Ontario Reign Weekly: Reign Holster Stars with Series Sweep; Prepare for Shootout with Rampage
February 29, 2016 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Ontario Reign News Release
Ontario Reign vs. the San Antonio Rampage
(Ontario Reign)
The Week That Was...
The Ontario Reign visited the Texas Stars last weekend to earn a week record of 2-0-0-0 to complete the six-game series sweep and maintain their first-place position in the Pacific Division with an overall record of 32-14-3-1.
The two teams kicked off the weekend on Friday at Cedar Park Center in Cedar Park, TX. The Stars opened the scoring just over a minute into the contest, but Reign defenseman Vincent LoVerde evened the score at 4:47 of the first period. The Reign continued to pepper Stars netminder Maxime Lagace with shots and built momentum before finally cracking the NHL prospect with 33 seconds to play in the game off a tally from former Star Sean Backman. Texas refused to quit, netting the game-tying tally and forcing overtime with five seconds to play. LoVerde rose again, burying the winning goal 2:25 into the extra session for a 3-2 victory.
Listen: Vincent LoVerde Scores Game-Winning Goal in Overtime
The six-game regular-season series finale took place less than 24 hours later as the Reign cruised to a 5-2 victory and finished the head-to-head series with a 6-0-0-0 record. Backman netted two goals and forward Jonny Brodzinski registered a goal and two assists.
The Numbers
Record: 32-14-3-1, .680 winning percentage (1st Place, Pacific Division)
Home: 19-6-2-1
Away: 13-8-1-0
Last 10 Games: 6-4-0-0
Streak: 2-0-0-0
Goals: Michael Mersch* (19)
Assists: Nic Dowd (29)
Points: Sean Backman (42)
Penalty Minutes: Kurtis MacDermid (93)
Power-Play Goals: Sean Backman (7)
Power-Play Assists: Nic Dowd (10)
Power-Play Points: Sean Backman (16)
Shorthanded Goals: Andrew Crescenzi (2)
Shorthanded Assists: Four players with one assist
Shorthanded Points: Sean Backman, Jordan Samuels-Thomas, Andrew Crescenzi (2)
Game-Winning Goals: Sean Backman (6)
Wins: Peter Budaj (30)
GAA: Peter Budaj (1.60)
SPCT: Peter Budaj (.934)
*Mersch is currently recalled to the Los Angeles Kings (NHL)
League Leaders:
Forward Sean Backman tied for 18th in the AHL with 42 points (16 goals, 26 assists) is first in the league with 180 shots.
Goaltender Peter Budaj leads the league with a 1.60 goals-against average (GAA), eight shutouts, 30 wins and 2587 minutes played and a .934 save percentage.
Defenseman Kurtis MacDermid is fourth among rookies with 93 penalty minutes and 24 minor penalties.
Defenseman Vincent LoVerde is tied for 14th among blueliners with 29 points (eight goals, 21 assists).
This Week:
Ontario Reign at San Antonio Rampage
Sunday, Mar. 6
2:00 p.m. PT
AT&T Center in San Antonio, TX
Listen Live: OntarioReign.com, AHL Live
Preview: 4th of 6 meetings, 1-0-2-0 head-to-head record
Ontario Reign at San Antonio Rampage
Wednesday, Mar. 9
5:00 p.m. PT
AT&T Center in San Antonio, TX
Listen Live: OntarioReign.com, AHL Live
Preview: 5th of 6 meetings
National Hockey League Affiliate Update
Los Angeles Kings
Record: 37-21-4, 78 points
Standing: 1st Pacific Division, 4th Western Conference
Upcoming Games: Thursday vs. Montreal, Saturday vs. Anaheim
Leading Scorer: Anze Kopitar
ECHL Affiliate Update
Manchester Monarchs
Record: 35-16-1-4, 75 points
Standing: 1st East Division, 2nd Eastern Conference
Upcoming Games: Friday vs. Orlando, Saturday, vs. Orlando, Sunday vs. Orlando
Leading Scorer: Matt Leitner*
*Leitner is currently with the Reign
Images from this story
 Ontario Reign vs. the San Antonio Rampage |
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