Ontario Reign @ Tucson: Preview, Reign Drops, Broadcast Info

The red-hot Ontario Reign hit the road again for back-to-back games in Arizona against the Tucson Roadrunners.

After a handful of days off, the Ontario Reign (9-0-1) will bring their AHL-leading point total and eight-game winning streak to Tucson to face the Roadrunners on Friday and Saturday night. Tucson is 3-4-1 and coming off two-straight losses in Henderson to the Silver Knights.

This will be the first meeting of the season between the two teams.

Top Performers

Martin Frk tacked on 10 points in three games last week, earning himself AHL Player of the Week honors. His eight goals and 16 points lead the Reign. T.J. Tynan does still hold his team lead in assists with 10.

With back-to-back road games beginning Friday, I’d expect to see both Matt Villalta and Garrett Sparks get action. Villalta is 6-0 with a 2.16 goals-against average and a .927 save percentage. Those six wins are tops in the AHL. Sparks has had a nice start to his season as well, he’s 3-0 with a 2.31 goals-against average and a .928 save percentage.

For Tuscon, former Kings draft pick Hudson Fasching leads the team in points with seven. His four goals are tied for the team lead with Ben McCartney. Mattias Maccelli leads the Roadrunners in assists with four.

In goal, Ivan Prosvetov is 2-2-1 with a 1.98 goals-against average and a .920 save percentage. Josef Korenar is 1-2 with a 4.02 goals-against average and a .864 save percentage.

Special Teams

Ontario is 13-for-45 on the power play (28.9%), which is the best in the AHL. Tynan’s seven points with the man-advantage are tied with Frk for the lead on the Reign. Jaret Anderson-Dolan leads the team — and is tied for the league lead — with four power-play goals.

On the penalty kill, the Reign have killed 29-of-39 (76.3%). They have one short-handed goal on the season.

Tuscon’s power play has really struggled, going 4-for-32 (12.5%) — which is the lowest in the Western Conference. Fasching’s two power-play goals lead the team. He is also tied for the lead in points (2) with McCartney.

The Roadrunners have given up nine goals on 34 penalty kill attempts (73.5%).

Shot Attempts

Despite some of the recent shot-attempt struggles, the Reign are still controlling the high-danger area:

Reign Drops

• The slow starts continue to be a trend. In the past four games, the Reign is a combined -30 in overall shot attempts in the first period.
• Ontario has netted a power-play goal in all 10 games this season.
• Brayden Burke will make his return to Tuscon. The winger was acquired in a trade in the offseason with the Roadrunners and has been playing top-line minutes for Ontario. During his three-year stint in Tuscon, he did make an All-Star appearance in the 2019-20 season. After a bit of a down year last season, he’s picked up seven points in 10 games so far in Ontario.
• It’ll be a reunion of sorts for Boko Imama as well as he was part of the trade that went the other way to Arizona. In six games, Imama has picked up two assists and 23 penalty minutes.

Puck Drop and Broadcast Info

• Friday, November 12 at 6:00 p.m. P.T.
  TV: AHLTV

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