REIGN PREVIEW 11/23 – Ontario at San Diego

WHO: Ontario Reign (7-7-0-0) at San Diego Gulls (4-10-1-1)
WHAT: AHL REGULAR-SEASON GAME #15
WHEN: Saturday, November 23 @ 6:00 PM Pacific
WHERE: Pechanga Arena – San Diego, CA
HOW TO FOLLOW: VIDEO: FloHockey – AUDIO: ESPN LA App / Reign Radio – TWITTER: @ShafReign & @OntarioReign

TODAY’S MATCHUP: The 2024-25 SoCal Series begins on Saturday night as the Ontario Reign visit the San Diego Gulls for the first time this season at Pechanga Arena.

WHAT TO WATCH FOR: The two rivals are separated by four points in the Pacific Division standings, with Ontario holding seventh place after 14 games with an even 7-7-0 record and the Gulls in ninth with a mark of 4-10-1-1 and 10 points. The Reign are 3-3-0 away from Toyota Arena, while San Diego is just 1-3-0-1 in their first five games in front of their home fans. Ontario ranks fifth in the AHL offensively, averaging 3.57 goals per game. The Gulls have also had more success on the offensive end than in their own zone, posting three goals per night which ranks 17th in the league. The two teams have almost identical power play percentages, with the Reign converting on 17.9% of their chances while San Diego has a success rate of 17.7%.

LAST TIME OUT: Glenn Gawdin’s second three-point effort in his last four games helped send the Ontario Reign past the Henderson Silver Knights by a score of 4-2 on Wednesday night at Lee’s Family Forum. Gawdin had a goal and two assists to lead the way offensively for the Reign, while Samuel Fagemo added a goal and an assist in the victory and goaltender Pheonix Copley stopped 21 shots to earn the win in net for Ontario.

HEAD-TO-HEAD: Last year’s SoCal Series was an even one, with each team earning four victories from the eight games against their rival. The Reign suffered back-to-back losses to San Diego to open the season before claiming a 3-2 win in the third matchup and coming up short in overtime by a 4-3 final on Dec. 28. Ontario then went into San Diego and secured a 3-2 win on Feb. 24 and then shut out the Gulls 3-0 on the first night of March. San Diego defeated the Reign 2-1 at Pechanga Arena on March 13 before Ontario closed the series with an OT triumph on a game-winner from Samuel Fagemo on April 12. Charles Hudon (2-5=7) and Joe Hicketts (0-7=7) had a share of the team scoring lead in last year’s series, each with seven points, while Samuel Fagemo scored a team-high six goals. The Reign had nine power play goals against the Gulls for a 25.7% conversion rate last season, while San Diego scored six times on the man-advantage in the series (24%). The year prior in 2022-23, Ontario was at its best against San Diego, earning a record of 6-1-1 from eight matchups while securing 13 of a possible 16 points in the standings.

OH MY GAWDIN: After his third multi-point effort in Ontario’s last four games, forward Glenn Gawdin is leading all AHL skaters in scoring during the month of November with 16 points in nine games on seven goals and nine assists. Gawdin had two goals and an assist in a win over Tucson 10 days ago before scoring on a shorthanded breakaway last Friday night to help defeat Colorado. He then posted a goal and an assist the following night against the Eagles and netted an empty-net goal and two helpers in Henderson on Wednesday to earn the first star of the game in Ontario’s 4-2 win. Overall on the year, Gawdin has totaled 17 points from 14 gamres on seven goals and 10 assists. The Richmond, B.C. native, who played in San Diego with the Gulls during 2022-23 and 2023-24, also has a +9 rating in November, which is tied for the league lead during the month. The former fourth-round pick by St. Louis in 2015 is coming off a career-high of 55 points last year with the Gulls, scoring 22 goals and 33 assists in 70 outings. In 342 games during his AHL career with Stockton, San Diego and Ontario, Gawdin has totaled 253 points on 92 goals and 161 assists.

SCOUTING THE GULLS: San Diego is coming off a 3-2 overtime loss to Coachella Valley on Friday night at Acrisure Arena in Palm Desert. The Gulls are looking to get back in the mix for a playoff spot this season, after missing the dance each of the last two campaigns. Forward Ryan Carpenter is the team’s active leading scorer with 12 points in 16 games on four goals and eight assists. Nikita Nesterenko also has four goals and eight points while appearing in all of the team’s 16 games, and Pavol Regenda has reached double-digits in scoring with 10 points on three goals and seven helpers. The club is without Jansen Harkins and Sam Colangelo, who have both earned recalls to Anaheim after scoring 17 and 15 points respectively. Roland McKeown leads all Gulls defenders with 11 points in 16 games on six goals and five assists. In goal, Calle Clang has played in 11 of San Diego’s contests and has a goals-against average of 3.16 along with a 0.894 save percentage. Oscar Dansk has also seen action in eight games.

LAWRENCE LIGHTS THE LAMP: Rookie forward Kaleb Lawrence found the back of the net for the second time in his first four AHL games Wednesday, scoring midway through the second period to extend Ontario’s lead by backhanding a loose rebound into the goal off a shot by linemate Shawn Element. Lawrence’s first career pro tally came in last Friday’s win in Colorado when he redirected a shot by captain Joe Hicketts into the net to tie the game at 2-2 with 1:06 to play in the second period. The 21-year-old attacker had 20 goals and 37 points in the OHL a year ago, spending time with both the Ottawa 67’s and London Knights, where he helped the team to a league title with nine points in eight playoff games. Lawrence was selected by the Kings in the seventh round of the 2022 NHL Draft.

MALOTT MAKING A DIFFERENCE: Forward Jeff Malott has recorded points in eight of his last nine games for Ontario and is now second on the team in overall scoring with 13 points on a goal and 12 assists this season. Malott had the lone assist on Glenn Gawdin’s game-winning shorthanded breakaway goal in Colorado on Friday night and then added a pair of primary helpers on goals by Gawdin and Angus Booth the following evening. The fifth-year forward has appeared in all 14 of the Reign’s games this season and has been part of the club’s top forward line alongside Gawdin and Charles Hudon. Malott, a Waterdown, Ontario native, had a career-high 52 points in 70 games a year ago while playing for the Manitoba Moose, scoring 22 goals and 30 assists. It was his third consecutive 20-goal season with Manitoba, where he played from 2020-24, totaling 237 AHL games. An undrafted attacker out of Cornell University, Malott made his NHL debut with the Winnipeg Jets in March of 2022.