WHO: Ontario Reign (8-4-1-0) at Calgary Wranglers (6-5-2-0)
WHAT: AHL REGULAR-SEASON GAME #14/72
WHEN: Wednesday, November 12 @ 6:00 Pacific
WHERE: Scotiabank Saddledome – Calgary, AB
HOW TO FOLLOW: VIDEO: FloHockey – AUDIO: Reign Radio – TWITTER: @ReignInsider & @OntarioReign

TONIGHT’S MATCHUP: The Ontario Reign and Calgary Wranglers wrap up a back-to-back series as the two club’s will next meet in early December for a back-to-back in Ontario wrapping up their four game season series.

ABOUT LAST NIGHT: The Reign picked up a 5-1 win over the Wranglers last evening marking back-to-back wins for the first time since Oct. 24/26 after they had alternated a loss with a win in their previous six games. Calgary has now dropped three games in a row after a five-game winning streak. After a scoreless first period Kenny Connors opened the scoring 2:05 into the second period then Cole Guttman followed 2:06 later making it 2-0. Dryden Hunt scored with 6:41 remaining in the period before Jared Wright provided a short-handed goal 72 seconds into the third period giving the Reign back a two-goal lead, 3-1. Taylor Ward enhanced the lead at 5:40 then Koehn Ziemmer scored his first professional goal with 5:59 to play as Pheonix Copley made 28 saves in the win.

PENALTY KILL STARTING TO CLICK: Ontario went 3-for-3 on the penalty kill last night while Jared Wright provided the first short-handed goal of the season for the club. The PK has gone a perfect 8-for-8 over their last three games after allowing a goal in three straight and in seven of the first 10 games. “I think the process has been there all year,” said head coach Andrew Lord. “I think we’ve just gotten a little sharper with our execution. Obviously, you got to rep it out too, whether its D pairings or forward pairings. Everyone’s getting more comfortable now, 13 games in, and it was really sharp Tuesday night.”

 ROOKIES TAKE THE HEADLINE: Koehn Ziemmer scored his first professional goal last night and now has four points (1-3-4) in six games with a plus-three rating and 11 shots. The LA Kings third round selection from 2023 has played in six of Ontario’s last eight games after being a healthy scratch the first five contests. Kenny Connors and Jared Wright each scored a goal and added an assist last night for their first career multi-point games. Connors, LA’s fourth round selection in 2022, leads all AHL rookies with a plus-10 rating. He has played in all 13 games tallying seven points (3-4-7) including three points (2-1-3) in his last three games. Wright, LA’s sixth round selection in 2022, is tied for second among AHL rookies with a plus-eight rating having been an even or plus rating in all 13 games where he’s posted four points (3G, 1A).

 INDIVIDUAL NUGGETS: For the Reign, Joe Hicketts (1-3-4) has a three-game assist streak and point streak (1-3-4) while Aatu Jämsen (1-2-3) has a three-game point streak. Andre Lee and Jack Hughes have an assist in back-to-back games while Glenn Gawdin (2-1-3), Koehn Ziemmer (1-1-2), and Cole Guttman (1-2-3) all have points in two straight contests. Akil Thomas has five points (1-4-5) in his last four games while Francesco Pinelli has three assists in his last five games. Angus Booth returned to the lineup last night after being sidelined with an injury the previous four games. Booth had missed the first six games with injury before playing in two. Pheonix Copley snapped a three-game losing streak last night making 28 saves.

WHAT TO WATCH FOR ONTARIO: Ontario scored five goals last night for the third time this season as they have now scored four or more in three straight contests. They’re sixth in the AHL averaging 3.54 goals for per game having scored three or more goals in nine of 13 games. Their one goal surrendered last night was the third time surrendering just one goal in a game while they have held their opposition to three or fewer nine times. Ontario is (5-1) when scoring first this season having now scored first in five of their last seven games. They improved to (6-1) when tied after the first period and (7-0-1) when leading through two periods after last night’s victory.

WHAT TO WATCH FOR CALGARY: Calgary has now lost three straight games where they’ve been outscored 13-5. They’ve now been held to just one goal in back-to-back contests. Prior to their three-game losing skid, the Wranglers had won five straight games where they outscored their opponents 19-8. After the loss last evening they’re 1-5-1 when trailing through 40 minutes. After tonight Calgary will play their next 10 games on the road.