REIGN PREVIEW 1/29 – Ontario vs. Colorado

WHO: Ontario Reign (24-13-1-1) vs. Colorado Eagles (21-12-3-2)
WHAT: AHL REGULAR-SEASON GAME #40
WHEN: Wednesday, January 29 @ 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 are looking to continue their winning ways on Wednesdays and extend their recent run of success when they battle the Colorado Eagles this evening at Toyota Arena. Ontario has produced a 5-1-0 record on hump day this season, their highest points percentage on any single day of the week.

WHAT TO WATCH FOR: Three straight victories last week has Ontario holding second place in the Pacific Division standings with 50 points, while Colorado has hold of fifth with 47 points to its name. Anytime the Reign have scored first this year, they’ve had the upper hand, posting a 12-1-0-1 mark in the 14 games where they’ve taken an initial lead. Colorado is 17-5-2-1 from the 25 games this season where they’ve netted the opening goal. The two teams have very similar offensive outputs this year, with Colorado ranking fourth in the league with 129 goals in 38 games (3.39), while Ontario is sixth with 132 tallies in 39 outings (3.38). The Reign also average the third-most shots on goal per contest in the league (32.2), while the Eagles are seventh in the AHL on the defensive side of the puck, allowing just 2.74 goals per night.

LAST TIME OUT: Pheonix Copley turned out all 27 shots that came his way on Saturday night to lead the Ontario Reign to a 3-0 win over the Coachella Valley Firebirds at Toyota Arena. The victory gave Ontario a season series split with the Firebirds from eight games this year, with each team claiming four contests, and moved the Reign into sole possession of second place in the Pacific Division standings with 50 points.

HEAD-TO-HEAD: Each club came away with one win from the two previous meetings between Ontario and Colorado which took place on consecutive days Blue Arena in Loveland Nov. 15-16. The Reign won the first contest 5-3 before dropping the second battle by a 6-4 score the following night. Glenn Gawdin and Reilly Walsh both had two goals and an assist in the series, while Jeff Malott earned three assists for Ontario. TJ Tynan led the Eagles with three helpers in the two games. 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.

WINNING WITH WARD: Reign forward Taylor Ward moved the needle on the offensive end last week for the Reign, posting four points from his last four games while helping the club to a three-game winning streak. Ward scored a goal and an assist last Sunday in an overtime loss to Calgary before finding the back of the net two days later in a 6-1 win over the Wranglers. Most recently he netted his third goal from the last four outings and sixth tally of the year Saturday night during a 3-0 victory over Coachella Valley. The Kelowna, B.C. native has 14 points overall this season along with a plus-9 rating while playing in 35 contests. He is seven games away from his 200th career professional contest, all of which have come with Ontario, the seventh-most in team AHL history.

SCOUTING THE EAGLES: Forward Matthew Phillips is at the top of the team’s scoring leaderboard this season with 30 points in 35 games on eight goals and 22 assists. Veteran forward Jayson Megna has also made a big impact with 28 points on 11 goals and 17 assists, while former Reign captain TJ Tynan has 26 points in 29 games on six goals and 20 helpers. Defender Jacob MacDonald leads the blueliners with 26 points from the back end on an even 13 goals and 13 assists through 35 games. Blueliner Wyatt Aamodt has just eight points in 37 games on a goal and seven assists but has managed to rack up a league-high plus-30 rating, which is +9 ahead of No. 2 on the list, Calgary’s Yan Kuznetsov. In goal, Trent Minor has an impressive 2.51 goals-against average from 18 appearances, while Kevin Mandolese holds a team-best 0.910 save percentage in 12 contests and Adam Scheel has a 6-1-0 record in seven starts.

MILLAR MAKES IT HAPPEN: Rookie defenseman Jack Millar has been a bright spot for the team on the blueline this season, appearing in 34 of the club’s 39 games and recording a team-high plus-19 rating. That number is third-highest among all AHL skaters and the right-shot defender has played in less games than anyone above him on the list. Millar has been in Ontario’s lineup in each of the team’s last 28 games dating back to Nov. 15 after starting the campaign by appearing in just six of the first 11 contests. Most recently, the native of Westminster, Colorado has earned assists in three straight games, all wins for Ontario, while totaling a combined rating of plus-5 in the victories. Millar signed with Ontario after finishing his collegiate career at Colorado College where he appeared in 134 games over four seasons and made his AHL debut on Apr. 21 of last season in his home state against the Eagles in Loveland.

SAVING THE BEST FOR LAST: The third period has been Ontario’s best frame this season. The Reign have outscored opponents a combined 49-28 in the final period this year, netting more goals from the final frame than their totals from the first (36) and the second (42). They’ve backed up that year-long success in their latest four outings against Coachella Valley, Bakersfield and Calgary. First, they erased a 4-3 deficit with the lone goal of the frame last Sunday to force overtime while holding a 13-4 shot-on-goal advantage, then held the Wranglers quiet two nights later with just five shots allowed. On Friday, Ontario out-shot the Condors 12-8 in the third and Tyler Madden scored the only goal to force overtime in an eventual shootout win, while Saturday’s shutout victory over the Firebirds featured just seven shots on goal for the visitors.

Reign Check Gameday Forecast

2024-25 Head-to-Head Schedule vs. Colorado:
Fri., Nov. 15 at Colorado, 5-3 W – Full Recap
Sat., Nov. 16 at Colorado, 4-6 L – Full Recap
Wed., Jan. 29 vs. Colorado, 7 p.m.
Fri., Feb. 28 at Colorado, 6:05 p.m.
Sat., Mar. 1 at Colorado, 6:05 p.m.
Sat., Mar. 29 vs. Colorado, 6 p.m.
Sun., Mar. 30 vs. Colorado, 3 p.m.
Wed., Apr. 16 vs. Colorado, 7 p.m.