REIGN PREVIEW 3/26 – Ontario vs. Tucson

WHO: Ontario Reign (36-21-3-1) vs. Tucson Roadrunners (29-27-3-2)
WHAT: AHL REGULAR-SEASON GAME #62
WHEN: Wednesday, March 26 @ 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 return home to begin a week with three contests in front of the Toyota Arena faithful on Wednesday night when they host the Tucson Roadrunners for the final time this season.

WHAT TO WATCH FOR: After managing two series splits on the road in Texas and Iowa over a six-day span, Ontario enters Wednesday’s matchup in second place in the American Hockey League’s Pacific Division standings with 76 points. Tonight’s battle is the eighth and final meeting between the Reign and the Roadrunners during the 2024-25 campaign, which has seen Ontario secure victories in six of the seven previous clashes. The Reign have won five of their last seven games and continue to inch closer toward securing a spot in the 2025 Calder Cup Playoffs, holding a magic number of 10 points to clinch their postseason berth. Tucson is in seventh place in the Pacific Division with 63 points, just two ahead of Bakersfield for the final playoff spot in the division. The Reign average the second-most shots on goal in the league (31.97) and allow the second-lowest total per game (26.16). Tucson is in the league’s top-10 on the power play, posting a 19.9% conversion rate that ranks ninth best in the AHL.

LAST TIME OUT: An offensive outburst earned the Ontario Reign a split of their weekend visit to Des Moines, defeating the Iowa Wild by a final score of 7-4 at Wells Fargo Arena on Sunday afternoon. Six skaters had multi-point efforts in the win for the Reign, including two goals apiece for Jeff Malott, Glenn Gawdin and Samuel Fagemo, who netted the game-winning strike on the power play in the third. Martin Chromiak also posted three assists in the victory for Ontario to tie his career-high with 17 on the season and reach 30 points for the year.

HEAD-TO-HEAD: The Reign earned wins from their first four meetings with Tucson this season before losing the fifth matchup in Ontario earlier this month on March 5. They responded a week later in Arizona with a road sweep of the Roadrunners, winning each game by a 4-2 score, to make it six out of seven against Tucson this year. Ontario has held Tucson to two goals or less in five of the seven contests, outscoring them 24-15 overall in the series while outshooting them a combined 231-168. Jeff Malott leads Ontario in this year’s series, scoring 10 points on six goals and four assists. Glenn Gawdin has also been impressive vs. Tucson, scoring nine points on four goals and five helpers while Charles Hudon has two goals and five assists. A year ago, the two teams were evenly matched, with each winning four of the eight meetings during the 2023-24 regular season despite Ontario outscoring Tucson 30-19.

FAGEMO BREAKS OUT, HITS 40 POINTS: With two goals and an assist to help defeat the Iowa Wild on Sunday, Reign forward Samuel Fagemo posted his first three-point effort since November. Fagemo’s effort helped him hit the 40-point mark this season, the third time in the last four years he’s reached that number as a member of Ontario. With both of his goals coming via the power play, Fagemo continues to lead the team with 10 man-advantage tallies on the year. It’s the third consecutive season that he’s produced a double-digit total of goals on the power play, and his second strike held up as the game-winner, the third time that’s been the case this year. Fagemo, a native of Goteborg, Sweden, is the all-time leader in goals scoring during the Reign’s history, netting 128 tallies in 257 AHL games with the club. He’s also second in team history in overall points scored (196) and games played (257).

SCOUTING THE ROADRUNNERS: Tucson finished in second place in the Pacific Division standings last season but bowed out in the opening round of the Calder Cup Playoffs, dropping a best-of-3 series to the Calgary Wranglers. After the Reign came into Arizona and earned consecutive 4-2 victories two weeks ago, the Roadrunners picked up back-to-back victories over San Jose at home before traveling to Colorado where they were victims of a sweep against the Eagles last weekend. Forward Kailer Yamamoto leads the team in scoring with 51 points in 51 games this season on 19 goals and 32 assists. Forward Egor Sokolov has also made a big impact with 41 points on 20 goals and 21 assists, while Cameron Hebig has 39 points and leads the club with 21 goals. Defenders Robbie Russo and Artem Duda lead the blueliners with 30 and 25 points respectively, but Max Szuber has the most goals of any defenseman (6). In net, Jaxson Stauber has split time with former Reign goaltender Matt Villalta, with Stauber earning a recall to Utah earlier this month. Villalta is 16-21-3 from 40 contests with a 3.08 goals-against average, a 0.904 save percentage and three shutouts. The Roadrunners have recalled netminder Dylan Wells from ECHL Allen, who has previously appeared in six AHL contests for them this season.

GIVE IT TO GLENN: Forward Glenn Gawdin was on the scoresheet during all four games of Ontario’s Central Division road trip last week, posting a power play assist Tuesday night before adding an empty-net goal the next evening and three tallies during the series in Iowa. In the process, Gawdin went over the 20-goal mark on the season for the second consecutive campaign. His 21 tallies are just one away from his career-high of 22 which he had last season as a member of the San Diego Gulls. Gawdin also had a personal best of 55 points a year ago, and is close to matching that number again with 53 this season in 61 games. The seventh-year forward has points in seven of his last eight games, earning six goals and four assists during the run. Gawdin was a +5 in the four road games last week and now leads the team with a plus-22 rating overall this season. The Richmond, British Columbia native is also three assists shy of tying his previous high mark of 35, which he achieved as a member of the Stockton Heat during the 2021-22 campaign.

BIG DAY FOR THE POWER PLAY: The Reign scored three times on the man-advantage during Sunday’s win in Iowa, the third time this season they’ve found the back of the net on three occasions during a single game. Samuel Fagemo had two of the three tallies, giving him a team-high 10 power play goals on the season. Jeff Malott also found the back of the net on the man-advantage and is tied for second alongside Martin Chromiak and Jack Studnicka with five power play goals apiece. Ontario scored man-advantage goals in three of the four games on its recent road trip to Texas and Iowa and has secured power play tallies in five of its last seven contests overall. The recent success has moved them up to 14th in the league’s overall rankings with a success rate of 18.9%. That includes one of the best road units in the AHL, converting at 22% away from home which is third best in the league.

Reign Check Gameday Forecast

2024-25 Head-to-Head Schedule vs. Tucson:
Wed., Nov. 13 vs. Tucson, 4-1 W – Full Recap
Fri., Jan. 31 at Tucson, 2-1 W – Full Recap
Sat., Feb. 1 at Tucson, 5-4 SOW – Full Recap
Wed., Feb. 12 vs. Tucson, 4-1 W – Full Recap
Wed., Mar. 5 vs. Tucson, 1-4 L – Full Recap
Tue., Mar. 11 at Tucson, 4-2 W – Full Recap
Wed., Mar. 12 at Tucson, 4-2 W – Full Recap
Wed., Mar. 26 vs. Tucson, 7 p.m.