split a home weekend against Bakersfield that started with a 3-2 defeat on Friday and ended with the Silver Knights scoring two third period goals to pull out a 4-2 win on Saturday. Ontario has been great at both ends of the ice so far this season, ranking third in the AHL by scoring 3.86 goals per game, and fourth defensively, allowing just 15 tallies for an average of 2.14 per outing.

LAST TIME OUT: TJ Tynan scored his first goal as a member of the Reign in overtime to secure a 3-2 win over the Abbotsford Canucks on Saturday night at the Abbotsford Centre. Tynan also assisted on a first period strike by Martin Frk, who leads the Reign with four goals. The win secured a sweep of the weekend series for Ontario, extended its current winning streak to five games and continued a run of points in seven straight games to open the season.

OVER-TYNE: Reign forward TJ Tynan’s overtime strike on Saturday night in Abbotsford was his first goal with Ontario and his 10th point in the team’s first seven games. He became the second Reign forward to score an OT winner against Abbotsford this season, joining Martin Frk, who netted a game-winner on Oct. 19. Tynan, the reigning AHL Most Valuable Player, has already posted four multi-point outings for the Reign while finding the scoresheet in all but one game. The Orland Park, Ill. native’s nine assists are tied for the most in the AHL, and his six power play points (all assists) are tied for second in the league.

VILLALTA’S EXCEPTIONAL START: Goaltender Matt Villalta has run with his opportunity in the crease, posting an unblemished 4-0-0 record along with a goals-against average of 1.99 and a save percentage at 0.924 to begin the 2021-22 year. His most recent outing last Friday consisted of only 18 shots on goal after he needed a season-high 33 saves to defeat San Diego last Saturday. The Kingston, Ont. native is in his third pro season with the Reign and is tied for the AHL league lead in wins. Overall, Villalta has a record of 22-14-3-1 in 44 appearances with the Reign.

SCOUTING THE SILVER KNIGHTS: Henderson ranks fourth in the Pacific Division standings after six games with a record of 3-2-1 and a points percentage at .583. Four of the club’s skaters are tied for the team lead in scoring with four points apiece. Forward Pavel Dorofeyev has found the back of the net four times in six games, while defender Daniil Miromanov has posted two goals and two assists and both forward Lynden McCallum and defenseman Peter DiLiberatore have each accounted for a goal and three assists. After joining the team Saturday on a PTO, forward Colt Conrad assisted on two of Henderson’s goals in their win over Bakersfield that night. Reigning AHL Goaltender of the Year Logan Thompson has started five games for the Silver Knights, earning a 3-1-1 record with a 2.93 goals-against average and a 0.923 save percentage.

FRK BOMBS: Forward Martin Frk leads Ontario with four goals in seven games this season, including three power play tallies. The three man-advantage strikes have Frk, a native of Pelhrimov, Czech Republic, tied for the AHL lead in power play goals. In addition, he leads the Reign with 26 shots on goal, which also ranks eighth in the league. Overall, Frk has racked up 33 goals while playing with Ontario in parts of three seasons and 101 AHL tallies during his eight campaigns in the league with the Reign and Grand Rapids Griffins.

POWER PLAY PILING UP GOALS: The Reign have converted on 10 of their power play opportunities this season which is tied with Colorado for most of any AHL team. Percentage-wise, their 10 tallies in 35 opportunities is a rate of 28.6%, which is the second-highest in the league. While Frk has scored three of the 10 man-advantage goals, forwards Jaret Anderson-Dolan and Brayden Burke have each contributed two tallies apiece.