REIGN PREVIEW 1/18 – Ontario at Texas
WHO: Ontario Reign (25-11-1-1, 52pts) at Texas Stars (15-19-3-1, 34pts)
WHAT: AHL REGULAR-SEASON GAME #39/72
WHEN: Saturday, January 18 @ 3:00 Pacific
WHERE: HEB CENTER – Cedar Park, TX
HOW TO FOLLOW: VIDEO: FloHockey – AUDIO: Reign Radio – TWITTER: @ReignInsider & @OntarioReign

TONIGHT’S MATCHUP: The Ontario Reign wrap up the week finishing a back-to-back with the Texas Stars looking to cap off the week with a perfect 4-0 record as they lead the Pacific Division with 52 points, second most in the Western Conference, and fourth in the AHL.

HEAD-TO-HEAD SERIES: Tonight marks the 23rd all-time meeting between the Reign and the Stars as Ontario holds a 14-7-1 mark against Texas including 6-4-1 at HEB Center in Cedar Park. Ontario is 2-1-0-0 against Texas this season having won the last two meetings having outscored the Stars 11-10 this year. Cole Guttman paces the way offensively with three goals and an assist while Nikita Alexandrov and Kenny Connors each have two goals and a helper. Martin Chromiak and Jared Wright each have a goal and two assists.

CAN YOU BELIEVE IT?: Last night the Reign completed their second straight come from behind win trailing going into the third period. After Wednesday night’s dramatic 4-3 shootout win in Colorado when Ontario was behind 2-0 going into the final 20 minutes, they trailed 2-1 going into period three last evening. Cole Guttman tied the score on a six-on-four extra attacker score with 14 seconds left while Jared Wright notched the game winner with 1.4 seconds remaining in regulation for the 4-3 victory.

The Reign are now 5-9-0 when trailing after two periods this season having trailed going into the final stanza in five of their last eight games coming away victorious in four of them.

ROAD TRIPPIN: Tonight, marks game five of a season long six-game road trip as the Reign are 12-7-0 away from Toyota Arena having won six of their last seven. A win tonight would push their road win streak to a season long four-games.

The Reign 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 has re-gained their offensive touch scoring 14 goals in their last three games since. They rank 5th in the AHL averaging 3.39 goals per game having scored four or more goals 18 times this season posting a 15-2-1-0 record.

Ontario has outscored their opponents 8-3 in the third period over their last three games outshooting their opposition 32-15 after outshooting Colorado 18-12 Wednesday and 15-3 vs. Texas last night.

SPECIAL TEAMS BECOMING SPECIAL: The Reign went 1-for-3 on the power-play last evening and have a man advantage strike in three straight games, 4-for-12. They have a power-play goal in eight of their last nine games, 10-for-34, 29.4%. They’re currently 11th in the AHL at 20.1% and 9th on the road clicking at 22.1% Ontario is 16-4-1 when scoring a power-play goal this season including 8-3-0 on the road. Martin Chromiak (6G, 6A) and Nikita Alexandrov (3G, 9A) lead the Reign with 12 power-play points as Chromiak has been involved in four straight man advantage strikes and Alexandrov has factored in on three of the last four.

Ontario was 3-for-3 on the penalty kill last evening as they’re 8-for-8 in their last three contests. They’ve surrendered a man advantage goal against in just two of their last 11 games. 33-for-36, 91.7%. They’re currently 8th in the AHL at 83.2% and 5th on the road at 86.3%. On the road, they’ve gone 21-for-22 over their last seven games.

 COLLECTING POINTS: The Reign have collected a point in seven of their last eight games (7-1-0-0), 11 of their last 14 (10-2-0-1), and are 16-6-0-1 in their last 23 games. A win tonight would tie their season high win streak of four games set from games 20-23 and 31-34.

They hold a 14-3-1-1 record in one-score games this season having won five straight and a 10-1-0-1 mark in their last 12 games. They’ve won five straight one goal games on the road.

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 9-1-0-1 in game one of a back-to-back series outscoring their opponents 45-29 but are just 5-5-0-0 in the second game having been outscored 33-24.

MR. CLUTCH: Rookie forward Jared Wright notched his third game winning goal of the season last night which is tied for the team lead and tied for third among AHL first year skaters. The Kings sixth round pick in 2022 now has 16 points (9G, 7A) in 38 games this season while his plus-17 rating is second among rookies and tied for sixth among all skaters. He has two goals in his last three games and four points (3G, 1A) over his last six contests. The 22-year-old scored the game winning goal for the University of Denver in the 2024 NCAA National Championship game in a 2-0 win over Boston College in his home state of Minnesota.

GUTTY GETS GOING: Forward Cole Guttman scored a pair of goals last night for his second multi-goal game of the season and has sixth multi-point effort of the year. He has six goals in his last seven games and 10 points (6G, 4A) in his last eight contests. After starting the season with just three points (1G, 2A) in his first 11 games the Northridge, CA native has racked up 23 points (10G, 13A) in his last 23 games.

The 26-year-old totaled 19 points (10G, 9A) in 20 games against Texas as a member of the Rockford IceHogs the previous three years. He led the IceHogs a season ago with 57 points, 23 goals, and 34 assists skating in 70 games while finishing tied for eighth in the AHL with 16 power-play assists. He is tied for second this season among Reign skaters with 10 man advantage points as he has three power-play scores in his last seven games.

CHROMIE CONTINUES CLICKING: Forward Martin Chromiak notched two assists last night for his seventh multi-point game of the year after tallying three on Wednesday and has 10 points (4G, 6A) in his last eight games. The Kings fifth round draft pick from 2020 leads the club with 15 goals and is tied for 30 points having skated in all 38 games. The 23-year-old has now hit 30 points in each of his last three AHL seasons and has collected 129 points (63G, 66A) in 234 games with Ontario.

 GOALTENDING TANDEM: Erik Portillo made 17 saves on 20 shots last night improving to 9-1-1 on the season in 13 appearances having won eight straight decisions. He is eighth in the AHL with a 2.33 goals against average, tied for 10th with a .912 save percentage, and tied for seventh with seven wins. He has won four straight 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. Pheonix Copley has won three of his last four games and eight of his last 11 after starting the season 2-5-0. The veteran netminder is tied for sixth in the league with 10 wins holding a 10-8-0 record with a 3.03 goals against average and .889 save percentage. The two have alternated starts over the last eight games dating back to Jan. 3.