REIGN PREVIEW 3/29 – Ontario vs. Colorado

WHO: Ontario Reign (36-22-3-1) vs. Colorado Eagles (38-16-5-3)
WHAT: AHL REGULAR-SEASON GAME #63
WHEN: Saturday, March 29 @ 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: On Saturday night the Ontario Reign will open a weekend home series at Toyota Arena with the top team in the AHL’s Western Conference, the Colorado Eagles.

WHAT TO WATCH FOR: With four straight wins and victories in eight of their last 10, Colorado has control of the top spot in both the conference and the division, holding an eight-point edge over Ontario who remains in second place with 76 points. Saturday’s game is the first of three that remain on the 2024-25 regular season schedule between the clubs. Both teams have played 62 contests this year and have 10 remaining in the final month of the campaign. The Eagles became the first team in the Pacific to secure a spot in the 2025 Calder Cup Playoffs, while Ontario still has a magic number of eight points needed to clinch its postseason berth. Colorado is the top team in the league on both offense and defense, scoring an average of 3.56 goals per night while allowing just 2.48. The Reign continue to average the second-most shots on goal in the league (31.84) while allowing the second-lowest total per game (26.18).

LAST TIME OUT: The Tucson Roadrunners got 24 saves from goaltender Matt Villalta and held off the Ontario Reign offense, earning a 3-0 win at Toyota Arena on Wednesday. Pheonix Copley kept the Reign in the game the whole way, making 24 saves on 25 shots before the Roadrunners added a pair of empty-net goals in the final minutes.

HEAD-TO-HEAD: Colorado has picked up victories in four of the five battles between the two division foes this season, seizing control of the series with four straight wins after losing the first bout to Ontario. Most recently, the Eagles dominated back-to-back nights in Loveland on Feb. 28 and Mar. 1, winning each night by a 4-0 score. A month earlier, Colorado earned a win in Ontario on Jan. 29 by a 4-2 score. The clubs also split a series on consecutive days in Loveland for their first two meetings of the year on Nov. 15-16 with Ontario securing a 5-3 win night one before falling 6-4 the next evening. Glenn Gawdin and Reilly Walsh both have two goals and an assist in the series for the Reign, while Samuel Fagemo and Jack Studnicka each have one goal and one helper. Forward Jake Wise leads the Eagles against the Reign with six points, while five of his 15 total goals on the year have come in the five contests. Former Reign captain TJ Tynan has also produced four assists against his old teammates, which included a three-helper output in Colorado on Nov. 16. The Reign are 2-for-11 on the power play in the series (18.2%) while holding the Eagles to a 3-for-14 mark on the man advantage (21.4%). Ontario won just three of eight against the Eagles a year ago.

PHEONIX TAKES FLIGHT: Reign netminder Pheonix Copley has remained steady in between the pipes despite a heavy workload over the past month, starting in 14 of Ontario’s last 16 games dating back to Feb. 19. Copley has reached the 20-win mark for the first time in his AHL career, which began with the Hershey Bears 10 years ago during the 2014-15 campaign. The goaltender has earned a goals-against average of 2.47 in 35 appearances to go along with a 0.905 save percentage and two shutouts in over 2,000 minutes of action. If the Reign continue to rely on the backstop in their last 10 games, the North Pole, Alaska native is on pace to potentially set AHL career-highs in both minutes games played.

SCOUTING THE EAGLES: Defenseman Jacob MacDonald has taken over the Eagles’ team scoring lead this season with 51 points in 56 games, four shy of his career-high which was set as a member of the Binghamton Devils in 2017-18. MacDonald has a team-high 28 goals along with 23 assists and his 13 power play goals are tied for the most in the AHL this season. Forward Matthew Phillips is the top scoring forward among the group with 48 points on 17 goals and 31 assists. Captain Jayson Megna is just behind him with 46 points on 15 goals and 31 helpers. TJ Tynan has recently missed time with an injury but has averaged a point per game when in the lineup with 45 points in 45 contests on eight goals and a team-best 37 assists. In goal, Trent Miner has an impressive 2.13 goals-against average from 31 appearances which ranks fourth in the AHL, while Kevin Mandolese has played in 17 games with a 0.905 save percentage and Adam Scheel has earned a 10-1-2 record from 13 decisions along with a 2.44 GAA.

GIVE IT TO GLENN: Forward Glenn Gawdin was on the scoresheet during all four games of Ontario’s Central Division road trip last week, posting a power play assist Tuesday night before adding an empty-net goal the next evening and three tallies during the series in Iowa. In the process, Gawdin went over the 20-goal mark on the season for the second consecutive campaign. His 21 tallies are just one away from his career-high of 22 which he had last season as a member of the San Diego Gulls. Gawdin also had a personal best of 55 points a year ago and is close to matching that number again with 53 this season in 62 games. The seventh-year forward has points in seven of his last nine games, earning six goals and four assists during the run. Gawdin was a +5 in the four road games last week and now leads the team with a plus-20 rating overall this season. The Richmond, British Columbia native is also three 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.

FAGEMO BREAKS OUT, HITS 40 POINTS: With two goals and an assist to help defeat the Iowa Wild last Sunday, Reign forward Samuel Fagemo posted his first three-point effort since November. Fagemo’s effort helped him hit the 40-point mark this season, the third time in the last four years he’s reached that number as a member of Ontario. With both of his goals coming via the power play, Fagemo continues to lead the team with 10 man-advantage tallies on the year. It’s the third consecutive season that he’s produced a double-digit total of goals on the power play, and his second strike held up as the game-winner, the third time that’s been the case this year. Fagemo, a native of Goteborg, Sweden, is the all-time leader in goals scoring during the Reign’s history, netting 128 tallies in 257 AHL games with the club. He’s also second in team history in overall points scored (196) and games played (258).

Reign Check Gameday Forecast

2024-25 Head-to-Head Schedule vs. Colorado:
Fri., Nov. 15 at Colorado, 5-3 W – Full Recap
Sat., Nov. 16 at Colorado, 4-6 L – Full Recap
Wed., Jan. 29 vs. Colorado,  2-4 L – Full Recap
Fri., Feb. 28 at Colorado, 0-4 L – Full Recap
Sat., Mar. 1 at Colorado, 0-4 L – Full Recap
Sat., Mar. 29 vs. Colorado, 6 p.m.
Sun., Mar. 30 vs. Colorado, 3 p.m.
Wed., Apr. 16 vs. Colorado, 7 p.m.