REIGN PREVIEW 3/7 – Ontario vs. San Diego

WHO: Ontario Reign (31-18-2-1) vs. San Diego Gulls (21-25-5-3)
WHAT: AHL REGULAR-SEASON GAME #53
WHEN: Friday, March 7 @ 7:00 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: The Ontario Reign open a weekend home-and-home series with the San Diego Gulls on Friday night at Toyota Arena. The series will conclude on Saturday when the two teams battle at Pechanga Arena for the fourth and final time during the 2024-25 campaign.

WHAT TO WATCH FOR: San Diego enters the weekend as one of the hottest clubs in the AHL, despite its ninth-place position in the Pacific Division standings. The Gulls have points in nine of their last 10 contests, going 8-1-0-1, and are now seven points back of the final playoff spot. Most recently, SD came from behind to defeat San Jose in overtime by a 5-4 score on Wednesday. Ontario, on the other hand, has lost three straight, slipping down to fourth place in the division after a pair of losses in Colorado last weekend and a Wednesday defeat at the hands of Tucson. The Reign are still just five points behind Coachella Valley and the top spot in the table with four games in hand. Despite its recent struggles, Ontario still averages the third-most shots on goal in the league (31.94) while allowing the second-lowest total per game (25.9).

LAST TIME OUT: Ontario put 20 shots on goal during the third period, but all were stopped by goaltender Matt Villalta, who led the Tucson Roadrunners to a 4-1 victory on Wednesday night at Toyota Arena. Taylor Ward netted the lone tally for Ontario in a losing effort, an unassisted strike in the first for his 10th goal of the year.

HEAD-TO-HEAD: Ontario has come away with points from all five of its contests against San Diego this season, going 3-0-1-1 in the series. The first three meetings took place at Pechanga Arena, where the Reign claimed a 4-1 victory on Nov. 23 with two goals late in the first that kept them in front the rest of the way before pulling out a 2-1 decision in a shootout on Dec. 7. San Diego got its first win over Ontario in another shootout finish on Dec. 27. The Reign picked up another winning 4-1 result in the first battle of the year at Toyota Arena on Jan. 3 before falling in overtime in the most recent clash on Feb. 8 by a final score of 5-4. Francesco Pinelli leads Ontario with four goals and six points in the series against the Gulls, while Jeff Malott also has six points on an even three goals and three assists. Jan Myšák is one of San Diego’s leaders in the series with four points on two goals and two assists, while defender Tristan Luneau has earned four helpers and Ryan Capenter has scored a team-high three goals.

WARD WEDNESDAYS: Reign forward Taylor Ward has been an impact player this season, scoring 20 points on an even 10 goals and 10 assists while appearing in 48 games on the wing. With a goal in the team’s most recent contest on Wednesday against Tucson, Ward has now scored five points on Wednesdays, earning three goals and two assists to help Ontario to a 7-3-0 record. The Reign’s points percentage on hump day is their highest on any single day this season other than Monday, which has only seen one game contested, 3-2 overtime win in Calgary. Ward’s 10th tally of the year put him just a single strike away from tying his career-high of 11, which came during 71 games in his second pro campaign of 2023-24 when he finished with 32 points and a team-best plus-23 rating.

SCOUTING THE GULLS: San Diego’s recent winning stretch has it back in contention for a postseason appearance for the first time since 2021-22. The Gulls are led by forward Sasha Pastujov, who took over the team’s scoring lead after a 19-point January that earned him AHL Player of the Month honors. Pastujov now has 42 points on the year with 17 goals and 25 helpers. Captain Ryan Carpenter has been the hottest forward on the team of late, winning the AHL’s Player of the Month in February by recording six goals, 10 assists and a plus-12 rating in 11 games. Carpenter also scored the overtime-winning goal for San Diego in its most recent victory over San Jose on Wednesday. Forward Jan Myšák has also been an important offensive factor, totaling 33 points on 15 goals and 18 assists in 50 games. Tristan Luneau leads all Gulls defenders with 40 points in 41 games, which includes a team-best 34 assists. In goal, Calle Clang and Oscar Dansk have each played in 28 of San Diego’s contests, 19 of their 21 wins. Most recently, however, they added Ville Husso in between the pipes, who has won two of his first three appearances after coming over in a trade with the Detroit Red Wings. In 13 previous games with Grand Rapids this season, Husso was 8-4-0 with two shutouts while recording a 0.912 save percentage.

SHOT STATS: The Reign have outshot their opponents in four straight games and have only allowed more chances on goal than they’ve earned in four of their last 28 games since returning from the league’s holiday break in late December. That discrepancy has helped them to a high ranking among other AHL teams in both shots for and against per game. The Reign average 31.94 shots on net per outing, which is third-most in the league, and they allow just 26 per night, the second-best number of any team defensively. When the Reign have more shots than their opponent, they hold a record of 21-12-2 this year, while still earning a 10-4-0-1 mark from games in which they’ve been out-chanced.

CECCONI’S REIGN DEBUT: After being acquired by the LA Kings in a trade with the Minnesota Wild last Wednesday, defenseman Joseph Cecconi made his debut for Ontario in Colorado last Friday night, recording one shot on goal and finishing with an even rating. The 27-year-old skated in 51 games with the AHL’s Iowa Wild this season before the trade, recording 14 points on two goals and 12 assists with a plus-5 rating and 41 penalty minutes. Now in his sixth pro season, the 6-foot-3, 210-pound blueliner has accumulated 68 points (10-58=68) in 329 career AHL games with Iowa, Rochester and Texas. Cecconi was originally selected by the Dallas Stars in the fifth round of the 2015 NHL Draft and has suited up in 21 career Calder Cup Playoff games, notching eight points on three goals and five assists with a plus-8 rating. Before turning pro, he played four seasons of collegiate hockey at the University of Michigan, tallying 62 points (9-53=62) and 103 PIM in 147 games with the Wolverines.

Reign Check Gameday Forecast

2024-25 Head-to-Head Schedule vs. San Diego:
Sat., Nov. 23 at San Diego, 4-1 W – Full Recap
Sat., Dec. 7 at San Diego, 2-1 W – Full Recap
Fri., Dec. 27 at San Diego, 3-4 SOL – Full Recap
Fri., Jan. 3 vs. San Diego, 4-1 W – Full Recap
Sat., Feb. 8 vs. San Diego, 4-5 OT – Full Recap
Fri., Mar. 7 vs. San Diego, 7 p.m.
Sat., Mar. 8 at San Diego, 6 p.m.
Fri., Apr. 18 vs. San Diego, 7 p.m.