REIGN PREVIEW 12/30 – Ontario at Henderson
WHO: Ontario Reign (17-9-1-1) at Henderson Silver Knights (14-10-3-0)
WHAT: AHL REGULAR-SEASON GAME #29/72
WHEN: Tuesday, December 30 @ 7:00 Pacific
WHERE: Lee’s Family Forum – Henderson, NV
HOW TO FOLLOW: VIDEO: FloHockey – AUDIO: Reign Radio – TWITTER: @ReignInsider & @OntarioReign

TONIGHT’S MATCHUP: The Ontario Reign and Henderson Silver Knights square off in the fourth of eight total meetings this season, the second of four in Henderson at Lee’s Family Forum. The Reign are coming off a 3-0 shutout victory Saturday in San Jose behind a 32 save performance from Isaiah Saville. Ontario is looking for their third straight road win as they’ve won four of their last games away from Toyota Arena and have a posted an overall record of 9-3-0-1 since Nov. 21. The Silver Knights picked up a 6-3-win Sunday over Coachella Valley to open a four-game homestand and have won two straight on home ice and four of their last five. Henderson has a point in five straight games (3-0-2) with three games going beyond regulation and four contests determined by one-goal.

HEAD-TO-HEAD SERIES: The Reign are 1-2-0-0 vs. the Silver Knights this season picking up a 4-3 win in Ontario back on Nov. 28. Henderson defeated Ontario 6-2 in the only meeting at Lee’s Family Forum on Oct. 29. Henderson has outscored Ontario 11-6 while the Reign are averaging 22.33 shots to the Silver Knights 29. The Reign have outscored the Silver Knights 3-1 in the first period of play but have been outscored 10-3 in the final 40 minutes of play. The six Ontario goals have come from six different skaters as Cole Guttman and Andre Lee each have a goal and an assist while Tanner Laczysnki paces the way for Henderson with three goals and an assist. Ontario is 2-for-8 on the man advantage with power-play scores from Lee and Taylor Ward while Henderson is 2-for-9 with man advantage tallies from Raphael Lavoie and Matyas Sapovaliv. In between the crease, neither Isaiah Saville nor Mattias Sholl has faced Henderson while Carl Lindbom made 18 saves for his third career ECHL shutout in a 2-0 win on Oct. 17 at Ontario.

PLAYERS TO WATCH: For Ontario, Glenn Gawdin has a seven-game point streak (3G, 6A) and has 16 points (5G, 11A) in his last 17 games. His 16 assists are tied for 10th in the AHL. Andre Lee has four goals and an assist in his last four games and 17 points (9G, 8A) in his last 17 games. He is tied for seventh in the league with 24 points, tied for fifth with five power-play goals, and tied for seventh with 12 goals. Martin Chromiak has three goals in his last four games and has 16 points (8G, 8A) in his last 16 games while his 11 goals on the season are tied for eighth among all league skaters and his five on the power-play are tied for fifth. Cole Guttman returns to the lineup after serving a two-game suspension. He has 13 points (4G, 9A) in his last 15 games.

For Henderson, Lukas Cormier is tied for fourth among league defensemen with 20 points (5G, 15A) while his 15 assists are tied for fifth and his three power-play goals are tied for second. Tanner Laczysnki has a three-game point streak (1G, 4A) and is tied for sixth in the AHL with 25 points while his 16 assists are tied for 10th.

BETWEEN TWO PIPES: For the Reign, Isaiah Saville has two shutouts in his last three starts and has started four of the last five games while Mattias Sholl made his AHL debut on Dec. 21 making 21 saves on 25 shots in a 6-3 loss vs. San Jose. Pheonix Copley is still on recall with the LA Kings while Erik Portillo has missed 14 straight games with an injury.

For the Silver Knights, Carl Lindbom is fifth in the AHL with a .924 save percentage and 2.00 goals against average as he’s started three of the last four games. The Golden Knights seventh round draft pick, 222nd overall, in 2021 made his NHL debut this season with Vegas and has played seven games with a 1-4-2 record, 3.14 goals against average, and .870 save percentage. Jesper Vikman won three of his first four appearances to start the season but since is just 2-3-1.

SAVILLE RETURNS TO SIN CITY : Goaltender Isaiah Saville will go up against his former club for the first time in his career. The Anchorage, AK native was drafted by the Vegas Golden Knights in the 2019 NHL Draft, fifth round, 135th overall, and signed a three-year, entry-level contract with Vegas on Mar. 18, 2022. He made his AHL/Pro debut with Henderson on Mar 26, 2022 making 18 saves on 20 shots in a 3-1 loss vs. Tucson. Saville played 40 games with the Silver Knights from 2021-24 posting a 17-18-1 record with a 3.00 goals against average and .902 save percentage.

BUSY STRETCH UPCOMING: The Reign open a busy week as they will play four games in the next six days, including two back-to-backs. They will host the San Jose tomorrow night to begin a five-game homestand and close out the week hosting Coachella Velly Saturday and Iowa Sunday. The Reign are 5-1-0-1 in game one of a back-to-back outscoring their opponents 30-16 while they’re 3-4-0-0 in game two being outscored 25-17.

MAKING THE MOST OF THEIR OPPORTUNITIES: Despite averaging the fourth fewest shots on net this season at 25.64 the Reign are ninth in the AHL averaging 3.32 goals per game with 93, tied for sixth most in the league. Ontario holds a team shooting percentage of 13.2% as Andre Lee leads the team at 24.5% (12 goals, 49 shots). The Reign are averaging just 7.97 shots in the first period with 24 goals, 9.17 shots in the second period with 32 goals, and 8 in the third period with 33 goals. That makes for a 10.8% shooting percentage in the first period, 12.5% in period two, and 14.7% in the third period.