REIGN PREVIEW 11/2 – Ontario vs. Henderson

WHO: Ontario Reign (2-4-0-0) vs. Henderson Silver Knights (2-6-0-0)
WHAT: AHL REGULAR-SEASON GAME #7
WHEN: Saturday, November 2 @ 6:00 PM Pacific
WHERE: Toyota Arena – Ontario, CA
HOW TO FOLLOW: VIDEO: KCAL+/ FloHockey – AUDIO: ESPN LA App / Reign Radio – TWITTER: @ShafReign & @OntarioReign

TODAY’S MATCHUP: Saturday night’s contest features the Ontario Reign and Henderson Silver Knights for a rubber match of this week’s three-game series at Toyota Arena. The contest is the second in as many days between the two clubs after Ontario secured a 4-1 victory on Friday evening in Henderson.

WHAT TO WATCH FOR: Neither of the first two games between the teams this week have been close, with Henderson skating to a four-goal win on Sunday before the Reign fought back with a three-goal decision on Friday. The Silver Knights took control of their win in the second period last week, while Ontario jumped out to a hot start on the road in their second victory of the season. The Reign have been a heavily penalized team in their first six matchups, averaging over 20 penalty minutes per game thus far this season which has left them shorthanded 33 times, a rate of 5.5 per outing. Henderson has struggled on the defensive side of the puck this season and has now allowed 32 goals in eight games, an average of four per night. Although the Reign scored on the power play Friday night, the team’s overall man-advantage success rate of 7.1% is one of the lowest in the AHL to begin the season.

LAST TIME OUT: The Ontario Reign scored twice during a first period in which they piled up 18 shots on goal and went on to defeat the Henderson Silver Knights by a final score of 4-1 on Friday night at Lee’s Family Forum. Goaltender Erik Portillo stopped 34 of 35 shots to earn his first win of the season for Ontario, while four different scorers found the back of the net including Reilly Walsh, Shawn Element, Jacob Doty and Charles Hudon.

HEAD-TO-HEAD: Ontario won five of the eight matchups against the Silver Knights during the 2023-24 regular season, posting a record of 5-1-1-1 that included three multi-goal victories. Overall, the Reign outscored the Silver Knights by a 29-21 margin in last year’s series. Henderson held a 237-214 edge in shots on goal in the eight contests. Brandt Clarke led all Reign skaters against the Silver Knights last season with 10 points on three goals and seven assists, while Samuel Fagemo had eight points on three goals and five assists.

DIAL UP DOTY: Forward Jacob Doty has points in back-to-back games after producing an assist on Aatu Jamsen’s goal last Sunday as well as his first goal of the season in the second period of Friday’s victory in Henderson. The Billings, Montana native also has a plus-2 rating in four contests this year along with just two penalty minutes. A year ago, Doty set a new career-high with seven goals and 10 points in 57 appearances. Now the longest-tenured member of the Reign roster, Doty has suited up for 141 games in an Ontario sweater and has 212 career AHL appearances.

SCOUTING THE SILVER KNIGHTS: Henderson got its second win of the season on Sunday in Ontario and is aiming to move up the Pacific Division standings after a slow start to the 2024-25 season with one win in its first six games. The Silver Knights missed out on the Calder Cup Playoffs a year ago, finishing as the first team out of postseason competition in eighth place in the Pacific Division standings. Forwards Tanner Laczynski and Gage Quinney are tied for the team lead in scoring after eight contests, each recording eight points. Quinney has four goals and four assists, while Laczynski has three tallies and five helpers. Forwards Jonas Rondbjerg, Matyas Sapovaliv and Mason Morelli have also each recorded two goals apiece to begin the year. Robert Hägg leads all Silver Knights defenders with six points on a goal and five assists. In goal, Akira Schmid has played in six of Henderson’s eight games and recorded his first win of the season against the Reign last weekend. Carl Lindbom has also seen action in two games and has a 0.911 save percentage in 120 minutes of play.

HOORAY FOR HUDON: Forward Charles Hudon earned his first points of the 2024-25 season Friday night in the win over the Silver Knights with a goal and an assist and was named the first star of the game. The veteran of 442 career AHL games posted the primary assist on defender Reilly Walsh’s first period goal before sealing a Reign victory by tapping the puck into an empty net with 1:11 to play in the third period. Hudon is coming off a 54-point season in his first year with the Reign, finishing with 20 goals and 34 assists in 56 contests. It was the second straight 54-point AHL campaign for the attacker, and the fifth time in his career that he’s eclipsed the 50-point plateau. The Alma, Quebec native was originally selected by the Montreal Canadiens in the fifth round of the 2012 NHL Draft at 122nd overall.

WALSH STRIKES FOR FIRST WITH REIGN: Defender Reilly Walsh netted the first goal of his Ontario Reign career on Friday, scoring on a shot at 5:57 of the first period from just inside the top of the left circle in the offensive zone. The strike came on the power play for Ontario, just the team’s second man-advantage goal of the year. Walsh also had an assist in the team’s only other road game to begin the year with points during consecutive away contests. The bluleliner has 240 career AHL games under his belt and comes to the Reign after 60 appearances with the Providence Bruins a year ago. Now in his fifth professional season, Walsh has totaled 129 career AHL points on 33 goals and 96 assists.