REIGN PREVIEW 10/18 – Ontario vs. Bakersfield

WHO: Ontario Reign (1-1-0-0) vs. Bakersfield Condors (1-0-0-0)
WHAT: AHL REGULAR-SEASON GAME #3
WHEN: Friday, October 18 @ 7:00 PM Pacific
WHERE: Toyota Arena – Ontario, CA
HOW TO FOLLOW: VIDEO: FloHockey – AUDIO: Reign Radio – TWITTER: @ShafReign & @OntarioReign

TODAY’S MATCHUP: The Ontario Reign take the ice for their only game action of the week Friday night against the Bakersfield Condors at Toyota Arena in a rematch of April’s opening round playoff series.

WHAT TO WATCH FOR: Both the Reign and Condors have had light schedules to begin the 2024-25 regular season. Bakersfield opened their slate last Friday night in Coachella but have had six days off in between games before tonight’s action and a Saturday night home-opening matchup against San Diego. For Ontario, it’s been four days since Sunday’s win over San Jose and it will be another six days before they travel to Coachella Valley for their first road matchup of the year against the Firebirds. The only changes to the Reign’s roster since last weekend’s season-opening series involve goaltenders, with Pheonix Copley being recalled by the LA Kings and Jacob Ingham returning to Ontario from ECHL Greenville’s training camp.

LAST TIME OUT: Samuel Helenius scored late in the third period to tie the game and then won it with a second goal in the final minute, giving the Ontario Reign a 4-3 victory over the San Jose Barracuda on Sunday afternoon at Toyota Arena. Pheonix Copley, who played in his first game since suffering an injury last December, secured the win for Ontario with 19 saves in his return. The Reign also got a goal and an assist from both Tyler Madden and Martin Chromiak in the victory, the team’s first of 2024-25.

HEAD-TO-HEAD: Ontario won five of the eight regular season matchups against Bakersfield before recording back-to-back postseason victories against the Condors in the First Round of the Calder Cup Playoffs. The lone meeting of the series to go past regulation was the final one of the regular season, with the Reign earning a 4-3 victory on an overtime goal by Martin Chromiak. Ontario’s scoring was evenly distributed in the regular season series, with Tyler Madden sharing the team lead with six points on two goals and four assists, while Charles Hudon had five points on three goals and two assists. Madden’s success against Bakersfield carried over to the postseason, where he scored twice in Game 1 before adding the series-winning goal to end the Condors season in the third period of Game 2. Reign returners Joe Hicketts, Charles Hudon and Taylor Ward also each tallied a goal and an assist in the series.

HELENIUS’ HEROICS: Forward Samuel Helenius’ two goals in the final two minutes Sunday marked just the second time he had a two-goal game during his AHL career, which has consisted of 144 games dating back to the 2021-22 season. The Jarvenpaa, Finland native tied the game at 18:45 of the third by firing a cross-slot pass from Glenn Gawdin past goaltender Georgi Romanov. Moments later, Helenius was once again set up in front of the net by another newcomer, with Jeff Malott backhanding the puck to him on the right circle for the winning finish. Helenius finished the game with four shots on net, breaking through after coming close on another opportunity the previous night when his shot off a 2-on-1 rush hit the post.

SCOUTING THE CONDORS: Bakersfield has won its only contest of 2024-25 so far, defeating the Coachella Valley Firebirds by a 2-1 score last Friday on goals by Drake Caggiula and Matvey Petrov. It’s expected that they’ll be led offensively by returning veteran forward Seth Griffith, who finished eighth in the AHL in overall scoring last season with 63 points on 15 goals and 48 assists. Two other notable names that have returned to Bakersfield are veterans Lane Pederson and Ben Gleason. Pederson scored a career-high 52 points in 66 games a year ago on 22 goals and 30 assists, while Gleason on the other hand, finished second among the team’s blueliners with 32 points in 62 games on 10 goals and 22 helpers. The Condors’ roster also includes former 2022 first round pick Matt Savoie and returning goaltender Olivier Rodrigue, who was in net for the team’s win over the Firebirds last week, where he made 29 saves.

MADDEN GETS THE SCORING STARTED: Fifth-year forward Tyler Madden put Ontario on the board early Sunday afternoon, scoring the team’s first goal of the 2024-25 season just 1:33 into the game. Although the Reign’s initial lead didn’t last long, Madden helped get them back in the game early in the second with the lone assist on a tally by Martin Chromiak. The two-point output helped him pick up where he left off last year, when Madden set career-highs in points (34) and assists (19) during the regular season before scoring five times in the Calder Cup Playoffs to lead all Reign skaters. Last season also saw Madden eclipse the 200-game mark with Ontario, as well as the 100-point plateau. His 206 games rank third all-time in the team’s AHL history, just two behind former captain Vincent LoVerde.

COPLEY’S VICTORIOUS RETURN: Goaltender Pheonix Copley earned a win in his first start of the 2024-25 season Sunday against San Jose, making 19 saves in the process. It was a long road back for the netminder, who suffered a season-ending injury with the LA Kings last December. Sunday’s victorious performance marked Copley’s first appearance in game action of any kind since December 10, 2023. Shortly after his season debut, the North Pole, AK native was recalled by the Kings and joined the team in Toronto, where he was inserted into his first NHL contest of the season in a backup role on Wednesday.