REIGN PREVIEW 3/23 – Ontario at Iowa

WHO: Ontario Reign (35-21-3-1) at Iowa Wild (22-32-4-1)
WHAT: AHL REGULAR-SEASON GAME #61
WHEN: Sunday, March 23 @ 1:00 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: To wrap up their road schedule in March, the Ontario Reign will conclude a four-game weeklong trip in Des Moines against the Iowa Wild on Sunday afternoon.

WHAT TO WATCH FOR: Ontario aims to salvage a split of their road week on Sunday after falling in the weekend’s opening game by a 4-2 score Saturday night. Sunday’s contest is the fourth matchup between the Reign and Wild during the 2024-25 campaign. The two teams split a series in Ontario two months ago on January 10 and 12. The Reign have won four of their last six games and continue to inch closer to securing a spot in the 2025 Calder Cup Playoffs. Ontario remains in second place in the Pacific Division and holds a magic number of 14 points to clinch their postseason berth. After a win on Saturday, Iowa is tied for sixth place in the Central Division with 49 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 (31.88) and allow the second-lowest total per game (26.15). Iowa also averages a high shot count, putting an average of 31.31 attempts on goal per game, which is the fifth-most in the AHL.

LAST TIME OUT: Two goals by Ben Jones sent the Iowa Wild past the Ontario Reign in the first of a two-game series between the two teams on Saturday night at Wells Fargo Arena. Martin Chromiak and Glenn Gawdin each found the back of the net for Ontario in a losing effort, with Gawdin’s goal serving as his 50th point of the 2024-25 season.

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 and 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. Gawdin leads the Reign in the series with four points on three goals and an assist, while Hudon has three points on a goal and two helpers. Clarke has picked up four points in the three games for Iowa with two goals and two assists.

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 44 points in 50 games this season on 18 goals and 26 assists. Clarke has 32 points on 13 goals and 19 helpers, while rookie forward Hunter Haight also has 18 tallies and 32 points in 54 contests. David Spacek is first among the team’s defenders offensively with 26 points from 59 games on four goals and 22 assists. Since coming over in a trade last month, Tyler Madden has three points on a goal and two assists in seven 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 now won 10 of his appearances while posting a 3.14 GAA and playing a team-high 1,473 minutes.

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 on Tuesday night before adding an empty-net goal the next evening to help seal a victory for the Reign in Texas. He then followed that up by scoring his 19th goal of the year in the second period of Saturday’s loss in Iowa. The seventh-year forward has points in six of his last seven games, earning four goals and three assists during the run. Overall, Gawdin has hit the 50-point mark for the season along with a plus-20 rating that leads the team. The Richmond, British Columbia native has previously 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.

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 53 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 during his professional career that 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 502 career AHL games split between Ontario, the Iowa Wild and 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 returned to Iowa on Saturday, where he played during the 2021-22 and 2022-23 seasons and produced 79 points in 133 games on 18 goals and 61 assists.

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 33 contests in the AHL with Ontario this season, Jones has 17 points on a goal and 16 assists along with a plus-4 rating. The native of Arlington, Texas has accumulated 80 points in 170 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.

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, 2-4 L – Full Recap
Sun., Mar. 23 at Iowa, 1 p.m.