REIGN PREVIEW 2/15 – Ontario at Calgary

WHO: Ontario Reign (27-14-2-1) at Calgary Wranglers (29-15-2-1)
WHAT: AHL REGULAR-SEASON GAME #45
WHEN: Saturday, February 15 @ 1:00 PM Pacific
WHERE: Scotiabank Saddledome – Calgary, AB
HOW TO FOLLOW: VIDEO: FloHockey – AUDIO: ESPN LA App / Reign Radio – TWITTER: @ShafReign & @OntarioReign

TODAY’S MATCHUP: In what will be their earliest scheduled start time to date of the 2024-25 regular season, the Ontario Reign are north of the border to take on the Calgary Wranglers Saturday afternoon at the Scotiabank Saddledome for the first of two games between the two teams this week.

WHAT TO WATCH FOR: The Reign have an opportunity to catch Calgary over the next three days, who currently sits at the top of the Pacific Division standings, but to do so they’ll need regulation wins from both contests. Ontario enters Saturday’s game with 57 points, good for third place behind the Wranglers (61) and Colorado Eagles (60). Anytime the Reign have scored first this year, which has only happened in 17 of their 44 outings, they’ve had the upper hand, posting a 14-2-0-1 mark from those contests. Calgary is 19-6-2-1 from the 28 games this season where they’ve netted the opening goal. Ontario ranks sixth in the league on the offensive end with 149 tallies for an average of 3.39 per game, while ranking 11th on the defensive side of the puck by allowing 2.89 goals per contest. The Reign also average the second-most shots on goal in the league (32.32), while the Wranglers are 11-6-0-1 when they out-shoot their opponent.

LAST TIME OUT: Charles Hudon posted three points, Jeff Malott struck twice and Luke Rowe scored his first goal of the season as the Ontario Reign improved to 4-0-0 against the Tucson Roadrunners during 2024-25 with a 4-1 win on Wednesday night at Toyota Arena. Goaltender Pheonix Copley stopped 21 shots in the Reign crease to earn the victory and extended his run of games allowing one goal or less to five straight. Copley is now 13-7-0 on the year with a 2.38 goals-against average in 21 appearances.

HEAD-TO-HEAD: The Reign have had the upper hand from their three previous matchups against Calgary this season, defeating them 2-1 on Dec. 18 before avenging a 5-4 overtime loss on Jan. 19 with a lopsided 6-1 victory two nights later on Jan. 21. All three contests were played in Ontario at Toyota Arena, with each team scoring three times from 11 chances on the power play in the three outings combined. The Reign have four players averaging a point-per-game against Calgary, including Andre Lee and Taylor Ward who have each scored twice and added an assist, while Tyler Madden and Jack Studnicka recorded their three points on a goal and two assists apiece. Ontario secured points from six of their eight meetings with the Wranglers a year ago, earning a 5-2-0-1 record in the season series while outscoring Calgary a combined 26-16. Samuel Fagemo led the Reign with nine points from that series on seven goals and two assists. Wranglers’ returning forward Adam Klapka had six points against Ontario a year ago on two goals and four helpers.

MALOTT OF OFFENSE: Forward Jeff Malott has scored in three straight games for Ontario, with multiple tallies in two to help the Reign offense with five goals from his last three outings. The fifth-year attacker ranks third on the team in scoring this season with 36 points from 44 games on 15 goals and 21 assists. It’s the first time Malott has scored goals in three consecutive games this season and the run is tied for the longest active goal-scoring streak in the AHL. His pair of recent multi-goal performances were the first he’s recorded 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 WRANGLERS: Forward Rory Kerins was leading Calgary with 34 points from his first 34 games this season before earning his first NHL call-up from the Flames last month. While he’s recently returned to the Wranglers lineup and continues to lead the club with 22 goals, Calgary has two others atop the team scoring lead in Dryden Hunt and former Reign attacker Martin Frk, each with 40 points on the year. Hunt has 12 goals and 28 assists, while Frk is up to 17 goals and 23 helpers. Forward William Strömgren has also come on as of late and has 38 points on 12 goals and 26 assists. Defender Jeremie Poirier paces the team’s blueliners with 25 points on three goals and 22 assists. Devin Cooley has led the Wranglers in net this season and earned an appearance for the Pacific Division at the AHL All-Star Game last week. His 18-9-2 record from 30 appearances has him tied for the highest win total in the league and his 0.927 save percentage ranks third-best. Rookie Waltteri Ignatjew has also seen action between the pipes in 16 contests for Calgary.

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 five consecutive starts dating back to the middle of January. Copley has earned wins from his last four appearances, including a victory over Calgary in Ontario on Jan. 21, a 27-save shutout of Coachella Valley on Jan. 25 and back-to-back 21-save wins over Tucson on Jan. 31 and Feb. 12. The North Pole, Alaska native’s hot stretch has lowered his season-long goals-against average to 2.38 while raising his save percentage to 0.908. Copley’s goals-against ranks 10th-best in the league among active qualifying netminders. In 258 career AHL games since 2014-15, Copley has a 2.51 goals-against and a 0.911 save percentage while posting 138 wins and 17 shutout performances.

SHOT STATS: The Reign have out-shot their opponents in 10 of their last 11 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 26.02 opportunities per contest this season. When the Reign have more shots than their opponent, they hold a record of 19-9-2 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. Calgary (all times Pacific):
Wed., Dec. 18 vs. Calgary, 2-1 W – Full Recap
Sun., Jan. 19 vs. Calgary, 4-5 OTL – Full Recap
Tue., Jan. 21 vs. Calgary, 6-1 W – Full Recap
Sat., Feb. 15 at Calgary, 1 p.m.
Mon., Feb. 17 at Calgary, 1:30 p.m.
Sun., Feb. 23 vs. Calgary, 3 p.m.
Sat., Apr. 5 at Calgary, 12:30 p.m.
Mon., Apr. 7 at Calgary, 6 p.m.