REIGN PREVIEW 2/22 – Ontario vs. San Jose

WHO: Ontario Reign (30-14-2-1) vs. San Jose Barracuda (25-18-2-3)
WHAT: AHL REGULAR-SEASON GAME #48
WHEN: Saturday, February 22 @ 6:00 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: After completing a perfect 3-0-0 road trip in San Jose on Wednesday, the Ontario Reign return home to face the Barracuda in a rematch at Toyota Arena on Saturday night.

WHAT TO WATCH FOR: The Reign have a share of first place in the AHL’s Pacific Division standings after securing points from seven straight games and a record of 9-1-2 in their last 12 contests over the past month. Their 63 points have them tied at the top alongside the Calgary Wranglers, while San Jose is holding the No. 6 spot in the division with 55 points from 48 games. Anytime the Reign have scored first this year, which has only happened in 18 of their 46 outings, they’ve had the upper hand, posting a 15-2-0-1 mark from those contests. San Jose is 18-6-2-2 from the 28 games this season where they’ve netted the opening goal. The Reign rank fifth in the league on the offensive end with 162 tallies for an average of 3.45 per game, just ahead of the Barracuda who are seventh with 3.38 goals per night. San Jose also averages the most shots on goal per game in the league (32.42), while Ontario has the third-most shots per contest (32.04). On the defensive side, however, the Reign allows the second-lowest shot total per game (26.11) but the Cuda are at the other end of the spectrum, giving up the second-most shots in the league (32.83).

LAST TIME OUT: The Ontario Reign scored three goals in the first and added three more in the second on their way to a 6-4 win over the San Jose Barracuda at Tech CU Arena on Wednesday night. The victory gave the Reign 63 points in the standings and a share of first place in the Pacific Division as the first team in the Western Conference to win 30 games. Charles Hudon assisted on four of his team’s goals, giving him his first-career four-assist night, while Aatu Jamsen scored twice to record his first-career multi-goal effort. Pheonix Copley stopped 32 shots for Ontario to earn his fifth straight win and improve his record to 15-7-0 this 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. The Reign then defeated the Barracuda 5-4 in a shootout on Dec. 15 before traveling to Tech CU Arena for the first time this season on Wednesday and earning a 6-4 victory. While Ontario wasn’t able to score on the power play in the first three games of the series, they broke out for three man-advantage tallies in their most recent win. San Jose on the other hand, has converted on seven of its 17 man-advantage chances. Tyler Madden (2-3=5) and Charles Hudon (1-4=5) are tied for the Reign scoring lead against the Cuda, each recording five points vs. San Jose. Filip Bystedt (1-4=5) and Andrew Poturalski (1-4=5) have also each scored five points in the series for the Barracuda to lead their team against the Reign. Ontario was at its best against the Barracuda last season, producing an unblemished 8-0-0 record to secure 100% of their possible 16 standings points available to them.

MALOTT OF OFFENSE: Forward Jeff Malott had his second three-point performance of the season on Monday in the win over Calgary, scoring a goal and two assists. His goal not only won the game in overtime but was also enough for him to reach the 40-point mark on the year. Malott followed that game up with another goal in San Jose on Wednesday and is currently on a six-game point streak which has consisted of three multi-point efforts and a total of 10 points on seven goals and three assists. The Waterdown, Ontario native is now in his fifth professional season and ranks third on the Reign in scoring with 41 points (17 goals, 24 assists) while appearing in all 47 of Ontario’s games. His pair of recent multi-goal performances in the past two weeks were the first he’s recorded as a member of the Reign while his three-point effort on Monday was the seventh such game of his career. Malott 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.

SCOUTING THE BARRACUDA: San Jose had an impressive start to the season as they aim for their first Calder Cup Playoffs appearance since the 2018-19 campaign, but the Barracuda are just 4-5-0-1 from their last 10 contests. Veteran forward Andrew Poturalski is leading the AHL in scoring with 49 points on 20 goals and 29 assists in 44 games. Ethan Cardwell has also been a threat on the offensive end with 32 points from 40 games on six goals and 26 assists. Rookie defender Luca Cagnoni has paced the team’s blueliners on the offensive end with 36 points on 13 goals and 23 assists. Goaltender Yaroslav Askarov has seen action in 19 contests and recently represented the Pacific Division in the All-Star Classic, posting a 10-7-1 record. The former first-round NHL Draft selection has recorded a 2.52 goals-against average, a .922 save percentage and three shutouts.

CHARLIE CHATTER: Forward Charles Hudon enters Saturday night’s game on a team-best seven-game point streak, which is tied for the third-longest active run in the AHL. The stretch dates back to Jan. 31 and consists of 13 points on three goals and 10 assists. During six games in February, the attacker ranks second in the league in scoring with 12 points (2-10=12) with the highest assist total of any skater. Hudon’s 46 points from 43 games this season leads the team and ranks tied for third in the AHL and the Alma, Quebec native also has six game-winning goals on the year, which is tied for the second-most in the league. Hudon has done more damage on the man-advantage than any other Reign skater this season, totaling 16 power play points on three goals and 13 helpers. If he continues on his current pace, Hudon could set a new career-high in scoring, which he achieved with 57 points both in 2014-15 with the Hamilton Bulldogs and during 2021-22 as a member of the Syracuse Crunch. The attacker is also two goals shy of reaching 200 during his AHL career.

NEVER A DOUBT: Ever since their opening weekend when the Reign picked up their first win in come-from-behind fashion over the Barracuda, Ontario has specialized in comeback victories. Last week, the Reign earned back-to-back overtime wins in Calgary on Saturday and Monday and had to come from multiple goals down to achieve both decisions. In total, 19 of the team’s 30 wins have occurred after they trailed at some point during the game, making up 63% of their victories. Ontario also has an impressive record of 7-7-2 in games where they’ve trailed at the end of the first period, a .500 points percentage which is fifth-best among all AHL teams from that situation. Six of the Reign’s wins have come after they trailed on the scoreboard after the second period, which is tied for the second-most in the league behind only Laval (7).

Reign Check Gameday Forecast

2024-25 Head-to-Head Schedule vs. San Jose (all times Pacific):
Sat., Oct. 12 vs. San Jose, 0-5 L – Full Recap
Sun., Oct. 13 vs. San Jose, 4-3 W – Full Recap
Sun., Dec. 15 vs. San Jose, 5-4 SOW – Full Recap
Wed., Feb. 19 at San Jose, 6-4 W – Full Recap
Sat., Feb. 22 vs. San Jose, 6 p.m.
Wed., Apr. 2 at San Jose, 7 p.m.
Fri., Apr. 11 at San Jose, 7:30 p.m.
Sat., Apr. 12 at San Jose, 6 p.m.