REIGN PREVIEW 2/19 – Ontario at San Jose

WHO: Ontario Reign (29-14-2-1) at San Jose Barracuda (25-17-2-3)
WHAT: AHL REGULAR-SEASON GAME #47
WHEN: Wednesday, February 19 @ 7:00 PM Pacific
WHERE: Tech CU Arena – San Jose, CA
HOW TO FOLLOW: VIDEO: FloHockey – AUDIO: ESPN LA App / Reign Radio – TWITTER: @ShafReign & @OntarioReign

TODAY’S MATCHUP: Wrapping up a three-game road trip, the Ontario Reign will be on the ice at Tech CU Arena Wednesday night in San Jose for the first time this season for a matchup with the Barracuda.

WHAT TO WATCH FOR: With points from six straight games and a record of 8-1-2 in their last 11 contests over the past month, the Reign have elevated themselves to second place in the Pacific Division standings with 61 points, just two back of first. Ontario can move into a tie atop the table alongside Calgary with a win on Wednesday in San Jose. The Cuda are holding the No. 6 spot in the division with 55 points in 47 games. Anytime the Reign have scored first this year, which has only happened in 17 of their 46 outings, they’ve had the upper hand, posting a 14-2-0-1 mark from those contests. San Jose is 18-6-2-2 from the 28 games this season where they’ve netted the opening goal. The Reign rank sixth in the league on the offensive end with 156 tallies for an average of 3.39 per game, just ahead of the Barracuda who are seventh with 3.36 goals per night. San Jose also averages the most shots on goal per game in the league (32.34), while Ontario has the third-most shots per contest (31.98). On the defensive side, however, the Reign allows the second-lowest shot total per game (25.89) but the Cuda are at the other end of the spectrum, giving up the second-most shots in the league (32.79).

LAST TIME OUT: Jeff Malott scored in the final minute of overtime to give the Ontario Reign back-to-back wins over the Calgary Wranglers in extra time on Monday afternoon at the Scotiabank Saddledome by a score of 3-2. The win moved the Reign into second in the Pacific Division and trimmed the gap to just two points between themselves and the first-place Wranglers. The winning strike was part of a three-point day for Malott (1-2=3), who factored in on all of Ontario’s goals. Glenn Gawdin also scored his 100th career AHL goal in the second period, while Martin Chromiak struck on the power play in the third.

HEAD-TO-HEAD: San Jose claimed the first meeting between the two teams this season on Oct. 12 in Ontario by a score of 5-0, but Ontario responded the following night to split the opening weekend series with a 4-3 win on the back of Samuel Helenius, who both tied the game and won it in the final minutes of regulation. The Reign then defeated the Barracuda 5-4 in a shootout in the teams’ most recent matchup on Dec. 15. Ontario has yet to score on the power play in this year’s series, with the Cuda killing off all 16 penalties they’ve taken from the first three games. San Jose on the other hand, has converted on four of its 11 man-advantage chances. Tyler Madden leads all Reign skaters with four points against San Jose in three games this year. Ontario was at its best against the Barracuda last season, producing an unblemished 8-0-0 record to secure 100% of their possible 16 standings points available to them. Samuel Fagemo was Ontario’s leading scorer against San Jose a year ago, posting 16 points in seven games on 11 goals and five assists.

MALOTT OF OFFENSE: Forward Jeff Malott had his second three-point performance of the season on Monday in the win over Calgary, scoring a goal and two assists. The effort not only won the game in overtime but was also enough for him to reach the 40-point mark on the year. Malott is currently on a five-game point streak which has consisted of three multi-point efforts and a total of six goals and three assists. The Waterdown, Ontario native is now in his fifth professional season and ranks third on the Reign in scoring with 40 points on 16 goals and 24 assists while appearing in all 46 of Ontario’s games. His pair of recent multi-goal performances in the past two weeks are the first he’s recorded as a member of the Reign while his three-point effort on Monday was the seventh such game of his career. Malott 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.

SCOUTING THE BARRACUDA: San Jose had an impressive start to the season as they aim for their first Calder Cup Playoffs appearance since the 2018-19 campaign, but the Barracuda are just 4-4-1-1 from their last 10 contests. Veteran forward Andrew Poturalski is leading the AHL in scoring with 48 points on 19 goals and 29 assists in 43 games. Ethan Cardwell has also been a threat on the offensive end with 32 points from 39 games on six goals and 26 assists. Rookie defender Luca Cagnoni has paced the team’s blueliners on the offensive end with 34 points on 12 goals and 22 assists. Goaltender Yaroslav Askarov has seen action in 18 contests and recently represented the Pacific Division in the All-Star Classic, posting a 10-7-1 record. The former first-round NHL Draft selection has recorded a 2.38 goals-against average, a .926 save percentage and three shutouts.

CHARLIE CHATTER: Forward Charles Hudon enters Wednesday night’s game on a team-best six-game point streak, which dates back to Jan. 31 and consists of nine points on three goals and six assists. Hudon’s 42 points from 42 games this season has him tied for the team lead in scoring alongside linemate Glenn Gawdin which ranks 12th in the AHL. His goal and assist totals are each second highest on the team, while the Alma, Quebec native also has six game-winning goals on the year, which is tied for the second-most in the league. Hudon has done more damage on the man-advantage than any other Reign skater this season, totaling 14 power play points on three goals and 11 helpers. If he continues on his current pace, Hudon could set a new career-high in scoring, which he achieved with 57 points both in 2014-15 with the Hamilton Bulldogs and during 2021-22 as a member of the Syracuse Crunch. The attacker is also two goals shy of reaching 200 during his AHL career.

NEVER A DOUBT: Ever since their opening weekend when the Reign picked up their first win in come-from-behind fashion over the Barracuda, Ontario has specialized in comeback victories. Most recently, the Reign earned back-to-back overtime wins in Calgary on Saturday and Monday and had to come from multiple goals down to achieve both decisions. In total, 19 of the team’s 29 wins have occurred after they trailed at some point during the game, making up 65% of their victories. Ontario also has an impressive record of 7-7-2 in games where they’ve trailed at the end of the first period, a .500 points percentage which is fifth-best among all AHL teams from that situation. Six of the Reign’s wins have come after they trailed on the scoreboard after the second period, which is tied for the second-most in the league behind only Laval (7).

Reign Check Gameday Forecast

2024-25 Head-to-Head Schedule vs. San Jose (all times Pacific):
Sat., Oct. 12 vs. San Jose, 0-5 L – Full Recap
Sun., Oct. 13 vs. San Jose, 4-3 W – Full Recap
Sun., Dec. 15 vs. San Jose, 5-4 SOW – Full Recap
Wed., Feb. 19 at San Jose, 7 p.m.
Sat., Feb. 22 vs. San Jose, 6 p.m.
Wed., Apr. 2 at San Jose, 7 p.m.
Fri., Apr. 11 at San Jose, 7:30 p.m.
Sat., Apr. 12 at San Jose, 6 p.m.