REIGN PREVIEW 11/4 – Ontario at Colorado

WHO: Ontario Reign (5-3-0) at Colorado Eagles (3-4-2)
WHAT: AHL REGULAR-SEASON GAME #9
WHEN: Saturday, November 4 @ 6:05 PM Pacific
WHERE: Blue Arena – Loveland, CO
HOW TO FOLLOW: VIDEO: AHLTV – TWITTER: @ShafReign & @OntarioReign

TONIGHT’S MATCHUP: After falling short in the series opener by a score of 5-3 on Friday night, the Ontario Reign will look to manage a split Saturday night when they battle the Colorado Eagles for a second straight evening at Blue Arena.

WHAT TO WATCH FOR: The Reign were unable to extend the AHL’s longest active winning streak Friday and now aim to pick up their first win of November Saturday in Loveland. Despite the defeat, Ontario stayed in fourth place in the Pacific Division standings. They now trail first-place Henderson by four points. Offensively, the Reign have gotten contributions from throughout the lineup, with seven skaters recording four or more points from their first eight games. Ontario has been led by Charles Hudon, who produced his first three-point night in a Reign uniform against his former club Friday with two goals and an assist. Hudon’s nine points have come on five goals and four assists. Just behind him is Alex Turcotte, who moved into second place among the team’s scoring leaders with three assists on Friday and now has eight points on the year (1-7=8). Saturday’s contest is the second of eight scheduled matchups (four home, four away) between Ontario and Colorado this season.

LAST TIME OUT: Riley Tufte led the way with a hat trick for the Colorado Eagles Friday night in a 5-3 defeat of the Ontario Reign who suffered their first road loss of the season at Blue Arena. Charles Hudon had a big night for Ontario in a losing effort while playing against his former team for the first time, factoring on all three of his team’s goals with two tallies and an assist. Hudon’s linemates also had busy nights Friday, with Martin Chromiak netting a goal and an assist and Alex Turcotte earning assists on all three Reign goals

HEAD-TO-HEAD: The Reign and Eagles had an even series during the 2022-23 regular season, with the teams evenly splitting their eight clashes 4-4-0, and 2-2-0 on each other’s home ice. Ontario outscored Colorado by the slimmest of margins, posting 25 goals while allowing 24. The Reign scored eight times on the man-advantage against the Eagles last season for a conversion rate of 20.5%. Ontario’s captain TJ Tynan led his team’s offense in the series against his former team with 14 points on a goal and 13 assists. However, Colorado ended the Reign’s year for the third consecutive postseason, sweeping a best-of-3 playoff series last April with wins by scores of 3-2 (OT) and 6-4.

HUDON TURNS HEADS IN RETURN: Against his most recent former team, Charles Hudon led Ontario’s offense with two goals and an assist, factoring in on all three Reign tallies in a losing effort Friday. The attacker blasted a long range turnaround shot from just inside the offensive blue line to get Ontario on the board in the first before deflecting home a shot by Martin Chromiak in the second and setting Chromiak up in front of the net for the team’s final strike in the third. Hudon, who led Colorado in scoring a year ago with 54 points in 61 regular season games on a team-high 29 goals and 25 assists, is now leading the Reign with nine points this season through eight contests. The Alma, Que. native is 12 games away from 400 played in his eight-year AHL career.

SCOUTING THE EAGLES: Fresh off its third win of the season Friday, Colorado enters Saturday’s series finale as part of a four-way tie for fifth place in the Pacific Division standings. The Eagles split a season-opening four-game series with the Grand Rapids Griffins, losing twice in Michigan before earning a pair of victories at home in Loveland. Between then and Friday, Colorado managed to claim just two more points via overtime losses from a four-game road trip that consisted of a pair of outings in both Abbotsford and Calgary. Forward Riley Tufte leads the Eagles in both goals and overall scoring with nine tallies and 11 points while appearing in seven of the club’s nine games. Forward Peter Holland is second on the team with seven points on four goals and three helpers. Defender Brad Hunt is back for a second campaign in Colorado and has earned five points on two goals and three assists, while fellow blueliner Caleb Jones has also equaled that output with five assists. Returning goaltender Justus Annunen has allowed just 13 goals in his first six appearances for a goals-against average of 2.14, but has only been on the winning end of three of those games. Annunen’s 129 saves on 142 shots is good for a 0.908 save percentage.

TURCOTTE HANDING OUT HELPERS: Forward Alex Turcotte earned assists on all three of Ontario’s goals in Friday’s loss, tying single game career-highs in both assists and points. The Island Lake, Ill. native picked up an assist in each period of the contest, helping his linemates Charles Hudon and Martin Chromiak find the back of the net. Through eight games in 2023-24, Turcotte is on a point-per-game pace, ranking second on the Reign in overall scoring by posting eight points on a goal and seven assists. The Kings’ former first-round selection in the 2019 NHL Draft is set to appear in his 100th professional game Saturday night in Colorado. Through 99 outings, Turcotte has totaled 64 points with Ontario on 19 goals and 45 assists along with a +22 rating.

FORMER EAGLES RETURN TO THE NEST: Ontario captain TJ Tynan isn’t the only former Colorado skater returning to his former home this weekend. Joining him are forwards Charles Hudon and Mikhail Maltsev, who each previously starred for the Eagles, as well as defender Kevin Connauton. Hudon led Colorado in scoring a year ago during 2022-23, earning 54 points in 61 regular season games with a team-high 29 goals and 25 assists to go along with a +17 rating. Although Maltsev battled injury last season, he still managed 21 points in 28 games with 11 goals and 10 helpers. The year prior in 2021-22, Maltsev came just short of a 50-point campaign, posting 17 goals and 31 assists for 48 points. The St. Petersburg, Russia native also had 10 points in 16 career postseason appearances with the Eagles. Connauton suited up for 38 games with Colorado during 2019-20, scoring 27 points on five goals and 22 assists.

2023-24 Head-to-Head Schedule vs. Colorado (all times Pacific):
Fri., Nov. 3 at Colorado, 3-5 L – Full Recap
Sat., Nov. 4 at Colorado, 6:05 p.m.
Sun., Nov. 12 vs. Colorado, 3:00 p.m.
Sat., Dec. 16 vs. Colorado, 7:00 p.m.
Tue., Jan. 30 vs. Colorado, 7:00 p.m.
Fri., Feb. 2 vs. Colorado, 7:00 p.m.
Sat., Apr. 20 at Colorado, 6:05 p.m.
Sun., Apr. 21 at Colorado, 2:05 p.m.