REIGN PREVIEW 12/3 – Ontario vs. Texas

WHO: Ontario Reign (10-7-0-0) vs. Texas Stars (10-7-0-0)
WHAT: AHL REGULAR-SEASON GAME #18
WHEN: Tuesday, December 3 @ 7:00 PM Pacific
WHERE: Toyota Arena – Ontario, CA
HOW TO FOLLOW: VIDEO: KCAL+ / FloHockey – AUDIO: ESPN LA App / Reign Radio – TWITTER: @ShafReign & @OntarioReign

TODAY’S MATCHUP: The Texas Stars are back in Ontario for a rematch with the Reign on Tuesday night at Toyota Arena. The two teams saw each other on Friday night and Ontario defended home ice with a 4-0 shutout win before each club traveled elsewhere in California on Saturday and returned with victories. The Reign’s came in Bakersfield, while Texas took down Coachella Valley in a shootout.

WHAT TO WATCH FOR: Ontario has earned victories in nine of its last 12 games, climbing into sixth place in the Pacific Division with 20 points, and now sit just four points back of second. Texas has an identical record to the Reign and holds third place in the AHL’s Central Division. Ontario ranks sixth in the AHL on the offensive end, averaging 3.59 goals per game. Although they failed to score on Friday night, Texas has scored the third-most goals per contest in the league (3.65). The Stars have the eighth-best road power play percentage in the AHL at 20.5% with eight man-advantage goals on 39 opportunities, while Ontario has moved into the league’s top 10 in penalty killing, discarding 85.1% of opponent chances which ranks ninth. The Reign have done that by killing off 24 of their last 25 over an eight-game span.

LAST TIME OUT: Glenn Gawdin scored twice and Pheonix Copley stopped 25 of 26 shots as the Ontario Reign held on to a two-goal lead from the first period all the way through in a 3-1 win over the Bakersfield Condors at Mechanics Bank Arena on Saturday night. Samuel Fagemo also found the back of the net for Ontario in the first period, scoring for the fourth straight game, and Charles Hudon assisted on two of the Reign’s three goals in the victory.

HEAD-TO-HEAD: Last Friday’s matchup was the first between Ontario and Texas since the 2018-19 season when the clubs split a two-game series. Each side earned a win in its home building with the Reign securing a 5-3 victory in Ontario on Nov. 1, 2018 when former forwards Matt Luff and Sheldon Rempal each scored twice while Brett Sutter recorded two assists. The Stars responded with a 5-1 win in Texas on Dec. 29 of that year which saw 21 saves from goaltender Landon Bow and had Sutter produce the lone Ontario goal. The teams also met the year prior in the 2018 Calder Cup Playoffs, with the Stars securing a series win in four games, which included two overtime contests. Texas went on to play in the Calder Cup Finals that year, losing to the Toronto Marlies in seven games. The last time the teams played each other four times in a single season was during 2017-18, when Ontario won three of the four matchups. The Reign took the opener on Friday by a 4-0 score with two goals from Samuel Fagemo and 27 stops by Pheonix Copley in net.

GAWDIN EARNS AHL PLAYER OF THE MONTH: Forward Glenn Gawdin capped off an outstanding month of November with two goals in the first period of Ontario’s win over Bakersfield on Saturday night. His efforts were rewarded on Monday when the American Hockey League announced he had been selected as the league’s Player of the Month. Gawdin led all skaters in the league with 21 points, scoring nine goals and 12 assists, and finished with a plus-13 rating in 12 games for Ontario during November, sparking a Reign offense that averaged 4.4 goals per game for the month. Gawdin had eight multiple-point outings in November, beginning on Nov. 1 when he notched two assists in a 4-1 win at Henderson. He registered a goal and an assist in an 8-3 win over Henderson on Nov. 2, had two more helpers in an 8-4 victory over Abbotsford on Nov. 6 and scored shorthanded goals in consecutive games during wins over Tucson on Nov. 13 and in Colorado on Nov. 15. Gawdin then had back-to-back three-point nights on Nov. 20 at Henderson and on Nov. 23 at San Diego before scoring his third game-winning tally of the month on Saturday. The Richmond, B.C. native is currently tied for third in the AHL with 22 points (nine goals, 13 assists) in 17 games for the Reign this season.

SCOUTING THE STARS: Texas is set to play in the third of a six-game road trip through the Pacific that includes two matchups in Ontario, Coachella Valley and Henderson. Rookie forward Justin Hryckowian is the Stars’ scoring leader through 17 contests with 16 points on five goals and 11 assists. He earned his first-career NHL recall from Dallas on Monday, but was returned to the Texas AHL roster on Tuesday. Anthonio Stranges has also chipped in with 15 points in 15 games on six goals and nine helpers, and Kole Lind has been a factor with six goals and seven assists for 13 points. Defender Kyle Capobianco has 10 points on two goals and eight assists, which leads the team’s bluelinrs, while Christian Kyrou and Alex Petrovic both have nine points. In goal, Magnus Hellberg has played in nine of Texas’s contests and has a 7-2-0 record with a goals-against average of 2.78 along with a 0.911 save percentage. Remi Poirier has also seen action in seven games, including both of the Stars’ matchups in California over the weekend.

COPLEY SHUTS THE DOOR, WINS PLAYER OF THE WEEK: After wins on consecutive days last weekend, including his first shutout of the 2024-25 campaign, goaltender Pheonix Copley was named the American Hockey League’s Player of the Week on Monday. The 32-year-old netminder blanked Texas on Friday night with 27 saves, picking up the 16th shutout of his AHL career which has spanned 10 seasons since he debuted in 2014-15. Copley then played in Bakersfield the following night, stopping 25 of 26 shots that were directed his way while Ontario skated to a 3-1 victory. He finished the weekend with a 0.50 goals-against average and a .981 save percentage. Through nine games for Ontario this year, Copley has a record of 6-3-0 with a GAA of 2.70 along with a .901 SV%.

FAGEMO’S SCORING FLASH: After finding the back of the net twice on Friday and adding a power play goal during the first period on Saturday in Bakersfield, forward Samuel Fagemo has now scored five times in his last four games and is leading Ontario with 10 tallies during the 2024-25 campaign. Fagemo, already the team’s all-time leading goal scorer with 113 goals in his AHL career, is also just below a point-per-game pace this year with 16 in 17 contests. The Goteborg, Sweden native got off to a slow start, going without a goal in his first six games before netting four in a two-game span to open November. His 10 goals during the month were the most among all AHL skaters. A year ago, Fagemo set career-highs with 43 goals and 62 points in 50 games and led the league with 19 power play goals, the most any skater has ever scored in a Reign sweater.