REIGN PREVIEW 3/22 – Ontario at Iowa

WHO: Ontario Reign (35-20-3-1) at Iowa Wild (21-32-4-1)
WHAT: AHL REGULAR-SEASON GAME #60
WHEN: Saturday, March 22 @ 4:00 PM Pacific
WHERE: Wells Fargo Arena – Des Moines, IA
HOW TO FOLLOW: VIDEO: FloHockey – AUDIO: ESPN LA App / Reign Radio – TWITTER: @ShafReign & @OntarioReign

TODAY’S MATCHUP: The Ontario Reign continue their longest road trip of the 2024-25 campaign on Saturday, beginning a two-game series in Des Moines against the Iowa Wild. Ontario earned a split in Cedar Park, Texas from their pair of battles with the Stars on the front end of this week’s trip.

WHAT TO WATCH FOR: This week’s series will be the third and fourth contests between the Reign and Wild during 2024-25. The two teams split a series in Ontario two months ago on January 10 and 12. The Reign have won four of their last five games and continue to inch closer to securing a spot in the 2025 Calder Cup Playoffs. Ontario enters the weekend series in second place in the Pacific, with a magic number of 16 points to be either added to its season total or lost by the eighth-place team in the division to clinch their postseason berth. Iowa is at the bottom of the Central Division with just 47 points, 12 back of Rockford who holds the final playoff spot in that division. The Reign average the second-most shots on goal in the league (31.83) and also allow the second-lowest total per game (26.05). Iowa also averages a high shot count, putting an average of 31.29 attempts on goal per game, which is the fifth-highest in the AHL.

LAST TIME OUT: The Ontario Reign took a lead into the third period and tacked on insurance to defeat the Texas Stars by a final score of 4-1 on Wednesday night at the H-E-B Center. Pheonix Copley led the way with 30 stops in the crease for Ontario and was named the No. 1 star of the game. Caleb Jones factored into three of the Reign’s tallies, scoring his first goal of the year and assisting on two others.

HEAD-TO-HEAD: This year’s series between Ontario and Iowa is the first since the 2019-20 season when the clubs split four matchups with each side winning one in its home building and one on the road. The Wild took the first meeting this year by a 5-0 score at Toyota Arena on Jan. 10 when Samuel Hlavaj recorded a 34-save shutout and Graeme Clarke scored three points with two goals and an assist. The Reign responded two nights later with a 5-2 victory led by Glenn Gawdin, who had two goals and an assist of his own, while Charles Hudon posted a goal and an assist. 10 Ontario skaters recorded points in that winning effort. There were also goals from both Tyler Madden and Joseph Cecconi in that game, who were later swapped in a trade between the Kings and Wild on Feb. 26.

JONES ADDS TO THE OFFENSE: Defenseman Caleb Jones posted the first three-point game of his professional career in the Reign’s win over Texas on Wednesday while scoring his first goal as a member of Ontario. Jones had both a goal and an assist late in the third period with Texas’ net empty while the Reign were shorthanded and had the primary helper on Jeff Malott’s game-winning goal which came on the power play in the second period. In 32 contests with Ontario in the AHL this season, Jones has 17 points on a goal and 16 assists with a plus-4 rating. The native of Arlington, Texas has accumulated 80 points in 169 career AHL games with the Reign, Colorado Eagles and Bakersfield Condors, and has seen action in 247 NHL contests with the LA Kings, Colorado Avalanche, Chicago Blackhawks and Edmonton Oilers, the team that selected him in the fourth round of the 2015 NHL Draft.

SCOUTING THE WILD: Last weekend, Iowa earned three of a possible four points from a home series against the Manitoba Moose, losing 5-4 in overtime on Saturday before a 6-2 win on Sunday afternoon which included two goals apiece for forwards Travis Boyd and Graeme Clarke. Boyd leads the team offensively with 43 points in 49 games this season on 17 goals and 26 assists. Clarke has 31 points on 13 goals and 18 helpers, while rookie forward Hunter Haight is the team’s goal scoring leader with 18 tallies and 31 points in 53 contests. David Spacek is first among the team’s defenders offensively with 22 points from 58 games on four goals and 22 assists. Since coming over in a trade last month, Tyler Madden has one assist in six appearances for Iowa. Jesper Wallstedt is the Wild’s top goaltending prospect, but he has struggled in 24 AHL contests this season after a stellar performance a year ago. Wallstedt has a 9-12-3 record and a 3.61 goals-against average. Rookie netminder Samuel Hlavaj has also won nine appearances while posting a 3.18 GAA and playing a team-high 1,413 minutes.

HICKETTS AGREES TO CONTRACT EXTENSION: The LA Kings signed Reign defenseman Joe Hicketts to a two-year, two-way contract extension through the 2026-27 season on Thursday. Hicketts, 28, has skated in 52 games for Ontario this season while serving as the team’s captain, notching 27 points (3-24=27) with 37 penalty minutes (PIM) and a plus-7 rating. It’s the sixth time in his professional career he’s reached 25 points. This season marks Hicketts’ second with Ontario, accumulating 47 points (4-43=47) in 82 games since joining the organization. The blueliner began his career with the Detroit Red Wings in 2014 when he was signed as an undrafted free agent. Since then, Hicketts has skated in 22 career NHL games – all with Detroit – collecting five assists (0-5=5). He has earned 244 points (38-206=244) with 327 PIM and a plus-25 rating in 501 career AHL games split between Ontario, the Iowa Wild and the Grand Rapids Griffins. In 39 career Calder Cup Playoff games, Hicketts has produced 18 points (2-16=18) and helped Grand Rapids to a Calder Cup Championship in 2017, where he contributed eight points (1-7=8) in 19 postseason contests. He returns to Iowa this weekend where he played during the 2021-22 and 2022-23 seasons, combining for 79 points in 133 games on 18 goals and 61 assists.

GIVE IT TO GLENN: Forward Glenn Gawdin was on the scoresheet during both games against the Stars this week, posting an assist on Charles Hudon’s second period power play goal Tuesday night before adding an empty-net goal the following evening to help seal a victory for the Reign in Texas. The seventh-year forward has points in five of his last six games, earning three goals and three assists during the run. Overall, Gawdin has 49 points on 18 goals and 31 helpers along with a plus-19 rating that is tied for the best mark on the team. The Richmond, British Columbia native has reached the 50-point plateau twice in his AHL career, including last season as a member of San Diego when he set a career-high with 55 points. The attacker is also four assists shy of tying his previous high mark of 35, which he achieved as a member of the Stockton Heat during the 2021-22 campaign.

Reign Check Gameday Forecast

2024-25 Head-to-Head Schedule vs. Iowa:
Fri., Jan. 10 vs. Iowa, 0-5 L – Full Recap
Sun., Jan. 12 vs. Iowa, 5-2 W – Full Recap
Sat., Mar. 22 at Iowa, 4 p.m.
Sun., Mar. 23 at Iowa, 1 p.m.