REIGN PREVIEW 12/20 – Ontario vs. San Jose

REIGN PREVIEW 12/20 – Ontario vs. San Jose
WHO: Ontario Reign (16-8-1-0) vs. San Jose Barracuda (15-9-1-1)
WHAT: AHL REGULAR-SEASON GAME #26/72
WHEN: Saturday, December 20 @ 6:00 Pacific
WHERE: Toyota Arena – Ontario, CA
HOW TO FOLLOW: VIDEO: FloHockey – AUDIO: Reign Radio – TWITTER: @ReignInsider & @OntarioReign

TONIGHT’S MATCHUP: The Reign host the Barracuda for the first of a back-to-back in the final two games before the holiday break. Ontario and San Jose will meet four times over their next five games to conclude their head-to-head season series.

HEAD-TO-HEAD: Tonight marks the fourth of eight total meetings this season between the Reign and Barracuda, the second of four at Toyota Arena. Ontario is 2-2-0 against San Jose this season having outscored the Barracuda 13-10, 7-0 in the second period. Taylor Ward leads the club with three goals in the series and is tied with Glenn Gawdin who has four assists for the point lead. Martin Chromiak and Andre Lee each have two goals and an assist. The Reign are 4-for-15 on the power-play in the series while the Barracuda are 3-for-11.

SHUTTING THE DOOR: The Reign are coming off their first shutout win of the season as Isaiah Saville recorded 19 saves in a 4-0 win at Bakersfield on Wednesday night improving to 4-1-0 on the season with a 2.13 goals-against average and .895 save percentage. It was the second AHL shutout for Saville in his 45^thcareer contest, oddly enough his first shutout was against Ontario on Dec. 31, 2023 when he made 24 saves for the Henderson Silver Knights in a 3-0 road victory.

Ontario allowed just 19 shots in the victory against a Condors club which sat at second in the league in goals for per game. They held the Condors to single digits in shots in all three periods, the fourth time the Reign have accomplished that this season. The Reign went 3-for-3 on the penalty kill vs. the second ranked power-play in the AHL and the Ontario penalty kill is now 14-for-15 over their last six contests.

The win was the Reign’s fifth in their last six games and their eighth in their last 10 games.

JOINING THE 200 CLUB: Veteran forward Glenn Gawdin notched two assists on Wednesday with his first being his 200^th professional helper and his second being his 200^th in the AHL. The 28-year-old has a point in four straight games (3-3-6) with 14 shots and is tied for second on the club with 19 points (6-13-19). Gawdin started the campaign with just six points (1-5-6) in his first 11 games but has 13 (5-8-13) in his last 14 contests. The Reign are 10-4-0 this season when he records a point. The second year Ontario skater has collected 81 points (32-49-81) in 97 games after signing a two-year contract with LA on Jul. 1, 2024.

CAREER HIGHS: Forward Martin Chromiak scored his fifth power-play goal of the season on Wednesday and finished with a pair of goals for his second multi-goal game of the season. The 23-year-old had five power-play strikes a year ago in 69 games and five in 55 games during the 2022-23 season. The Kings fifth round draft pick from 2020 is tied for second on the club with 19 points, second with 10 goals, and tied for first with five power-play tallies. Chromiak has 11 points (5-6-11) in his last 12 games after notching eight points (3-5-8) in the first 15 contests. Ontario is 9-3-0 when he records a point.

Forward Andre Lee scored his ninth goal of the season Wednesday setting a career high in goals. The 25-year-old scored six last season in 48 games, eight in 36 games during 2023-24, and six in 58 contests during 2022-23. The Kings seventh round draft pick from 2019 is tied for the team lead with 20 points (9-11-20) tying his single season best point total from a year ago, 48GP (6-14-20). He also skated in 19 games a year ago with the Kings scoring a goal and adding two assists. Lee has 13 points (6-7-13) in his last 14 games as the Reign are 13-2-1 when he records a point.

SCOUTING THE BARRACUDA: San Jose is coming off a 4-2 loss in Coachella Valley on Wednesday and currently sit one point behind Ontario with 32 points with a 15-9-1-1 record, third place in the Pacific Division. Since their 4-3 victory over Ontario on Nov. 15 San Jose is 9-4-0 in their last 13 games. San Jose has the third best power-play in the AHL at 27.4% as rookie forward Quentin Musty leads the squad with 11 power-play points (5-6-11), tied for third among all first-year skaters. Defenseman Luca Cagnoni is fourth among defenders with 10 power-play points (3-7-10) while his 18 points (5-13-18) are fifth among league defensemen. Forward Igor Chernyshov who leads the team with 11 goals and 23 points was recalled by the Sharks on Monday and has two assists in his first two NHL games. Goaltender Jakub Skarek has won seven of his last eight games while Gabriel Carriere has lost three of his last four contests.