REIGN PREVIEW 11/15 – Ontario at Colorado

WHO: Ontario Reign (5-6-0-0) at Colorado Eagles (6-5-0-1)
WHAT: AHL REGULAR-SEASON GAME #12
WHEN: Friday, November 15 @ 6:05 PM Pacific
WHERE: Blue Arena – Loveland, CO
HOW TO FOLLOW: VIDEO: FloHockey – AUDIO: ESPN LA App / Reign Radio – TWITTER: @ShafReign & @OntarioReign

TODAY’S MATCHUP: The Ontario Reign visit the Colorado Eagles for a two-game weekend series beginning Friday night in Loveland at Blue Arena.

WHAT TO WATCH FOR: The Eagles have six wins to their name after 12 games played to begin 2024-25 and are sitting in a tie for third place in the Pacific Division standings, while Ontario has five wins in 11 contests and is three points behind Colorado in seventh. Blue Arena has once again been a home ice advantage for the Eagles, who have a 5-2-0-1 record in front of their fans to begin the year. Ontario ranks ninth in the AHL on the offensive end, averaging 3.36 goals per game, while Colorado is 13th in the league with an offensive average of 3.17 tallies per contest. The Reign are also averaging 31.7 shots on goal per game (6th). Although they are only a single shot behind Ontario on average, Colorado also ranks 13th in that category with 30 shots per night. Defensively, the Reign allow 25.8 shots per game (3rd) and the Eagles are also in the top-10 in that category, allowing 26.42 (7th).

LAST TIME OUT: A three-point night for center Glenn Gawdin powered the Ontario Reign past the Tucson Roadrunners at Toyota Arena on Wednesday night by a final score of 4-1. Erik Portillo made the start for Ontario and earned the win with 23 saves in the contest, while Francesco Pinelli and Reilly Walsh also found the back of the net in the victory for the Reign.

HEAD-TO-HEAD: The Reign won just three games against the Eagles a year ago during the clubs’ eight-game series, finishing with a 3-5-0 record including a 1-3-0 mark in Colorado. The Eagles outscored Ontario 36-30 in the series and held a slight shots-on-net advantage (245-242). Both sides scored eight times against the other on the man-advantage in the eight contests, with the Reign going 8-for-34 (23.5%) and Colorado finishing 8-for-30 (26.6%). Former Eagles forward Charles Hudon was one of Ontario’s top scorers against Colorado last season, scoring eight points on five goals and three assists, while Alex Turcotte also added eight points with four goals and four helpers.

OH MY GAWDIN: After scoring two goals and an assist during Wednesday’s win over Tucson, forward Glenn Gawdin is now Ontario’s leading scorer this season with 11 points in 11 contests on four goals and seven assists. After a slow start with only one point from his first five games in a Reign sweater, Gawdin had three straight multi-point outings for Ontario during the team’s three-game win streak from Nov. 1-6. Since the calendar turned to November, Gawdin has 10 points in six games along with a plus-8 rating. The former fourth-round pick by St. Louis in 2015 is coming off a career-high of 55 points last year with San Diego, scoring 22 goals and 33 assists in 70 outings. In 339 games during his AHL career with Stockton, the Gulls and Ontario, Gawdin, a Richmond, B.C. native, has totaled 247 points on 89 goals and 158 assists.

SCOUTING THE EAGLES: Colorado finished in fourth place in the Pacific Division standings last season but were unable to advance past the opening round of the Calder Cup Playoffs, dropping a best-of-3 series to the Abbotsford Canucks. Head Coach Aaron Schneekloth is back behind the bench for a second season and is now in his 11th year overall as a coach with the Eagles which has spanned the club’s entire AHL history. Forward Matthew Phillips leads the team in scoring with 11 points in 11 games this season on four goals and seven assists. Veteran forward Jayson Megna has also made a big impact with 10 points on four goals and six assists, while Jere Innala nine points on two goals and seven helpers. Defender Jacob MacDonald leads the blueliners with 10 points from the back end on four goals and six assists and Calle Rosen has also been a big factor offensively with nine points (2-7=9). Former Reign captain TJ Tynan has recently returned to the roster for Colorado after a call-up to Colorado where he played in seven contests. In net, Trent Minor has made six appearances thus far and holds a 3-2-1 record with a goals-against average of 2.34 and a 0.905 save percentage, while Kevin Mandolese is 3-1-0 with a shutout in four games and has a 1.78 GAA along with a 0.935 SV%.

MALOTT MAKING A DIFFERENCE: Forward Jeff Malott has scored points in five of his last six games for Ontario and now ranks second on the team in overall scoring with nine points on a goal and eight assists. The fifth-year forward has appeared in all 11 of the Reign’s games this season and has recently formed a formidable trio alongside Glenn Gawdin and Charles Hudon on Ontario’s top forward line. Malott, a Waterdown, Ontario native, had a career-high 52 points in 70 games a year ago while playing for the Manitoba Moose, scoring 22 goals and 30 assists. It was his third consecutive 20-goal season with Manitoba, where he played from 2020-24, totaling 237 AHL games. An undrafted attacker out of Cornell University, Malott made his NHL debut with the Winnipeg Jets in March of 2022.

HICKETTS HELPING OUT: Reign captain Joe Hicketts has picked up eight assists in his first 11 games this season, which leads the club. The 28-year-old blueliner is coming off a season where he was held to only 30 regular season appearances, but he was active offensively during that time, totaling 20 points on a goal and 19 assists. Hicketts was also an important factor during Ontario’s two playoff series wins, with the Kamloops, B.C. native earning six points in eight playoff outings on a goal and five assists. Now in his ninth AHL season, Hicketts has 225 total points during 460 games on 35 goals and 190 helpers.