Patrick WilliamsTheAHL.com Features Writer
Wednesday provided a much-needed recovery night for the Ontario Reign.
For the past three weeks, their formation has been 3-3-2-1. The decline comes after seven straight wins.
On March 11, the Reign attempted to push away the Colorado Eagles to stay atop the Pacific Division, finishing first by four points, which meant a first-round bye in the Calder Cup playoffs. Second place means a best-of-three first-round series against an opponent from the always difficult Pacific Division playoffs.
So when the dust settles and the regular season ends on April 19, Wednesday's game — on the road against a Coachella Valley team that had won nine of its previous 10 games — may be viewed as a turning point. The Reign outscored the Firebirds 13-3 in the first quarter and entered halftime with a 1-0 lead. They scored four more goals in the second quarter to win 7-0. This was their highest offensive output this season and tied the largest point difference in team history. Cole Gettleman Scored a hat trick and an assist, Andre Lee Provided four assists Phoenix Copley Continuing to provide reliable goaltending, earning his 20th win and recording his first shutout of the season, Copley has gone 7-0-1 (1.72, .929) in his past eight starts.
For a team that averages 3.30 goals per game, this is a return after scoring 10 goals in the first five games. Lee, an AHL All-Star this winter, has had great success with the Reign in his fifth season, scoring 25 goals. Gettleman grew up in the Los Angeles area and remains one of the AHL's most reliable playmakers.
Rookie head coach Andrew Lord His dominant team has endured a series of challenges this season and enters this weekend with a one-point lead over Colorado – although the Eagles still have a game remaining. forward Tyler Ward and Jared Wright Long term stay in Los Angeles. forward Nikita Alexandrov and Jan Janik and defenders Nikita Novikov Added defenseman to the Reigns in mid-season trade Samuel Bolduc and forward Akil Thomas leave. old blue line Kyle BurroughsHe was a key addition when he joined the Reign from the Kings in November, but has been out of the lineup since December 21.
Now, the Reign also has a schedule that they can use to their advantage. Five of their final six games will be played at Toyota Arena, where they have a league-best 22-5-2-2 home record (.774). They only hit the road once, a quick trip back to Palm Desert on April 11 to complete a home and family event with the Coachella Valley.
Lord believes some time at home will contribute to Wednesday's success. They played five games in nine days at Iowa, Henderson and Tucson before returning home to recharge before a quick trip down Interstate 10 to take on the Firebirds.
“I think a few days of rest and practice really helped us,” Lord said. “We had a lot of testing on the road and some really tough testing where we just had to take a breath and reset.”
Players like Copley, Lee and others returning from last season know how big a difference every little advantage can make as the Calder Cup playoffs approach. A hopeful Ontario team suddenly saw its playoff hopes end with a first-round sweep after entering the 2024-25 season just four points out of first place.
This season's team has the same potential going forward. They've started to regain some scoring confidence, they're getting strong goaltending from Copley, and Eric Portillothey are developing a standard that they hope will extend into May and June.
The to-do list with six games remaining is clear: reinforce playoff-caliber habits and win the division title.
“This,” Lord said of Wednesday's effort, “is more like the team we've seen most of the season.”
About two decades in the American Hockey League, TheAHL.com feature writer Patrick Williams also currently covers the league for NHL.com and FloSports and is a regular contributor to SiriusXM NHL Network Radio. In 2016, he received the AHL's James H. Ellery Memorial Award for outstanding coverage of the league.
