REIGN PREVIEW 1/3 – Ontario vs. San Diego

WHO: Ontario Reign (18-8-0-1) vs. San Diego Gulls (9-17-2-2)
WHAT: AHL REGULAR-SEASON GAME #28
WHEN: Friday, January 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 Ontario Reign return home to open their 2025 slate on Friday night at Toyota Arena against the rival San Diego Gulls. The fourth occurrence of the SoCal Series this season will be the first matchup between the two in Ontario.

WHAT TO WATCH FOR: After closing 2024 with an 8-0-0-1 mark from their last nine outings, the Reign begin the weekend in sole possession of third place in the Pacific Division standings with 37 points, just one back of San Jose for second. This season the Reign have posted a 9-5-0 record at home, which includes a recent four-game home winning streak that dates back to a Dec. 8 victory over Bakersfield. San Diego is coming off a 4-3 overtime loss to San Jose on New Year’s Day and remains in ninth place in the standings with 22 points. Ontario holds the third-highest scoring offense in the AHL, averaging 3.59 goals per game, while posting the third-most shots on goal per contest (32.0). The Gulls have scored five shorthanded goals on the season, which is tied for the fourth-most in the AHL.

LAST TIME OUT: The Ontario Reign capped off their best month of 2024 on the final day of the year with a 4-3 win over the Henderson Silver Knights at Lee’s Family Forum Tuesday night to move into sole possession of second place in the AHL’s Pacific Division with 37 points. Taylor Ward led the way offensively with a goal and an assist, while Jack Studnicka, Glenn Gawdin and Francesco Pinelli also found the back of the net and Erik Portillo stopped a season-high 40 shots in the victory.

HEAD-TO-HEAD: Ontario has claimed victories in two of its three previous matchups against San Diego this season which have all come down south at Pechanga Arena. The Reign defeated the Gulls 4-1 on Nov. 23, scoring twice in the final five minutes of the first period and remaining in front the rest of the way. Glenn Gawdin led the offense for the Reign that night with three assists against his former team, while Jack Studnicka and Jeff Malott each posted a goal and an assist and goaltender Erik Portillo stopped 33 of 34 shots to earn the win. Ontario then pulled out a 2-1 decision in a shootout on Dec. 7, outshooting their rivals by a 38-22 margin but overcoming a penalty in overtime before Taylor Ward had the only strike in the skill session. Most recently, San Diego outlasted the Reign in another shootout finish on Dec. 27 despite 31 saves from Erik Portillo. Francesco Pinelli scored twice in the opening period, but Yegor Sidorov had the deciding strike in the shootout.

DECEMBER TO REMEMBER: The Reign saved their best for last in 2024, capping off the calendar year with their most successful month, an 8-1-0-1 record from 10 contests for a .850 points percentage. That also included a season-high six-game winning streak that spanned from Dec. 7-21. Despite playing in only seven of the 10 games, forward Charles Hudon led the team with nine points in the month on five goals and four assists. Attackers Jeff Malott and Francesco Pinelli each had eight points, with Malott earning three goals and five helpers while Pinelli recorded six goals and two assists. Samuel Fagemo was even with Pinelli for the most goals during December, with each posting six apiece, and Tyler Madden had a team-high six assists despite being held without a goal. Netminder Erik Portillo was unbeaten during regulation in the month, going 5-0-0-1 from six appearances with a 2.24 goals-against average and a .919 save percentage.

SCOUTING THE GULLS: San Diego comes into Friday’s contest aiming to earn its first victory of 2025 and improve a road record that stands at just 4-11-1 on the year. Rookie forward Sam Colangelo, who recently returned from a recall to Anaheim by the Ducks, leads the team with 21 points on 12 goals and nine assists in 22 outings. Yegor Sidorov has been one of the team’s hottest skaters as of late and is second on the club with 19 points on nine goals and 10 helpers. Captain Ryan Carpenter also has 15 points in 30 games on six goals and nine assists. Roland McKeown leads all Gulls defenders with 18 points in 30 games on eight goals and 10 assists. In goal, Calle Clang has played in 20 of San Diego’s contests, helping produce seven of its nine wins with a goals-against average of 3.14 along with a 0.894 save percentage. Oscar Dansk has also seen action in 14 games.

PINELLI STAYS HOT: Forward Francesco Pinelli scored twice during the first period of Ontario’s 4-3 shootout loss in San Diego last Friday night for his first-career multi-goal effort. He followed that performance up with the team’s first goal on Saturday in Palm Desert and helped seal the win in Henderson on Tuesday with an empty-net strike. Pinelli found the back of the net six times during December, the best month of goal scoring in his AHL career. The Stoney Creek, Ontario native now has eight tallies while appearing in all of the club’s 27 games during his sophomore season. The former second-round selection by the LA Kings in the 2021 NHL Draft has 14 total points to his name (8-6=14). Through 93 career AHL contests over the past two campaigns, Pinelli has 21 goals and 13 assists for 34 points.

2024 YEAR-END WRAPUP: The Reign have a lot of good results to look back on from the past year, which included a total regular season record of 44-21-0-4 from 69 games, giving them a points percentage of 0.666. Samuel Fagemo was the team’s highest scoring player of 2024, posting 66 points from 66 games during the year on 48 goals and 18 assists. Charles Hudon ranked second in 2024 with 59 points on 22 tallies and 37 helpers. Tyler Madden was also impressive with 47 points (18-29=47) while playing more games than any other Reign skater (76). Taylor Ward earned the best rating during the year with a +34 from 73 contests. In goal, Erik Portillo went 30-12-0-3 with a 2.36 goals-against average, a .918 save percentage and two shutouts.

COMEBACK KINGS: Ontario has been very comfortable with coming from behind during its recent stretch of hot play which includes eight wins from the last nine games they’ve contested. In the eight victories, the team has successfully eliminated a deficit before coming out on top, including their most recent win in Henderson on Tuesday where they trailed 2-1 during the second period before Jack Studnicka evened the game and Glenn Gawdin put them ahead. In total, 11 of the team’s 18 wins have been in come-from-behind fashion, including eight when they’ve surrendered the first goal of the game. With all their success late in games, the Reign have outscored opponents a combined 35-21 in the third period this season.

Reign Check Gameday Forecast

2024-25 Head-to-Head Schedule vs. San Diego:
Sat., Nov. 23 at San Diego, 4-1 W – Full Recap
Sat., Dec. 7 at San Diego, 2-1 W – Full Recap
Fri., Dec. 27 at San Diego, 3-4 SOL – Full Recap
Fri., Jan. 3 vs. San Diego, 7 p.m.
Sat., Feb. 8 vs. San Diego, 7 p.m.
Fri., Mar. 7 vs. San Diego, 7 p.m.
Sat., Mar. 8 at San Diego, 6 p.m.
Fri., Apr. 18 vs. San Diego, 7 p.m.