Ontario Reign Bakersfield Condors

The Ontario Reign and Bakersfield Condors will meet for the third time this season on Friday Night from Toyota Arena.

After splitting two games with the Stockton Heat on Sunday and Monday, the Ontario Reign will welcome the Bakersfield Condors to Toyota Arena in the third game of their mini four-game homestand. Ontario leads the Pacific Division in points (23) with an 11-2-0-1 record, while Bakersfield is 6-5-1-1 (14 points) and has had a long time off since their last game, a 4-2 loss to the San Jose Barracuda on November 17th.

So far on the season series, the Reign is 2-0 against Bakersfield with a 3-2 win on October 22nd and a 6-3 win on November 6th.

Top Performers

Martin Frk leads the team in goals (9), assists (11), and points (20). The points are also tied for the AHL lead.

Ontario plays on Friday and Saturday, so I’d expect to see both Matt Villalta and Garrett Sparks get action. Villalta rebounded from his worst start of the year with a win against the Stockton Heat on Monday night. On the season, he is 7-1 with a 2.80 goals-against average and a .900 save percentage. Sparks took the loss in his last start on Sunday against the Heat. Overall, the veteran netminder is  4-1 with a 2.90 goals-against average and a .908 save percentage.

For Bakersfield, Seth Griffith‘s 12 assists and 17 points are tops on the team, and he also has scored three goals in the two games against the Ontario Reign earlier this season. Cooper Marody and Brad Malone are tied for the Condors’ lead in goals with six.

In goal, Ilya Konovalov is 2-2-1 with a 3.11 goals-against average and a .867 save percentage, while Olivier Rodrigue is 2-3-1 with a goals-against-average of 3.41 and a save percentage of .853. Konovalov started both games against the Reign this season, allowing three goals on 28 shots in the first and three goals on just five shots before being pulled in the second.

Special Teams

The Reign still has the league’s best power-play at 16-for-61 (26.2%). Frk’s 8 points with the man-advantage are tops on the team, while 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 43-of-59 (72.9%). They have one short-handed goal on the season.

Bakersfield’s power-play is 13-for-59 (22%). Griffith has eight assists and 12 points to lead the Condors with the man advantage. He and Malone are among those tied with Anderson-Dolan with four power-play goals.

On the penalty kill, the Condors have killed 41-of-51 (78.8%). They also have one short-handed goal.

Shot Attempts

The two games against Bakersfield earlier this season were among the two of the worst for Ontario from a possession standpoint:

vs Bakersfield Shot Attempts For Shot Attempts Against CORSI CF%
All Strengths 89 127 -38 41.2%
All Strengths HD 27 36 -9 42.90%
5v5 55 96 -41 36.4%
5v5 HD 18 22 -4 45.0%


Reign Drops

  • Based on shot attempts, the Condors really controlled the first two meetings. This led to Bakersfield having big advantages in shots on goal, 37-28 in the first game and 40-19 in the second. I’ll be interested to see how this game plays out and if the Reign will be able to have the better of the play in this one.
  • Helge Grans has points in back-to-back games, including a power-play goal on Sunday. With Sean Durzi up with the Kings, I’d expect Grans to continue to see time on the second power-play unit.
  • I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention Durzi’s debut in Los Angeles. While unfortunately, it came in a loss, I couldn’t be more excited about his potential contributions to the Kings, and he showed it in his debut, picking up a goal and an assist – both on the power play. The former Toronto Maple Leafs’ draft pick leaves the Reign sitting second among AHL defensemen in points. As valuable as he has been for Ontario, here’s hoping he spends the rest of this season in LA.
  • After going seven straight games without a goal, Tyler Madden picked up two on Monday night. He’s a player I’ve been high on earlier this season. Hopefully, this is a start of a bit of a hot streak.
  • Conversely, Alex Turcotte has now gone without a point in three straight.
  • Speaking of streaks, we’ll end with a positive, and that is Vladimir Tkachev riding a seven-game (in other words, every game he’s played in the AHL) point streak with a goal and ten assists.

Puck Drop and Broadcast Info

  • Friday, November 26 at 7:00 p.m. P.T.
    TV: AHLTV

UPDATE: Friday and Saturday’s game have been postponed:

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