REIGN PREVIEW 2/12 – Ontario vs. Tucson

WHO: Ontario Reign (26-14-2-1) vs. Tucson Roadrunners (21-20-2-1)
WHAT: AHL REGULAR-SEASON GAME #44
WHEN: Wednesday, February 12 @ 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 battle the Tucson Roadrunners for the third time in their last four games Wednesday night at Toyota Arena. Ontario has emerged with victories from all three previous contests against the Roadrunners this season.

WHAT TO WATCH FOR: The Reign have a hold of fourth place in the Pacific Division standings with 55 points, two ahead of fifth-place San Jose and one behind third-place Coachella Valley. Tucson is on the outside looking in at the division’s playoff picture after recently going 2-6-1-1 from their last 10 outings and holds eighth place with 45 points, two back of Bakersfield for the seventh and final postseason spot. Anytime the Reign have scored first this year, they’ve had the upper hand, posting a 14-2-0-1 mark in the 17 games in which they’ve taken an initial lead. Tucson is 14-5-1-1 from the 21 games this season where they’ve netted the opening goal. Ontario ranks seventh in the league on the offensive end with 145 tallies for an average of 3.37 per game, while ranking 11th on the defensive side of the puck by allowing 2.93 goals per contest. The Reign also average the second-most shots on goal in the league (32.33), while the Roadrunners are 11-5-0 when they out-shoot their opponent.

LAST TIME OUT: A game-winning goal in overtime by Nikita Nesterenko capped off a comeback victory for the San Diego Gulls, who defeated the Ontario Reign by a final score of 5-4 on Saturday at Toyota Arena. Francesco Pinelli and Joe Hicketts each posted a goal and an assist for Ontario in a losing effort, while Martin Chromiak and Jeff Malott also found the back of the net during the team’s annual Pink In The Rink Night.

HEAD-TO-HEAD: The Reign have earned wins in all three of their meetings with Tucson during the 2024-25 campaign, holding the Roadrunners to just one goal in each of the first two contests before outlasting them in a shootout on the first day of February. Overall, Ontario has outscored Tucson a combined 11-6 combined in the series. Both clubs have scored twice on the man-advantage against the other, with Ontario going 2-for-14 (14.3%) and Tucson 2-for-17 (11.7%). A year ago, the two teams were evenly matched, with each winning four of the eight scheduled meetings during the 2023-24 regular season despite Ontario outscoring Tucson 30-19. Glenn Gawdin leads Ontario in this year’s series with five points from the three games on two goals and three assists, while Charles Hudon has points from each game with a goal and two assists and Jeff Malott has posted two goals and one assist.

MALOTT OF OFFENSE: Forward Jeff Malott has scored in back-to-back games for Ontario, totaling three goals from his last two outings to help the Reign’s offense. The fifth-year attacker ranks third on the team in scoring this season with 34 points from 43 games on 13 goals and 21 assists. Most recently, Malott’s trio of goals marked the third time he’s found the back of the net in consecutive games this season. His two tallies in Tucson on Feb. 1 was also his first multi-goal performance as a member of the Reign. The 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.

SCOUTING THE ROADRUNNERS: Tucson finished in second place in the Pacific Division standings last season but bowed out in the opening round of the Calder Cup Playoffs, dropping a best-of-3 series to the Calgary Wranglers. The Roadrunners are coming into Wednesday’s matchup on the heels of a 3-2 road win in Bakersfield Tuesday evening. Forward Kailer Yamamoto, who scored the game-winning goal last night, leads the team in scoring with 36 points in 36 games this season on 14 goals and 22 assists. Forward Egor Sokolov has also made a big impact with 32 points on 15 goals and 17 assists, while Cameron Hebig has a team-high 17 goals along with 14 assists for 31 points in 39 games and recently represented the Pacific Division at the AHL All-Star Classic last week. Defenders Robbie Russo and Artem Duda lead the blueliners with 19 and 16 points, respectively. In net, Jaxson Stauber has split time with incumbent Matt Villalta, with Stauber holding a 8-5-0 record from 13 appearances while also seeing four games of NHL action with Utah. Villalta is 10-15-3 from 28 contests with a 2.98 goals-against average, a 0.904 save percentage and three shutouts.

CAN’T STOP COP(LEY): Reign goaltender Pheonix Copley is on his best run of the 2024-25 season, allowing one or fewer goals in four consecutive starts dating back to the middle of January. Copley has earned wins from his last three appearances, including a victory over Calgary in Ontario on Jan. 21, before posting a 27-save shutout of Coachella Valley Jan. 25 and denying another 21 shots in a win over Tucson on Jan. 31. The North Pole, Alaska native’s hot stretch has lowered his season-long goals-against average to 2.45, while raising his save percentage to 0.906. Copley’s goals-against ranks 11th-best in the league among active qualifying netminders. In 257 career AHL games since 2014-15, Copley has a 2.51 goals-against and a 0.911 save percentage while posting 137 wins and 17 shutout performances.

SHOT STATS: The Reign have out-shot their opponents in nine of their last 10 games dating back to the middle of January and have only seen one opponent register more shots on goal than them since the calendar flipped to 2025. They’re ranked second in the league in both shots on goal per game as well as shots against, surrendering an average of only 26.12 opportunities per contest this season. When the Reign have more shots than their opponent, they hold a record of 18-9-2 this year, while still earning an 8-4-0-1 mark from games in which they’ve been out chanced.

Reign Check Gameday Forecast

2024-25 Head-to-Head Schedule vs. Tucson:
Wed., Nov. 13 vs. Tucson, 4-1 W – Full Recap
Fri., Jan. 31 at Tucson, 2-1 W – Full Recap
Sat., Feb. 1 at Tucson, 5-4 SOW – Full Recap
Wed., Feb. 12 vs. Tucson, 7 p.m.
Wed., Mar. 5 vs. Tucson, 7 p.m.
Tue., Mar. 11 at Tucson, 6:30 p.m.
Wed., Mar. 12 at Tucson, 6:30 p.m.
Wed., Mar. 26 vs. Tucson, 7 p.m.