REIGN PREVIEW 11/30 – Ontario vs. Texas
WHO: Ontario Reign (11-6-1-0) vs. Texas Stars (6-10-2-0)
WHAT: AHL REGULAR-SEASON GAME #18/72
WHEN: Sunday, November 30 @ 5:00 Pacific
WHERE: Toyota Arena – Ontario, CA
HOW TO FOLLOW: VIDEO: FloHockey – AUDIO: Reign Radio – TWITTER: @ReignInsider & @OntarioReign

 TONIGHT’S MATCHUP: The Ontario Reign close out the month of November with their first out of division game of the season playing host to the Texas Stars.

HEAD-TO-HEAD: Tonight marks the first of four of meetings this season between the Reign and the Stars, the first of two in Ontario. All-time the Reign are 12-6-1 vs. the Stars after going 2-2-0 last season. Taylor Ward (1-2-3), Glenn Gawdin (1-1-2), Francesco Pinelli (1-1-2), Angus Booth, and Aatu Jämsen all scored goals against the Stars last season while Martin Chromiak notched three assists. Pheonix Copley went 2-2-0 with a 2.43 goals-against average and .915 save percentage as the Reign outscored the Stars 13-11 in the head-to-head series last year. Ontario went 15-for-16 on the penalty kill and 3-for-12 on the man advantage.

LAST TIME OUT – ONTARIO: The Reign defeated the Henderson Silver Knights 4-3 on Friday for their third straight win, fourth straight home win, in the first of five straight games at Toyota Arena. Andre Lee made it 1-0 at 5:23 of the first period with his third power-play goal in his last four games before Taylor Ward increased his goal-streak to three games with his team leading 10th goal of the season, his third on the man advantage, at 4:58 of the second period making it 2-0. The Silver Knights scored the next three goals of the contest as Tanner Lacynski’s second of the night gave Henderson a 3-2 lead with 5:11 to go in regulation. Angus Booth scored his first of the season with 2:55 remaining tying the score at 3-3. Then Cole Guttman provided the eventual game winner 58 seconds later as he has found the back of the net in back-to-back games. Pheonix Copley made a season high 35 saves as the Reign were outshot 38-16.

GONE STREAKING: The Reign are on a three-game win streak, four game home winning streak, as they’ll look to make it four consecutive overall victories for the first time this season. Taylor Ward has a goal in three straight games for the second time this season while Cole Guttman has found the back of the net in two straight while also adding an assist. Martin Chormiak has a five-game point streak (1-5-6) after tallying two assists on Friday while Kyle Burroughs has an assist in three straight games (0-4-4) after notching a pair on Friday.

 SPECIAL TEAMS: The Reign went 2-for-3 on the power-play Friday night having now scored on the man advantage in back-to-back games. They’ve found the back of the net when a man up in three of their last four games 6-for-20 after going (0-for-8 in their previous three games. Ontario went 2-for-3 on the penalty kill Friday. They’ve surrendered a power-play goal against in two of their last three contests 7-for-9 as they’re 20-for-23 over their last eight games.

WHAT TO WATCH FOR: Tonight is the first of eight out of division games this season for Ontario as they will play central division foes Texas and Iowa four times each. The Reign were held to just 16 shots in the win on Friday which was their second fewest in a game this season. Henderson had outshot Ontario 29-8 through the first 40 minutes of play. The Reign were outshot 28-15 on Oct. 19 but defeated Colorado 3-2. Ontario is 6-1-1 on home ice this season as they’ve taken a 1-0 lead in four straight home games. The Reign have played five straight-one goal games and seven of their last nine being determined by one score. Collectively on the season they’re 6-2-1 in one-score games. The Reign are 4-1-1 when leading after the first period, 8-0-1 when leading after the second period, and 6-1-0 when tied after the opening 20 minutes of play.

 SCOUTING THE STARS: The Stars picked up a 5-3 win in Coachella Valley last night beginning a six-game road trip in California. After playing their first 17 games of the season within the central division the Stars have eight consecutive games against pacific division opponents. Harrison Scott is the lone player on the roster from the state of California hailing from San Jose where he played his youth hockey with the San Jose Jr. Sharks. Veteran Curtis McKenzie is back with the Stars organization having played parts of 10 AHL seasons in Texas as he is currently in his fifth year as captain. Forwards Cameron Hughes and Kole Lind are in their second seasons with Texas after spending the previous two seasons with Coachella Valley. Forward Jack Becker played nine games with the Reign during the 2022-23 season.