REIGN PREVIEW 1/3 – Ontario vs. Coachella Valley  

REIGN PREVIEW 1/3 – Ontario vs. Coachella Valley
WHO: Ontario Reign (18-10-1-1) at Coachella Valley (16-10-4-0)
WHAT: AHL REGULAR-SEASON GAME #31/72
WHEN: Saturday, January 3 @ 6:00 Pacific
WHERE: Toyota Arena – Ontario, CA
HOW TO FOLLOW: VIDEO: FloHockey – AUDIO: Reign Radio – TWITTER: @ReignInsider & @OntarioReign

TONIGHT’S MATCHUP: The Ontario Reign and Coachella Valley Firebirds square off in the first of eight total meetings this season, the first of four in Ontario at Toyota Arena. Ontario is coming off a 5-4 loss on Sunday where the Barracuda scored with .01 seconds remaining as the Reign have lost three straight games on home ice for the first time this season. Cole Guttman scored twice while adding an assist and a fighting major for the Gordie Howe Hat Trick in the loss while Tim Rego scored his first AHL goal. Coachella Valley picked up a 5-2 win last night in San Diego as Logan Morrisonscored a pair of goals and Gustav Olofsson had two assists. The Firebirds snapped a two-game losing streak with the win and now have a point in eight of their last 12 games, 7-4-1. Meanwhile, the Reign have collected a point in four of their last six games, 3-1-0-1, and are 10-4-0-1 since Nov. 21.

HEAD-TO-HEAD SERIES LAST SEASON: The Reign went 4-4-0-0 vs. the Firebirds last season including 2-2-0-0 in Ontario. The Firebirds won the first three games before Ontario won four of the last five as Pheonix Copley picked up his 17^th career shutout making 27 saves in a 3-0 win in on Jan. 25, 2025, the last meeting of the year. The Reign outscored the Firebirds 25-23 as Charles Hudon led the way with eight points (1G, 7A) and Samuel Fagemo paced the way with five goals. Ryan Winterton notched seven points (4G, 3A) for Coachella Valley while Jani Nyman scored four times. Ontario went 3-for-24 on the power-play and 22-for-25 on the penalty kill.

PLAYERS TO WATCH: For Ontario, Glenn Gawdin has a nine-game point streak (3G, 8A) and has 18 points (5G, 13A) in his last 19 games. His 18 assists are tied for ninth in the AHL as the Reign are 12-6-0-1 when he records a point. Andre Lee has five goals and an assist in his last six games and 18 points (10G, 8A) in his last 19 games. He is tied for 10th in the league with 25 points and tied for sixth with 13 goals and five power-play scores. Ontario is 7-1-1-1 when he scores and 15-2-1-1 when he tallies a point. Nikita Alexandrov has a six-game point streak (1G, 7A) and 11 points (4G, 7A) in 10 games with Ontario. Cole Guttmanscored his first power-play goal with the Reign on Wednesday and his first multi-goal game of the year. He has 17 points (6G, 11A) in his last 17 games. Taylor Ward tied his career high in goals with his 12^th Tuesday night as the Reign are 10-1-0 when he finds the back of the net and 13-1-0 when he records a point.

For Coachella Valley, Jagger Firkus is slated to skate in his 100^th AHL contest. He is tied for fourth in the league with 32 points while his 14 goals are tied for sixth. He has a point in six straight games (3G, 6A). Logan Morrison leads the club with 16 goals, fourth in the AH, while his 28 points are for eighth. He has nine points (6G, 3A) in his last eight games. Jani Nyman tallied six points (4G, 2A) in 24 games with the Seattle Kraken this season before being assigned to the Firebirds on Tuesday and has a goal and an assist in two games. Tyson Jugnauth leads all AHL rookie defenseman with 23 points and 19 assists which rank third among all league defenders.

BETWEEN TWO PIPES: For the Reign, Pheonix Copley suffered the loss Wednesday making 26 saves in his first start with Ontario since Dec. 12. Copley was assigned to the Reign from the Kings on Tuesday after being recalled on Dec. 16. He made his first NHL start in over two years making 28 saves on 31 shots in a 3-2 loss vs. Seattle on Dec. 23. Prior to his callup, he had won three straight games and five of his last six after starting the year just 2-5-0. Isaiah Saville improved to 6-1-1 on the season making 26 saves on Tuesday as he has two shutouts in his last four starts. Erik Portillo has missed 16 straight games with an injury while Mattias Sholl was assigned to Greenville yesterday. For the Firebirds, Nikke Kokko has started five of the last seven games, winning two of his last three, while Victor Östman has lost back-to-back starts after winning three of his previous four.

 HOME COOKING: Ontario opened a five-game homestand Sunday, their second of the season. The Reign started the season 1-1-1 in their first three games at Toyota Arena then won eight of nine contests from Oct.19-Dec.9 but have currently lost three straight games. Ontario is 9-4-1-1 on home ice this year outscoring their opponents 49-44.

REIGN STRONG IN THE OPENING NUMBER: This weekend is the ninth of 19 back-to-back set of games Ontario will have played. The Reign have put up an impressive 6-1-0-1 in game one of a back-to-back series outscoring their opponents 33-18 but are just 3-5-0-0 in the second game having been outscored 30-21.

BYE BYE DECEMBER: The Reign posted a 7-3-0-1 mark in 11 games during the month of December where they outscored their opponents 38-30. Glenn Gawdin (3G, 8A), Andre Lee (7G, 4A), and Nikita Alexandrov (4G, 7A), led the way offensively each with 11 points which tied for fifth among all AHL skaters. Gawdin’s eight assists were tied for fourth while Lee’s seven goals tied for third. The Reign clicked at just 14/7% (5-for-34) on the power-play going 2-for-20 in their last seven contests while the penalty kill went 88.2% (30-for-34) including 8-for-8 in the last three games.

HELLO JANUARY: Ontario will play 13 games during the month of January facing eight different opponents. Seven of the 13 games will come on the road including the first of two of a season-long six straight away from Toyota Arena from Jan.11-23. The Reign will take on Colorado three times, Iowa, Coachella Valley, and Texas twice while facing San Diego, Bakersfield, Abbotsford, and Henderson once. Ontario went 7-6-1 during the month of January last season.