Kyle Garcia 
The AHL’s top two teams in the Pacific Division, the Colorado Eagles and Ontario Reign, square off in a two-game series in Colorado. The two-game series will start tonight and conclude tomorrow (Saturday). Since I won’t be available to provide updates and recaps for this weekend, I will have a series preview for the weekend series.
Let’s get started!
Tale of the tape
Goals for:
ONT: 76 (3.45 per game)
COL: 71 (3.23 per game)
Goals against:
ONT: 60 (2.73 per game)
COL: 48 (2.18 per game)
Shots on goal per game:
ONT: 25.3
COL: 30.3
Shots on goal against per game:
ONT: 25.7
COL: 24.3
Team save percentage (not including empty-net goals):
ONT: .896 sv%
COL: .917 sv%
Power play:
ONT: 18.0%
COL: 22.4%
Penalty kill:
ONT: 80.0%
COL: 86.8%
Record:
ONT: 14-7-1-0
COL: 16-5-0-1
Leading scorers
ONT: Andre Lee – 8 goals, 10 assists, 18 points
COL: TJ Tynan – 0 goals, 21 assists, 21 points
Things to watch this series:
A big test
It’s a December matchup, but this is a good measuring stick to see how a young Reign team matches up against a top team in the Eagles. The Reign are 5-5-0-0 on the road this year, while the Eagles are 9-3-0-0 at home. Loveland, Colorado, has been a house of horrors for the Reign in years past. The Reign are 5-15 in Colorado, including the postseason, dating back to the 2021-22 season. Colorado has always been a tough place to play due to the altitude. Getting a split would be a win for the Reign.
Special teams
The Eagles lead in both special teams departments (power play and penalty kill). To add to the overall numbers listed above, the Eagles’ power play and penalty kill have been soaring at home, ranking second in the league in both categories. The Reign’s power play has been up and down this year, but the penalty kill has been a bright spot as of late. Dating back to November 7th (12 games), the Reign penalty kill unit has successfully killed off 30 out of 34 (88.2%) of the opposition’s power play. It’s safe to say special teams could play a factor.
Goaltending
Erik Portillo hasn’t played since November 12th, after he suffered an injury. Although no timetable has been made public, head coach Andrew Lord sounded hopeful that he could be inching closer to a return. For now, unless Portillo returns this weekend, I expect Phoenix Copley and Isaiah Saville to be the active goalies. Copley has won four of his last five starts and has looked like the netminder we saw last year. Saville has won both of his starts as well.
On the Eagles’ side, rookie Isak Posch is a player to key in on if he gets a start. He has had a tremendous rookie season up to date. The 23-year-old started both games last weekend for the Eagles in Rockford against the IceHogs and earned wins in both games. Among qualified goaltenders in the AHL, Posch is tied for second in the AHL in wins (10), fourth in goals-against average (2.08), and eighth in save percentage (.917).
Three is the magic number?
Three goals. That’s the magic number for both teams. The Eagles are undefeated when they allow less than three goals in a game (13-0-0-0) and are almost unbeatable when scoring three or more in a game (12-1-0-1). The Reign aren’t too bad themselves in either category. Ontario is 12-2-1-0 when scoring three or more in a game and 11-1-0-0 when allowing less than three goals in a game. A race to three!
NOTES
*Kenny Connors has four points in his last three games. His +16 rating leads all rookie skaters and is second in the league.
*Cole Guttman has 11 points in his last 11 games. He is currently on a six-game point streak.
*Nikita Alexandrov has three goals in his first three games with the Reign.
*Andre Lee has four points in his last three games and 11 points in his last 11 games
Featured image credit: Ontario Reign