REIGN Preview 3/20 - Ontario at Iowa
Published on March 20, 2026 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Ontario Reign News Release
WHO: Ontario Reign (39-16-3-2) at Iowa Wild (20-30-5-1)
WHAT: AHL REGULAR-SEASON GAME #61/72
WHEN: Friday, March 20 @ 5:00 Pacific
WHERE: Casey's Center - Des Moines, IA
HOW TO FOLLOW: VIDEO: FloHockey - AUDIO: Reign Radio - TWITTER: @ReignInsider & @OntarioReign
TONIGHT'S MATCHUP: The Ontario Reign head out of division this weekend for a back-to-back series vs. the Iowa Wild beginning tonight from Casey's Center.
WHAT TO WATCH FOR ONTARIO: The Reign have points in 11 straight games, 8-0-2-1, dating back to a 4-2 win over Abbotsford in Ontario on Feb. 18 and picked up a 3-1 win over the Canucks on Wednesday night after suffering three straight losses, all beyond regulation. With 12 games remaining in the regular season Ontario sits in first place in the Pacific Division with 83 points. Colorado is in second with 81 points also with 12 games remaining as they take on Coachella Valley Saturday and Sunday from Loveland.
- The Reign kick-off six straight games on the road tonight as they have points in four straight away from Toyota Arena, 3-0-1, and are 17-11-0 on the road this season.
- Ontario has scored first in 11 of their last 13 games and hold a 25-5-1-1 record when drawing first blood this season.
- The Reign have gone six straight games without scoring a power-play goal, 0-for-12, their longest drought of the year, after scoring on the man advantage in three straight, 5-for-16. They rank 10th on the season in the AHL at 20.2% and are 23-8-1 when scoring a power-play goal including 14-2-1 on home ice.
- Ontario went 2-for-3 on the penalty kill Wednesday after going for straight games, 9-for-9, without allowing a power-play goal against. They rank second in the league at 85.3% on the penalty kill.
WHAT TO WATCH FOR IOWA: The Wild have points in four straight games after falling 4-3 in overtime at Rockford on Saturday night to wrap up six straight road games. Iowa sits in last place in the Central Division 46 points but have posted a 7-1-1 record over their last nine games.
- During their last nine games Iowa has outscored their opponents 23-15.
- The Wild are 9-15-2-1 at Casey's Center this season with tonight being their first home game since Feb. 24.
- Iowa has allowed single digit shot totals to opponents in six of their last seven periods having limited opponents to six shots or fewer in a period in all four games.
- The Wild have allowed just one power-play goal, 9-for-10, in their last three games.
HEAD-TO-HEAD SERIES: Ontario and Iowa met for a two-game series back at Toyota Arena in January where Reign picked up a pair of victories. On January 4th Erik Portillo pitched 19 save shutout while Martin Chromiak scored a pair of goals and Andre Lee also found the back of the net. Then three days later the Reign edged out the wild by a final score of 4-3 in a game where they led 3-1 after the first period. Glenn Gawdin notched three assists in the win while Pheonix Copley earned the win making 24 saves.
BETWEEN TWO PIPES: For Ontario, Pheonix Copley made 24 saves on 25 shots in the 3-1 win over Abbotsford on Wednesday improving to 4-1-0 in his last five games and 6-1-1 in his last eight. He has posted a 17-11-1 record in 29 appearances this season with a 2.81 goals against average and .893 save percentage. Erik Portillo suffered the loss last Saturday making 34 saves on 39 shots in the 4-3 overtime defeat vs. Coachella Valley. After winning four straight games he has lost two straight, both going beyond regulation. In 24 appearances this season he holds a 16-3-3 mark with a 2.43 goals against average and .907 save percentage. For Iowa, Cal Peterson made 12 saves on 16 shots in a 4-3 overtime loss at Rockford last Saturday in his second straight start. Prior to the loss he had won his previous five starts making 129 saves on 135 shots for a 1.20 GAA and .956 SV%. In 26 appearances this season he has totaled a 10-14-1 record with a 2.72 GAA and .898 SV%. William Rousseau was called up yesterday from the ECHL's Iowa Wild and made 34 saves on 35 shots on Mar. 7 in his last appearance with the Wild, a 2-1 victory at Springfield. In six games for Iowa this year he is 2-3-0 with a 2.38 GAA and .923 SV% while holding a 6-14-3 mark in 25 games with a 3.23 GAA and .895 SV% with the Heartlanders.
FAMILIAR FACES: Ontario Captain Joe Hicketts played two full seasons with the Wild from 2021-23 collecting 79 points (18G, 61A) in 133 games where he set a career high in goals (12) in 2021-22 while recording a personal best in assists (42) and points (48) the following season serving as an alternate captain. Iowa netminder Cal Peterson spent four seasons with the Reign from 2017-23 appearing in 156 games posting a 69-68-13 record, 3.20 GAA, .904 SV%, and nine shutouts. He is the franchise leader in games played and wins.
TEAM LEADERS:
Ontario
Points: Nikita Alexandrov (45)
Goals: Andre Lee (24)
Assists Nikita Alexandrov (34)
Iowa
Points: Gerry Mayhew (28)
Goals: Gerry Mayhew (16)
Assists: Dylan Gambrell, David Špaček (19)
TEAM NOTES:
Ontario
Goals For: 6th (3.35)
Goals Against: 7th (2.72)
Power-Play: 10th (20.2%)
Penalty Kill: 2nd (85.3%)
Iowa
Goals For: 31st (2.38)
Goals Against: 21st (3.14)
Power-Play: 26th (15%)
Penalty Kill: 21st(80.3%)
INDIVIDUAL NOTES:
Ontario
- Cole Guttman has 22 points (12G, 10A) in 29 career games against Iowa including 12 points (6G, 6A) in 12 contests against the Wild last season as a member of the Rockford IceHogs.
- Martin Chromiak has four goals in his last seven games and seven points (5G, 2A) in his last nine.
- Koehn Ziemmer has three goals in his last two games and four in his last eight.
- Kenny Connors has eight points (2G, 6A) in his last 10 games.
Iowa
- Dylan Gambrell has a three-game point streak (1G, 4A).
- Gerry Mayhew has four points (2G, 2A) in his last four games.
- Jean-Luc Foudy has a three-game point streak (1G, 2A).
- Nicolas Aubé-Kubel has 10 points (4G, 6A) in his last 12 games.
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