REIGN PREVIEW 3/16 – Ontario vs. Henderson

WHO: Ontario Reign (33-19-3-1) vs. Henderson Silver Knights (24-31-3-0)
WHAT: AHL REGULAR-SEASON GAME #57
WHEN: Sunday, March 16 @ 3:00 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: Before heading out on their busiest road trip of the season later this week, the Ontario Reign host the Henderson Silver Knights on Sunday afternoon in the final meeting of the 2024-25 campaign between the two clubs.

WHAT TO WATCH FOR: Henderson is playing its second game in less than 24 hours after securing a 2-1 victory in Coachella Valley on Saturday night against the Firebirds. That win by the Silver Knights kept Ontario within one point of CV, who currently holds second place in the Pacific Division. The Reign are in the third slot with 70 points, one ahead of Calgary and six back of first-place Colorado. Henderson remains at the bottom of the standings in 10th, 10 points back of the final playoff spot with 14 games remaining on their schedule. Ontario dropped five straight before a successful trip to Tucson earlier this week, which yielded back-to-back 4-2 victories. The Reign average the second-most shots on goal in the league both for (31.95) and against (26.0) this season. Henderson holds a record of 6-2-2 in games outside of Nevada that have been decided by one goal this year.

LAST TIME OUT: Three third period goals propelled the Ontario Reign to a come-from-behind victory for the second straight night after falling behind early to the Tucson Roadrunners Wednesday at Tucson Arena by a final score of 4-2. With the win, Ontario completed a perfect 4-0-0 record in Tucson this season and are now 6-1-0 against the Roadrunners overall. Francesco Pinelli scored the game-winning goal for Ontario at 17:23 of the third period, which broke a 2-2 tie and extended his point streak to four games.

HEAD-TO-HEAD: The Reign have won five of their seven previous meetings with Henderson this season, outscoring the Silver Knights by a 23-16 margin. The shot totals have been more lopsided, with Ontario putting 250 shots on net while the Silver Knights have managed 188. Both clubs have fared well against the other on the power play, with the Reign scoring six times on the man-advantage while Henderson has managed seven. Ontario has a success rate of 24% (6/25), while Henderson has scored on 22.6% of its chances (7/31). Glenn Gawdin leads Ontario with nine points in the series vs. the Silver Knights on three goals and six assists. Samuel Fagemo has also chipped in seven points against Henderson with four goals and three helpers, while Charles Hudon has registered three goals and three assists. The Silver Knights have been led by forward Tanner Laczynski and defender Robert Hagg in the series, each totaling five points. Laczynski has two goals and three helpers, while Hagg has recorded five assists. A year ago, the Reign won five of the eight matchups against Henderson during the 2023-24 regular season, posting a 5-1-1-1 record with three multi-goal victories.

POWERFUL PINELLI: Reign forward Francesco Pinelli was one of the heroes in the team’s most recent win over Tucson on Wednesday, scoring the game-winning goal with less than three minutes remaining on the clock. Pinelli took a pass from Jeff Malott low in the Roadrunners’ zone and fired home his 14th goal of the year, besting the total from his rookie season to set a new career high while extending his current point streak to four games. The night before, Pinelli assisted on Luke Rowe’s game-winning goal during the second period, which gave him assists in three straight contests. Overall, the attacker has 26 points on the season, ranking sixth-highest among Reign forwards. The Stoney Creek, Ontario native also has seven multi-point efforts this year and has appeared in 122 AHL games over the past two campaigns, totaling 46 points (27 goals, 19 assists).

SCOUTING THE SILVER KNIGHTS: Henderson’s leading scorer this season is Gage Quinney, who has totaled 34 points in 46 games on nine goals and 25 assists. Just behind him are forwards Braeden Bowman and Tanner Laczynski, each accounting for 31 points. Bowman, a rookie, has 12 goals and 19 assists in 55 games, while Laczynski has 11 goals and 20 assists in 32 games while splitting his time between Henderson and Vegas. Team captain Jake Bischoff is the team’s active leader in scoring among defenders with 19 points in 50 games this year on three goals and 16 helpers. Between the pipes, Carl Lindbom and Akira Schmid have both appeared in 27 games for the Silver Knights. Lindbom has had a solid second half of the season after an injury earlier in the year and currently sports a record of 15-10-1 and a team-best 0.915 save percentage.

HUDON HITS 50 POINTS: Ontario’s leading scorer, Charles Hudon, reached the 50-point plateau on Wednesday with the primary assist on Glenn Gawdin’s 17th goal, which tied the game in the third period. It’s the fourth consecutive AHL campaign where Hudon has recorded 50 points, and he’s now seven away from tying his career-high of 57, which he has done twice in 2014-15 with the Hamilton Bulldogs and during 2021-22 as a member of the Syracuse Crunch. Hudon is also five assists away from a career high in that category. The Alma, Quebec native has scored 104 points in 108 games in two seasons with Ontario and has posted 412 points in 488 games over parts of nine seasons during his excellent AHL career.

ROWE’S FIRST MULTI-POINT EFFORTS: Reign defender Luke Rowe tallied a goal and an assist last Saturday in San Diego to record the first multi-point night of his professional career. The Succasunna, N.J. native followed that up with another goal and assist on Tuesday in Tucson during Ontario’s 4-2 victory. The rookie blueliner now has three goals this season and four in his 49 career AHL appearances, along with eight assists, to give him 11 points in his career with the Reign. Most impressively, Rowe has accumulated a plus-18 rating from his 44 games played this year, which is third-best on the team and tied for 10th-highest in the league. Since the beginning of February, Rowe has accounted for a plus-7 rating and has been even or better in 14 of his last 16 outings.

Reign Check Gameday Forecast

2024-25 Head-to-Head Schedule vs. Henderson:
Sun., Oct. 27 vs. Henderson, 1-5 L – Full Recap
Fri., Nov. 1 at Henderson, 4-1 W – Full Recap
Sat., Nov 2 vs. Henderson, 8-3 W – Full Recap
Wed., Nov. 20 at Henderson, 4-2 W – Full Recap
Tue., Dec. 31 at Henderson, 4-3 W – Full Recap
Wed., Jan. 8 at Henderson, 2-1 W – Full Recap
Sat., Jan. 18 vs. Henderson, 0-1 L – Full Recap
Sun., Mar. 16 vs. Henderson, 3 p.m.