REIGN PREVIEW 3/1 – Ontario vs. Bakersfield
WHO: Ontario Reign (34-16-1-1, 70pts, 1st) vs. Bakersfield Condors (28-16-8-1, 65pts, 4th)
WHAT: AHL REGULAR-SEASON GAME #53/72
WHEN: Sunday, March 1 @ 3:00 Pacific
WHERE: Toyota Arena – Ontario, CA
HOW TO FOLLOW: VIDEO: FloHockey – AUDIO: Reign Radio – TWITTER: @ReignInsider & @OntarioReign

TODAY’S MATCHUP: The Ontario Reign are back in action for the first time since last Sunday as they open a three-game homestand to begin March taking on the Bakersfield Condors this afternoon from Toyota Arena.

 WHAT TO WATCH FOR ONTARIO: The Reign have won three straight games outscoring their opponents 13-7 after a two-game series sweep in Tucson last weekend defeating the Roadrunners 4-2 on Saturday and 5-3 on Sunday. A win this afternoon would match their season high win streak of four games which they’ve done on two occasions, games 20-23 and games 31-34. Ontario sits in first place in the Pacific Division with 70 points, 20 games remaining, with Colorado one point back with a game in hand. The Reign won six of their last eight games, nine of their last 13, and hold a 16-6-0 mark in 2026.

WHAT TO WATCH FOR BAKERSFIELD: The Condors fell last night 3-2 in a shootout in Coachella Valley as they wrap up four straight on the road this afternoon. After losing three straight games from Feb.6-13, a season long losing streak, the Condors are 3-1-1-1 in their last six with five of the six games being determined by one-goal. Bakersfield went 4-4-1-1 during the month of February as they sit in fourth place in the Pacific Division with 65 points. The Condors rank third in the AHL averaging 3.42 goals for per game and fourth on the power-play at 22.8%. They have scored a league high nine overall short-handed goals and eight on the road.

HEAD-TO-HEAD SERIES: Ontario holds a 5-1-0 record vs. Bakersfield this season including 2-0-0 in Ontario with four of the first six games being determined by one-goal. Cole Guttman (3G, 1A), Jared Wright (3G, 1A), and Martin Chromiak (2G, 2A) pace the way offensively for the Reign while Koehn Ziemmer recorded his first professional hat-trick the last time these two clubs met on Feb. 7 in a 4-3 Ontario win. Issac Howard has five assists in five games against the Reign while Viljami Marjala has four goals in six games. The Reign have outscored the Condors 18-13 including 8-0 in the second period while Bakersfield has taken a 1-0 lead in four of six contests. Ontario is 3-for-25 on the power-play having scored in three of six games while Bakersfield is 2-for-17 scoring in two contests.

BETWEEN TWO PIPES: For Ontario, Erik Portillo and Pheonix Copley have alternated starts over the last 22 games since Portillo returned from injury on Jan. 4. Portillo picked up the win on Sunday making 25 saves on 28 shots for his second straight win. He has won nine of 11 games since returning from injury after missing 16 consecutive games from Nov.13-Jan.2 and is victorious in 13 of his last 15 decisions. Copley picked up the win last Saturday making 15 saves on 17 shots as he has won three of his last four. For Bakersfield, Matt Tomkins suffered the shootout loss last night making 27 saves on 29 shots while allowing two goals on three shots in the shootout frame as he is now 1-3-1 in his last five starts. Calvin Pickard was assigned to Bakersfield from Edmonton on Feb. 4 and made 36 saves on 39 shots Wednesday in a 4-3 overtime win at Colorado in his first AHL contest of the season. He has played 16 games with the Oilers this season holding a 5-6-2 record with a 3.68 goals against average and .871 save percentage. Pickard was drafted by the Colorado Avalanche in the 2010 NHL Draft, second round, 49th overall, and has appeared in 191 career NHL regular season games, 13 playoff games, and helped the Toronto Marlies to the 2018 Calder Cup.

WHAT TO WATCH FOR INDIVIDUALLY FOR ONTARIO: Andre Lee notched three points (2G, 1A) last Sunday for his sixth multi-point game of the season, his second three-point game. His second goal of the game came on the power-play as he leads the Reign with 21 scores and eight on the man advantage. The Reign are 13-2-1-1 when he scores and 22-3-1-1 when he tallies a point. Jared Wright recorded his first multi-goal game of his professional career on Sunday scoring his second short-handed goal of the season while securing the win with an empty netter. He has 11 points (5G, 6A) in his last 11 games, 15 points (8G, 7A) in his last 20 while his 14 goals on the year are tied for fifth among AHL rookies. Martin Chromiak is one point shy of setting a career high in points and two goals shy of a career best as he has 39 points (17G, 22A) in 51 games after notching 39 (18G, 21A) in 69 games a year ago.

WHAT TO WATCH FOR INDIVIDUALLY FOR BAKERSFIELD: Rookie forwards Quinn Huston and Issac Howard continue to drive the bus for the Condors. Huston leads all first-year skaters with 46 points, 24 goals, and 11 power-play scores while Howard has 32 points (14G, 18A) in 29 games for Bakersfield this season. Veteran forward Seth Griffith is tied for seventh in scoring with 48 points (15G, 33A) in 53 games while defenseman Atro Leppanen has four goals in his last six games after missing 18 consecutive games with an injury from Dec.31-Feb.13.

GOAL SCORING AT A PREMIUM: Last Sunday marked the 26th time through 52 games this season where they Reign have scored four or more goals, the seventh time producing five. They hold a 23-2-1-0 mark when recording four more goals in a game as they sit fourth in the AHL averaging 3.38 goals for per game. Ontario has outscored their opposition 60-41 in the second period as the +19 goal differential is the second best in the league, Charlotte sits at +21, 62-41. Over their last seven games the Reign have outscored their opponents 13-6, scoring a goal in all seven games, while having three straight multi-goal second periods.

GETTING ON THE BOARD FIRST: The Reign have taken a 1-0 lead in five straight contests, a season high, as they hold a 21-5-0 record when drawing first blood this year.

SHOT QUANTITY INCOMING: Ontario sits just just 31st in the league averaging 25.31 shots for per game but they’ve put up 30 or more in four of their last six games for an average of 28.83 while they’re fourth in shots against allowing 25.87 per contest.

HOME COOKIN: Ontario is tied for third in home victories in the AHL this season posting a 18-5-1-1 mark at Toyota Arena outscoring their opponents 87-68. They have a power-play goal in 11 straight games, 12-for-42 (28.6%). While allowing a power-play goal against in just one of their last seven games, 17-for-18. The Reign have won nine of their last 10 on home ice in the year of 2026.

PROLIFIC PK: The Reign went 2-for-3 on the penalty kill last Sunday as they had gone 12-for-12 over their previous six games. They have allowed a power-play goal against in just two of their last 13 games (28-for-30), three of their last 17 (46-for-49), and five of their last 25 (64-for-71). They rank second in the AHL at 85%.

 TIGHTLY CONTESTED: Of Ontario’s 52 games this season, 24 of them have been determined by one-goal, with the Reign holding a 17-5-1-1 record having won eight of their last 10 games determined by just one goal.

TURNING THE PAGE: The Reign begin a busy month of March where they will play 13 games, six on home ice, seven on the road, with the 13 games coming in 28 days. Six of their first eight games with come at Toyota Arena with the final five taking place on the road. The longest Ontario will go in between games is three days. They will play Tucson and Henderson each three times, one home and two away, two games against Coachella Valley, one home, one away, a home game against Bakersfield, Colorado, and Abbotsford while playing two games in Iowa for a total of seven different opponents. Ontario went 6-3-0 in February outscoring their opponents 31-26 going 7-for-30 (23.3%) on the power-play and 17-for-19 (89.4%) on the penalty kill.