Photo credit: Ontario Reign
After being swept at home by the Colorado Eagles at the start of April, the Ontario Reign will look for a better result in a mid-week tilt.
The Ontario Reign are in Colorado for three straight games against the Eagles. The first of which will be on Wednesday evening.
Tale of the tape:
Powerplay
ONT: 26.8% (1st)
COL: 19.3% (15th)
Penalty kill
ONT: 76.6% (28th)
COL: 77.7% (27th)
Goals for
ONT: 249 (1st)
COL: 230 (6th)
Goals against
ONT: 201 (14th)
COL: 197 (11th)
Key players
ONT: T.J. Tynan – 13 goals, 79 assists, 92 points
COL: Kiefer Sherwood – 34 goals, 37 assists, 71 points
Three things to watch for in tonight’s matchup:
1. An MVP’s return
T.J. Tynan spent the past two seasons with the Colorado Eagles and this will be the first time making his return to Colorado as a member of the Ontario Reign.
In 69 games with the Eagles, Tynan scored 13 goals while adding 69 assists, a total of 82 points, and a 1.2 points-per-game pace. His 35 points in 27 games in the 2020-21 season earned him AHL MVP honors, a title he is very much in the running to defend in 2021-22.
Tynan missed the first game these two teams played in November. He picked up one assist in each of the two games in Ontario at the beginning of the month. Overall, the Reign is 1-1-1 against Colorado.
2. Practice for the PK
No one in the AHL averages more power-play opportunities per game than the Colorado Eagles (4.4 power-plays per game):
(Table via Sean O’Brien)
This has held true in the matchups with the Eagles’ matchups against the Reign. In November, Colorado went 2-for-5 with the man advantage against Ontario. In the two games in April, Colorado’s power-play clicked at a whopping 62.5%, going 4-for-6 on April 1st and 1-for-2 the next day.
For Ontario, their struggling penalty kill is playing about as well as it has all season. They haven’t allowed a single power-play goal in their most recent three games, all against San Diego, killing off all ten Gulls’ opportunities.
3. Streaking stars
This game will see four of the league’s top seven scorers, two of which are riding 11-game point streaks.
In Ontario, Tynan has two goals, 15 assists, and 17 points in his last 11 while Colorado’s Kiefer Sherwood has seven goals, 13 assists for 20 points during the same stretch,
Tynan (92 points, 1st) and Sherwood (71 points, Tied-5th) are joined by respective teammates Martin Frk (71 points, Tied-5th) and Dylan Sikura (68 points, 7th) among the league leaders.
The two Reign forwards are also approaching milestones as Tynan is one assist shy of 80 while Frk needs one goal to hit 40.
Puck drop is scheduled for 6:05 pm PT and can be seen on AHLTV.
(Main photo credit: Ontario Reign)