REIGN PREVIEW 1/17 – Ontario at Texas
WHO: Ontario Reign (24-11-1-1, 50pts) at Texas Stars (15-18-3-1, 34pts)
WHAT: AHL REGULAR-SEASON GAME #38/72
WHEN: Saturday, January 17 @ 5:00 Pacific
WHERE: HEB CENTER – Cedar Park, TX
HOW TO FOLLOW: VIDEO: FloHockey – AUDIO: Reign Radio – TWITTER: @ReignInsider & @OntarioReign

TONIGHT’S MATCHUP: The AHL’s Pacific Division leading, Ontario Reign, play their first out of division game on the road tonight from Cedar Park, TX as they take on the Texas Stars for the first game of a back-to-back.

HEAD-TO-HEAD SERIES: Tonight marks the 22nd all-time meetings between the Reign and the Stars as Ontario holds a 13-7-1 mark against Texas including 5-4-1 at HEB Center in Cedar Park. Texas defeated Ontario 5-2 last season in Texas on Mar. 18 and then Ontario won 4-1 the following night. The Reign are 1-1-0-0 vs. the Stars this season as Ontario collected a 6-3 win on Dec. 9 at Toyota Arena after falling 4-1 on Nov. 30. Nikita Alexandrov and Kenny Connors each scored twice in the victory while Angus Booth and Jared Wright each tallied two assists. Glenn Gawdin has an assist in both contests while Cole Guttman, Martin Chromiak, and Francesco Pinelli have goals against the Stars this season while in between the crease Pheonix Copleystarted both games. Ontario is 0-for-5 on the power-play and 5-for-6 on the penalty kill.

COMEBACK COMPLETE: Ontario is fresh off a two-game series sweep earlier this week in Colorado including a dramatic come from behind 4-3 shootout win on Wednesday. The Reign trailed 2-0 going into the third period and fell behind 3-0 just 37 seconds into the final 20 minutes of play. Nikita Alexandrov scored his first of two third period power-play goals at 4:13 and then Kenny Connors notched a six-on-four score with 2:59 left in regulation making it a one-score game. The Reign went on the power-play with 57 seconds left in the game and Alexandrov tied the contest with a six-on-five man advantage strike with 19 seconds left to play eventually forcing overtime. After a scoreless overtime session Aatu Jämsen provided the game winner in the fifth round of the shootout session after Connors scored as the second shooter. Martin Chromiak assisted on all three goals in the third period while Alexandrov added an assist with his two goals and Connors also recorded an assist to go with his goal.

In the third period the Reign recorded a season high 18 shots in the third period as it was their second straight night scoring three goals in the final stanza. They finished the game with 37 shots, second highest in a game this season, while it was just the ninth time they’ve recorded 30 or more shots, their first time since game 29, when they logged 32 in a 3-2 shootout win at Henderson.

The Reign are now 4-9-0 when trailing after two periods this season having trailed going into the final stanza in four of their last seven games coming away victorious in three of them.

ROAD TRIPPIN: Tonight, marks game four of a season long six-game road trip as the Reign are 11-7-0 away from Toyota Arena having won five of their last six. After this weekend’s two-game set with the Stars Ontario will pay their first visit to Coachella Valley next Friday concluding the six-game swing away from Toyota Arena.

GETTING BACK TO OFFENSE: After getting shutout for just the second time this season last Sunday when the Reign fell 3-0 in Bakersfield Ontario re-gained their offensive touch in Colorado. The Reign collected a 6-3 win over the Eagles on Tuesday, matching a season high as they’ve hit the mark on four separate occasions this season including once against Texas.

SPECIAL TEAMS BECOMING SPECIAL: The Reign went 2-for-5 on the power-play in Colorado on Wednesday after going 1-for-3 on Tuesday as they now have a man advantage score in seven of their last eight games, 9-for-31, 29%. They’re 8-for-27, 29.6% in seven games through January after going just 5-for-34, 14.7% in 11 games during December. Ontario is now 15-4-1 when scoring a power-play goal in a game this season, 7-3-0 on the road, and 5-2-0 overall when scoring two or more goals on the man advantage in a contest. They’re currently 12th in the AHL at 19.8% and 9th on the road clicking at 22.1%. Martin Chromiak (6G, 5A) was involved in all three power-play scores in Colorado as his 11 points are tied with Nikita Alexandrov (3G, 8A) for the team lead.

Ontario was 5-for-5 on the penalty kill in the two-game series vs. Colorado going 2-for-2 on Wednesday and 3-for-3 on Tuesday. They’ve surrendered a power-play goal in just two of their last 10 games, 30-for-33, 90.9%. During January the Reign are 22-for-25, 88%, after going 30-for-34, 88.2%, in December. They’re currently 9th in the AHL at 82.8% and 6th  on the road at 85.4%.

COLLECTING POINTS: The Reign have collected a point in 10 of their last 13 games, 9-2-0-1, and are 15-6-0-1 in their last 22 games dating back to Nov. 21. They hold a 13-3-1-1 record in one-score games this season having won four straight and a 9-1-0-1 mark in their last 11 games.

REIGN STRONG IN THE OPENING NUMBER: This two game set with the Stars is the 11th of 19 back-to-back set of games Ontario will play this year. The Reign have put up an impressive 8-1-0-1 in game one of a back-to-back series outscoring their opponents 42-26 but are just 5-5-0-0 in the second game having been outscored 33-24.

GO OFF NIKKI: Forward Nikita Alexandrov has tallied 18 points (6G, 12A) in 18 games for Ontario since being traded from the St. Louis Blues to the LA Kings on Dec. 2 in exchange for Akil Thomas. The 25-year-old has 15 points (3G, 12A) in his last 11 games failing to record at least one point in just three games. His two-goal performance on Wednesday was his second with the Reign while his nine shots tied his career high. Heading into Wednesday he had recorded just six shots in his last eight games after notching 22 in his first nine games with Ontario. The Reign are 13-4-0-1 with Alexandrov in the lineup and 9-2-0-1 when he tallies a point.

300 CLUB: Defenseman Samuel Bolduc is slated to appear in his 300th professional game tonight. The 25-year-old leads all Reign blueliners with 15 points and five goals having appeared in 36 of 37 games. He was drafted by the New York Islanders in the 2019 NHL Draft, second round, 57th overall, appearing in 211 games with AHL’s Bridgeport from 2020-25 collecting 92 points (28G, 64A) while skating in 52 NHL games with the Islanders notching eight points (4G, 4A) from 2022-25. He was named to the 2023 AHL-All Star Game (Atlantic Division) and earned a spot on the 2021 AHL (Atlantic Division) All-Star Team. He signed a one-year, two-way contract with the Kings on Jul. 2, 2025.

 PORTILLO POWERING UP: Goaltender Erik Portillo is expected to get the start tonight as Ontario has alternated between Portillo and Pheonix Copley over the last seven games. He has won three straight games since returning from injury after being sidelined from Nov. 12 until he picked up a 19 save shutout on Jan. 4 in a 3-0 win vs. Iowa in his first game back. The 25-year-old has won seven straight decisions and holds a 8-1-1 record in 12 appearances with. His 2.26 goals against average and .916 save percentage are seventh among AHL goaltenders.

 SCOUTING THE STARS: The Stars are on a two-game losing skid after falling to Coachella Valley in Texas 6-3 on Wednesday and 5-2 Tuesday. Texas holds a 5-3-0 mark in their last eight games since Dec. 31. Goaltender Rémi Poirier was named AHL Player of the Week on Monday after making 59 saves on 60 shots in two starts for the Stars last week including a 29 save shutout over Grand Rapids last Friday in a 2-0 victory. He allowed five goals on 37 shots Wednesday and has started three of the last four games.

Offensively speaking, the Stars are led by former Coachella Valley Firebirds forward, Cameron Hughes, who has 31 points (6G, 25A) in 37 games. He slid into a tie for fourth among league skaters in assists after notching three Wednesday. Matthew Seminoff and Artem Shlaine are tied for the team lead with 10 goals while Antonio Stranges has a three-game goal streak and is third with eight goals. The Stars have struggled to score goals this season ranking 29th in the league averaging 2.62 per game while they sit 30th on the power-play at 13.9%.