WHO: Ontario Reign (8-6-1-0) vs. Bakersfield Condors (7-5-3-0)
WHAT: AHL REGULAR-SEASON GAME #16/72
WHEN: Friday, November 21 @ 7:00 Pacific
WHERE: Toyota Arena – Ontario, CA
HOW TO FOLLOW: VIDEO: FloHockey – AUDIO: Reign Radio – TWITTER: @ReignInsider & @OntarioReign

TONIGHT’S MATCHUP: The Ontario Reign and Bakersfield Condors kick-off a home in home series tonight for the first of eight total meetings this season, the first of four at Toyota Arena. After playing nine of their last 11 games on the road the Reign will play six of their next seven contests on home ice beginning this evening.

HEAD-TO-HEAD: The two clubs met just four times last season with Ontario posting a 3-1-0 mark against Bakersfield including a 1-1-0 record at Toyota Arena. The Reign outscored the Condors 12-10 in the series as Martin Chromiak and Glenn Gawdin each scored twice and added two assists. Seth Griffith scored twice for Bakersfield while James Hamblin notched three assists. Pheonix Copley won both of his starts vs. the Condors posting a 2.00 goals against average and .927 save percentage. He made 25 saves in a 3-1 road victory on Nov. 30 and 26 saves in a 5-3 home win on Dec. 8. Ontario was 3-for-15, 20% on the power-play while they were a perfect 12-for-12 on the penalty kill.

LAST TIME OUT – ONTARIO: The Reign fell 4-3 last Saturday in San Jose and having now lost back-to-back games for the first time this season. Ontario fell behind 2-0 after the first period where they were outshot 15-8 but scored three unanswered goals on the power-play to capture a 3-2 lead. Martin Chromiak notched his team leading fourth man advantage goal at 13:14 of the second period before Andre Lee scored back-to-back power-play goals in a span of 4:05 in the front half of the third period. Glen Gawdin picked up the primary assists on both of Lee’s tallies. With 6:26 left in the contest Luca Cagnoni tied the score at 3-3 before Colin White provided the game winner with 3:59 to play. Pheonix Copley suffered the loss making 25 saves as the Reign were outshot 29-27. Ontario went 3-for-5 on the power-play and 3-for-3 on the penalty kill.

LAST TIME OUT – BAKERSFIELD: The Condors picked up a 5-2 win over Calgary on Tuesday night improving to 6-0-0 on home ice this season. Issac Howard potted his first AHL goal at 4:25 after the first period just 22 seconds after the Wranglers had taken a 1-0 lead. Calgary regained the advantage with a power-play score 3:07 into the second but it would be four unanswered goals for Bakersfield en route to victory. Quinn Hutson tied the score at 2-2 on the power-play at 5:35 before the Condors grabbed a 3-2 lead 83 seconds later thanks to Josh Samanski. It was a pair of empty net goals from Roby Järventie and Howard late in the game giving Bakersfield the win. Connor Ingram received the victory making 25 saves ad Calgary outshot Bakersfield 27-26. The Condors went 1-for-2 on the power-play and 3-for-4 on the penalty kill.

BETWEEN TWO PIPES: For the Reign, Pheonix Copley is just 2-5-0 with a 3.84 goals against average and .870 save percentage. He has a lost five of his last six games having surrendered four or more goals in four contests. Erik Portillo remains out with an injury as Isaiah Saville has yet to see game action since being re-called from Greenville last Friday. For the Condors, Matt Tomkins is 5-3-1 with a 3.56 GAA and .884 save percentage having won three of his last four games. His five wins are tied for third among all league netminders while he’s faced the sixth most shots, 276. Connor Ingram is 2-2-2 with a 3.69 GAA and .871 SV% having lost four of his last five games 1-2-2.

INDIVIDUAL NUGGETS – REIGN: Martin Chromiak is tied for second in the AHL with four power-play goals while he has a point in back-to-back games (1-1-2). Akil Thomas has a three-game point streak (1-2-3) and a point in five of his last six games (2-5-7). Kenny Connors is tied for second among all AHL skaters with a +11 rating and has a three-game point streak (1-3-4). Glenn Gawdin has five points (2-3-5) in his last four games. Andre Lee snapped a nine-game goal less drought with his two power-play goals on Saturday and has four points (2-2-4) in his last four games. Joe Hicketts has four points (1-3-4) in his last five games. Taylor Ward has one goal in his last five games after having six in his previous six games. Jack Hughes has two assists in his last four games while Jakub Dvořák has a goal and an assist in his last three games. Cole Guttman has four points (1-3-4) in his last four games while Aatu Jämsen has four points (1-3-4) in his last five games.

INDIVIDUAL NUGGETS – CONDORS: Roby Järventie has three goals in his last two games while Rem Pitlick has two in his last three games. Quinn Hutson has goals in back-to-back games with three while he has a point in five straight games (5-7-12). He is tied for fourth among all AHL skaters with 15 points (7-8-15) while he is tied for first among league rookies. Atro Leppanen has a point in two straight games (0-4-4) and five assists in his last five games. Viljami Marjala has a four-game point streak (1-4-5) while Josh Samanski has a goal and an assist in back-to-back games. Issac Howard has four points (2-2-4) in his first two games with the Condors after being loaned from Edmonton last Friday after notching three points (2G, 1A) in 17 games with the Oilers.

 WHAT TO WATCH FOR ONTARIO: Ontario has lost back-to-back games for the first time this season as they’re 5-1-0 when following a loss. The Reign have not played on home ice since Nov. 8 when they defeated San Diego 4-3 in overtime. They will play six of their next seven games at Toyota Arena looking for their third straight home victory as they’re 4-1-1 on home ice. Ontario ranks 7th in the AHL averaging 3.40 goals for per game. They’ve scored five in their last two contests after scoring 13 in their previous three games. The Reign have scored just two goals in the first period over their last six games. Ontario is 16th in the league averaging 2.93 goals against having allowed three or fewer goals in 10 of 15 games posting a 8-2-0 record. They have allowed three or more in four of their last five games after allowing two or fewer in the previous seven of nine contests. The power-play scored a single game season high on Saturday going 3-for-5 snapping a 0-for-8 stretch which lasted three games. The penalty kill is 13-for-14 over the last five games after allowing a power-play goal in the previous three games where they were just 5-for-8.

WHAT TO WATCH FOR BAKERSFIELD: The Condors are the only team in the AHL with a perfect record on home ice, 6-0-0-0, but they’re just 1-5-3-0 on the road. Bakersfield has won two straight games and they’ve collected a point in five of their last six contests (4-1-1). They rank sixth in the league averaging 3.47 goals for per game having scored three or more in six straight games. Bakersfield is 29th allowing 3.67 goals against per game but have allowed just five in their last two games after surrendering 10 in the previous two games. The Condors have a power-play goal in four straight games 5-for-17 and rank sixth in the AHL at 25.5%. They’re just 29th on the penalty kill at 75.4% having allowed a power-play goal against in four straight games, 15-for-21.