REIGN PREVIEW 4/6 – Ontario at Calgary

WHO: Ontario Reign (39-23-3-1) at Calgary Wranglers (34-26-4-3)
WHAT: AHL REGULAR-SEASON GAME #67
WHEN: Sunday, April 6 @ 12:00 PM Pacific
WHERE: Scotiabank Saddledome – Calgary, AB
HOW TO FOLLOW: VIDEO: FloHockey – AUDIO: ESPN LA App / Reign Radio – TWITTER: @ShafReign & @OntarioReign

TODAY’S MATCHUP: The Ontario Reign and Calgary Wranglers meet for the second time in 24 hours on Sunday afternoon at the Scotiabank Saddledome to conclude their eight-game season series.

WHAT TO WATCH FOR: After falling in game one of this weekend’s series on Saturday, Ontario has fallen to third place in the Pacific Division standings. The Reign aim to salvage a split and earn a win on Sunday, allowing them to keep pace with the two teams in front of them in Colorado and Abbotsford. Including today’s matchup, Ontario has six games remaining on its regular season schedule. Calgary is currently sitting in fifth place in the Pacific with 75 points, which is tied alongside San Jose and four behind Coachella Valley for the final home-ice position in the opening round of the postseason. The Wranglers’ magic number to clinch a playoff spot is five points. Ontario has fared well in close games this season, earning a record of 17-3-3-1 in one-goal outcomes, while Calgary is 15-7-4-3 in contests decided by a single goal. The Reign average the fourth-most shots on goal per game in the league with 31.38 and allow the second-lowest total per contest (26.21).

LAST TIME OUT: Two first period goals staked the Calgary Wranglers to an early lead which was enough to defeat the Ontario Reign on Saturday afternoon at the Scotiabank Saddledome with the game ending in a 3-1 score. Glenn Gawdin had the lone strike for the Reign in defeat, extending his career-best goal total to 25 for the season, while Charles Hudon picked up an assist to record his 60th point of the 2024-25 campaign.

HEAD-TO-HEAD: The Reign have had the upper hand against Calgary this season, earning wins in five of their seven previous matchups (5-1-1). Saturday was Ontario’s first regulation loss to the Wranglers during 2024-25. Prior to that, the Reign claimed a 2-1 shootout win at Toyota Arena on Feb. 23, going 2-for-2 in the skill session while goaltender Pheonix Copley stopped both of Calgary’s attempts in addition to 26 saves to secure the win. The teams also met in Alberta during mid-February, which saw the Reign post back-to-back overtime wins in three days by scores of 4-3 and 3-2 on extra-time goals by Francesco Pinelli and Jeff Malott. Ontario also defeated the Wranglers 2-1 on Dec. 18 before avenging a 5-4 overtime loss on Jan. 19 with a lopsided 6-1 victory two nights later. The Reign have had the upper hand on special teams in the series, scoring six times on the power play from 28 chances (21.4%), while Calgary has scored first in all seven meetings. Charles Hudon has led the way for the Reign in the series with seven points from the seven matchups (3-4=7). Jack Studnicka also has five points on two goals and three assists, while Glenn Gawdin has four points on three goals and an assist and Andre Lee and Taylor Ward each have two goals and two assists. Martin Frk and Dryden Hunt have led Calgary with six points in the seven meetings this season, with Frk scoring a team-high three times. Last year Ontario secured points from six of their eight meetings with the Wranglers, earning a 5-2-0-1 record in the season series while outscoring Calgary a combined 26-16.

GIVE IT TO GLENN: Forward Glenn Gawdin enters Sunday’s game on a four-game point streak, scoring four times and adding an assist during the run. The Richmond, B.C. native scored Ontario’s lone goal on Saturday after coming up big for the Reign last weekend with three tallies during the team’s two home wins over Colorado. Gawdin also assisted on Martin Chromiak’s opening-minute goal in San Jose on Wednesday and was on the scoresheet during all four games of Ontario’s Central Division road trip in late March. Looking deeper into his scoring success, Gawdin has posted 15 points from his last 13 games on 10 goals and five assists, setting new career-highs in goals (25) and points (58) in the process. The seventh-year center has appeared in all 66 of the Reign’s games thus far since signing a two-year contract with the LA Kings last summer. Gawdin also has a plus-20 rating this season and is just two 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.

SCOUTING THE WRANGLERS: Forward Rory Kerins has led the way offensively for Calgary this season, scoring a team-best 31 goals along with 26 assists for 57 points. Kerins is one of six skaters in the AHL to crack the 30-goal mark so far this season and his total is the most among all Pacific Division players. Martin Frk is second on the team in overall scoring with 53 points on 23 goals and 30 assists while playing in his first year with the Wranglers. Second-year attacker William Strömgren has also come on in the back half of the season and has totaled 45 points on 13 goals and 32 assists. Defender Jeremie Poirier paces the team’s blueliners with 36 points on five goals and 31 assists. Devin Cooley has led the Wranglers in net this season, playing more minutes than any other AHL goaltender (2508:47). Cooley has posted a record of 21-15-5 record from 44 appearances along with a 2.87 goals-against average and a 0.907 save percentage. Rookie Waltteri Ignatjew has also seen action between the pipes in 24 contests for Calgary.

PHEONIX TAKES FLIGHT: Reign netminder Pheonix Copley has remained steady in between the pipes despite a heavy workload over the past month, starting in 17 of Ontario’s last 20 games dating back to Feb. 19. The netminder has allowed two or fewer goals in four of his last six appearances in the past three weeks. With 22 victories on the year, 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 2.44 in 38 appearances to go along with a 0.907 save percentage and two shutouts in almost 2,200 minutes of action. During Saturday’s defeat, Copley set a new AHL career-high for minutes played, surpassing his previous high of 2,184 that he had with Hershey during the 2017-18 season. He is now three games away from matching his career-high of 41 appearances in goal from that season.

POSTEASON BERTH SECURED: Ontario officially punched its ticket to the 2025 Calder Cup Playoffs on Wednesday following a loss by the Tucson Roadrunners to Calgary minutes before they defeated San Jose. The Reign, with 82 points and a 39-23-3-1 overall record, became the second team in the Pacific Division to secure a playoff berth. The 2025 postseason appearance marks Ontario’s fourth consecutive trip to the Calder Cup Playoffs and sixth AHL postseason in the team’s history. It is also the first time they’ve reached the playoffs in four straight years. Current members of the Reign who have previously won the Calder Cup include captain Joe Hicketts, who was victorious with the Grand Rapids Griffins in 2017 as well as assistant coach Chris Hajt, who was part of the Manchester Monarchs winning team in 2015. Ontario has 12 players on the roster who saw the ice in last year’s playoff run, including Taylor Ward, who tied for the team’s scoring lead with seven points in eight contests (2-5=7), and Hicketts, who had six points last spring (1-5=6) and has totaled 18 in 39 career AHL playoff games (2-16=18). Charles Hudon (3-2=5), Samuel Fagemo (2-3=5) and Andre Lee (4-0=4) were also big parts of the team’s attack last spring, each appearing in all eight games.

Reign Check Gameday Forecast

2024-25 Head-to-Head Schedule vs. Calgary (all times Pacific):
Wed., Dec. 18 vs. Calgary, 2-1 W – Full Recap
Sun., Jan. 19 vs. Calgary, 4-5 OTL – Full Recap
Tue., Jan. 21 vs. Calgary, 6-1 W – Full Recap
Sat., Feb. 15 at Calgary, 4-3 OTW – Full Recap
Mon., Feb. 17 at Calgary, 3-2 OTW – Full Recap
Sun., Feb. 23 vs. Calgary, 2-1 SOW – Full Recap
Sat., Apr. 5 at Calgary, 1-3 L – Full Recap
Sun., Apr. 6 at Calgary, 12 p.m.