REIGN PREVIEW 1/4 – Ontario vs. Iowa 

REIGN PREVIEW 1/4 – Ontario vs. Iowa
WHO: Ontario Reign (19-10-1-1) at Iowa Wild (10-20-1-1)
WHAT: AHL REGULAR-SEASON GAME #32/72
WHEN: Sunday, January 4 @ 3:00 Pacific
WHERE: Toyota Arena – Ontario, CA
HOW TO FOLLOW: VIDEO: FloHockey – AUDIO: Reign Radio – TWITTER: @ReignInsider & @OntarioReign

TONIGHT’S MATCHUP: The Ontario Reign Iowa Wild square off in the first of four total meetings this season, the first of two in Ontario at Toyota Arena.

Ontario erased a three-game losing streak on home ice last night picking up a 3-2 come from behind victory over Coachella Valley. Trailing 2-1 heading into the third period Cole Guttman tied the game 5:54 into the frame while Kirill Kirsanov provided the eventual game winner with 5:05 to play helping the Reign complete their second come from behind victory in their last three games heading into the final 20 minutes trailing. Glenn Gawdin increased his point streak to 10-games with an assist while Nikita Alexandrov stretched his point streak to seven-games with an assist in his 200^th career AHL contest. Andre Lee tallied his team leading 14^th goal of the year and his sixth on the power-play.

The Wild went just 3-15-0 from Nov.8-Dec.19 but ride a four-game point streak, 3-0-1, into tonight’s matchup. They are coming off a 3-2 overtime loss vs. Texas on Wednesday night as they kick-off a four-game road trip having won two straight away from their home building.

QUICK HITS

• The Reign have now collected a point in five of their last seven games, 4-1-0-1, and are 10-5-01 since Nov. 21.
• The win last night pushed their record in one-goal games to 10-3-1-1 having won seven of their last nine.
• Ontario is now 3-9-0-0 when trailing after 40 minutes this season and 9-1-0 when following a loss.
• They have now scored three or more goals in six straight contests.
• The power-play has scored in back-to-back games, 2-for-8, as Glenn Gawdin has factored in on five straight man advantage scores while the penalty kill is 11-for-11 in the last four games.

HEAD-TO-HEAD SERIES + IOWA, ONTARIO CONNECTIONS: The Reign went 2-2-0-0 vs. the wild last season including 1-1-0-0 in Ontario. Glenn Gawdin led the series with five goals and two assists while Martin Chromiak scored a goal and tallied four assists.

Joe Hicketts played two full seasons with the Wild from 2021-23 collecting 79 points (18G, 61A) in 133 games where he set a career high in goals (12) in 2021-22 while recording a personal best in assists (42) and points (48) the following season serving as an alternate captain.

Kenny Connors and Jack Peart captured a U20 World Junior Championship Bronze Medal with Team USA in 2023. Cole Guttman and Gerry Mayhew were teammates last season with the Rockford IceHogs. Guttman led the club with 23 goals, 34 assists, and 57 points in 70 games while Mayhew finished fourth in scoring with 35 points (14G, 21A) in 56 contests. Guttman also played parts of two seasons for the Chicago Blackhawks with Boris Katchouk from 2022-24.

Koehn Ziemmer and Riley Heidt were teammates the last five seasons with the WHL’s Prince George Cougars. Ziemmer led the Cougars in goals (37) last season serving as an alternate captain while Heidt led the team in points (90) serving as captain.

PLAYERS TO WATCH: For Ontario, Glenn Gawdin has a 10-game point streak (3G, 9A) and has 19 points (5G, 14A) in his last 20 games. His 19 assists are tied for eighth in the AHL as the Reign are 13-6-0-1 when he records a point. Andre Lee has six goals and an assist in his last seven games and 19 points (11G, 8A) in his last 20 games. He is tied for 11th in the league with 26 points and tied for seventh with 14 goals while his six power-play goals are tied for fifth. Ontario is 8-1-1-1 when he scores and 13-2-1-1 when he tallies a point. Nikita Alexandrov has a seven-game point streak (1G, 8A) and 12 points (4G, 8A) in 12 games with Ontario. Cole Guttman has a goal in back-to-back contests and a three-game point streak (3G, 3A).

For Iowa, Gerry Mayhew leads the club with nine goals, 17 points, and six power-play scores but has just three points (1G, 2A) in his last seven games. Dylan Gambrell has five points (1G, 4A) in six games while Ben Jones has five points (3G, 2A) in six games with a goal in three straight. David Špaček leads all Iowa defenders with 16 points (2G, 14A) and has five points (2G, 3A) in his last five games.

BETWEEN TWO PIPES: For the Reign, Pheonix Copley made 19 saves on 21 shots last night in the victory after suffering the loss on Wednesday making 26 saves on 31 shots. It was 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 17 straight games with an injury.

For the Wild, Cal Peterson who spent parts of six seasons with Ontario and LA from 2017-23 has not played since Dec. 12. Riley Mercer has started three of the last four games winning all three games including a 26 save shutout on a 1-0 shootout win at Chicago on Dec. 20 in his AHL debut. Samuel Hlavaj appeared last making 33 saves on 36 shots in a 3-2 overtime loss at Texas on Wednesday as he is winless in three straight.