REIGN PREVIEW 12/15 – Ontario vs. San Jose

WHO: Ontario Reign (12-8-0-0) vs. San Jose Barracuda (15-7-0-1)
WHAT: AHL REGULAR-SEASON GAME #21
WHEN: Sunday, December 15 @ 5:00 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 Ontario Reign battle the San Jose Barracuda on Sunday at Toyota Arena for the first time since the two had a pair of meetings in October during the opening weekend of the 2024-25 AHL season.

WHAT TO WATCH FOR: Although two straight wins over San Diego and Bakersfield last weekend moved the Reign ahead in the Pacific Division standings, they’ve fallen back to sixth place (24 points) as a result of being idle for the past seven days. Ontario now has games in hand on every team in the AHL, having played a league-low 20 contests. The Barracuda are in second place in the division with 31 points to their name through 23 games. The Reign rank fourth in the AHL on the offensive end, averaging 3.55 goals per game. San Jose, who is coming off a 5-2 loss to San Diego on Saturday, had previously secured points from seven straight outings and have skated to a 6-2-0-1 record in 1-goal games. Ontario has moved into the league’s top five in penalty killing, discarding 86.5% of opponent chances which ranks fourth-highest. The Reign have done that by killing off 31 of their last 32 over an 11-game span.

LAST TIME OUT: Late goals from Martin Chromiak and Joe Hicketts pushed the Ontario Reign past the Bakersfield Condors in come-from-behind fashion last Sunday afternoon, winning by a final score of 5-3 in front of their home fans at Toyota Arena. Chromiak, Hicketts and forward Jeff Malott each had a goal and an assist for Ontario, while Charles Hudon led the way on the offensive end with two goals and an assist for his second three-point effort of the season.

HEAD-TO-HEAD: San Jose claimed the first meeting between the two teams this season on Oct. 12 in Ontario by a score of 5-0, but Ontario responded the following night to split the opening weekend series with a 4-3 win on the back of Samuel Helenius, who both tied the game and won it in the final minutes of regulation. Ontario was at its best against the Barracuda last season, producing an unblemished 8-0-0 record vs. San Jose to secure 100% of their possible 16 standings points available to them. The Reign outscored the Barracuda 32-13 in last year’s series and produced a 21.9% power play success rate with seven goals in 32 opportunities. The Reign also killed 22 of 25 Cuda man-advantages (88%). Samuel Fagemo was Ontario’s leading scorer against San Jose a year ago, posting 16 points in seven games on 11 goals and five assists. Forwards Charles Hudon (3-3=6) and Taylor Ward (2-4=6) also had strong offensive performances against the Barracuda with six points apiece during 2023-24.

JUST CALL HIM HU-DINI: Forward Charles Hudon had his second three-point effort of the season last Sunday, scoring twice while adding an assist in a 5-3 win over Bakersfield. The Alma, Quebec native got Ontario on the board with a power play goal to tie the game at 1-1 early in the second period and continued his magic with another strike six minutes later to put the Reign in front for the first time. Hudon’s eight goals are third-most among Ontario forwards this season, sitting behind Samuel Fagemo (11) and Glenn Gawdin (9). The former fifth-round selection by Montreal in 2012 has 16 points from his first 20 games this season after finishing 2023-24 with 54 points in 56 outings with 20 goals and 34 assists. Hudon scored 10 of his 20 goals on the power play a season ago and previously led the AHL in power play goals when he totaled 17 as a member of the Colorado Eagles during 2022-23.

SCOUTING THE BARRACUDA: San Jose has had an impressive start to the season as they aim for their first Calder Cup Playoffs appearance since the 2018-19 campaign. Rookie forward Collin Graf is leading the team’s offense with 22 points through 23 games on five goals and 17 assists. Two of his tallies came against Ontario in October. Just behind him is veteran Andrew Poturalski, who has a team-leading nine goals along with 12 assists for 21 points. Top prospect Filip Bystedt has also accounted for 12 points to begin his first full AHL season with five goals and seven helpers. Another rookie, defender Luca Cagnoni, has paced the team’s blueliners on the offensive end with 20 points on seven goals and 13 assists. Goaltender Yaroslav Askarov has seen action in 14 contests, posting a 9-4-1 record. The former first-round NHL Draft selection has recorded a 2.00 goals-against average, a .938 save percentage and three shutouts.

HICKETTS’ FIRST COMES RIGHT ON TIME: Reign captain Joe Hicketts picked a great time to score his first goal of the season, knocking home a rebound off a shot by Martin Chromiak to break a 3-3 tie with less than three minutes remaining in Sunday’s eventual win over Bakersfield. Despite not having been the one to score, Hicketts is no stranger to the scoresheet this season as the blueliner leads all Ontario defenders with 14 points while appearing in all 20 of the team’s games to begin the year. The Kamloops, B.C. native had one goal in 30 contests a year ago but finished with 19 assists and 20 points. Before signing with the LA Kings and joining the Reign, Hicketts set career-highs in assists (42) and points (48) with the Iowa Wild during 2022-23.

PENALTY KILL SUCCESS: Ontario has allowed just two power play goals on the road this season in their nine games that have been played away from Toyota Arena. The success on the penalty kill has helped them to a 6-3-0 record on the road, discarding 93.9% of opponents’ opportunities on the man-advantage with a 31-for-33 mark. That percentage has them ranked No. 1 in the AHL as the only team that has allowed two or fewer power play goals while on the road this season. Combined with an 80% penalty kill rate at home, Ontario has only allowed 10 man-advantage goals on the year during 74 opponent power plays.