REIGN PREVIEW 11/7 – Ontario at San Diego

WHO: Ontario Reign (6-3-1-0) at San Diego Gulls (3-4-2-0)
WHAT: AHL REGULAR-SEASON GAME #11
WHEN: Friday, November 7 @ 7:00 Pacific
WHERE: Pechanga Arena – San Diego, CA
HOW TO FOLLOW: VIDEO: FloHockey – AUDIO: Reign Radio – TWITTER: @ReignInsider & @OntarioReign

TONIGHT’S MATCHUP: The Ontario Reign and San Diego Gulls square off the in the first of four total meetings this season, the first of two at Pechanga Arena in San Diego. The Reign will play four of their next five games on the road while the Gulls will play four of their next five contests in their home building.

HEAD-TO-HEAD: Ontario held a 4-1-2-1 record vs. San Diego last season including a 2-1-0-1 record at Pechanga Arena. Five of the eight meetings were determined by one-goal while four went beyond regulation with two being decided in a shootout and two being determined in overtime. The Reign outscored the Gulls 24-21 as Francesco Pinelli paced the way leading the club with five goals and nine points. Ryan Carpenter scored four goals for San Diego while recording an assist and Tristan Luneau led the series with six assists. Erik Portillo posted a 2-0-2 record with a 2.39 goals-against average and .912 save percentage while Pheonix Copley went 1-0-1 in his two appearances with a 1.98 GAA and .915 SV%. Calle Clang won both his starts for San Diego with a 2.53 GAA and .920 SV% while Ville Husso made 27 saves in a 5-3 win on Mar. 8 in his lone appearance. San Diego went (3-for-29, 10.3%) on the power-play while Ontario finished (4-for-29, 13.8%).

LAST TIME OUT: The Reign defeated the Barracuda Tuesday night by a final score of 2-1 in overtime at Toyota Arena after playing five straight games on the road. Taylor Ward scored the game winner 63 seconds into the extra frame from Akil Thomas while Thomas gave the Reign a 1-0 lead 5:53 into the second period from Francesco Pinelli and Jack Millar. The lone San Jose goal came on the power-play at 8:24 of the third period from Igor Cherynyshov. The Gulls defeated Henderson 6-3 on Wednesday on the road putting an end to the Silver Knights seven game win streak. The Gulls never trailed in the contest leading 3-2 after the first period and 5-2 at one point in the third period. Six different skaters found the back of the net while nine tallied at least one point with five recording multi-point contests.

BETWEEN TWO PIPES: For Ontario, Erik Portillo picked up his third straight win on Tuesday night making 26 saves. It was his second straight outing where he allowed just one goal, and he has surrendered two or fewer goals in last six starts dating back to Oct. 12 making 140 saves on 150 shots for a .933 SV % and 1.70 GAA. He has started seven of the first 10 games and ranks sixth in the AHL with 412:51 minutes played. Pheonix Copley suffered the loss last Saturday allowing four goals on 26 shots just two nights removed from surrendering six goals on 24 shots in a 6-2 defeat at Henderson. He recorded 24 saves on 26 shots in his season debut back on Oct. 24 in a 5-2 win at Abbotsford. For San Diego, Ville Husso has carried the workload starting seven of the first nine games including back-to-back and four of the last five. He made 18 saves on Wednesday picking up his second win in his last three contests after losing three in a row. He ranks fifth in the league having played 413:44 minutes. Calle Clang has suffered a pair of overtime losses this season in his two appearances.

PLAYERS TO WATCH: For the Reign, Taylor Ward has a goal in three straight games and four points. Over his last six games he has a point in at least one game (6-3-9) while putting up 20 shots. He is tied for third in the AHL with six goals on the season. Francesco Pinelli has an assist in back-to-back games and has four points (1-3-4) over his last six contests. Akil Thomas recorded his third multi-point game of the season Tuesday snapping a seven-game goal-less skid after scoring in the first two games of the year. Andre Lee has a point in four of his last six games (2-3-5) while Glenn Gawdin is one point shy of 100 in his Reign career. For the Gulls, Yegor Sidorov has a five-game point streak (4-3-7) while Matthew Phillips has a point in four straight games (2-5-7) and a point in seven of nine contests. Tim Washe has a point in three of his last four games (2-3-5) while Justin Bailey has two goals in his last three games.

REIGN OFFENSE: The Reign are ninth in the AHL averaging 3.30 goals-for per game having scored 33 through their first 10 contests. They’ve scored three or more goals six times but have been held to two goals in back-to-back and in three of their last four games. Ontario is dead last in the league averaging just 24 shots-for per game. Their three shots in the first period on Tuesday tied for a season period low while they were kept to single digits in shots in all three periods for the fourth time this season. Ontario has been outshot in 6 of their first 10 games. After allowing the first goal in their first four games, the Reign haven taken a 1-0 lead in four of their last six outings.

 REIGN DEFENSE: Ontario is 12^th in the AHL averaging 2.70 goals-against per games having allowed 27 through 10 games. They’ve kept their opposition to two or fewer goals seven times having allowed just six in their last three contests. The Reign are 5^th in the league allowing an average of just 26 shots against per game.

REIGN SPECIAL TEAMS: The Reign power-play is 20^th in the AHL (7-for-41, 17.1%). They’ve scored a power-play goal in six games but are (1-for-11) in their last four contests. Ontario is 31^st in the league on the penalty kill (22-for-31, 71%) having given up a power-play goal against in seven games including three straight.

GULLS VITALS: San Diego has picked up a point in four of their last six games with a 2-2-2 record as they’re 0-3-2 in games decided by two goals or fewer. The Gulls are 22^nd in the AHL averaging 2.78 goals-for per game having scored 25 through nine games with their six on Wednesday being a season-high. They’ve now scored three or more goals in three of their last four games after doing so just once in their first five outings. They lead the league averaging 33.22 shots-for per game while they’re eighth allowing just 26.56 against per contests. San Diego is 11^th in the league giving up an average of just 2.67 goals-against per game having surrendered 24. They’ve given up three or more in six decisions. The Gulls are 23^rd on the power-play (5-for-31, 16.1%) but fifth on the penalty kill (25-for-29, 86.2%).