By clicking sin, Rule and ride | TheAHL.com

Patrick WilliamsTheAHL.com Features Writer

Only a break in the schedule can slow down the Ontario Rule these days.

After a rare break on Friday and Saturday this weekend, the Domination resumes this evening when the San Jose Barracuda visit the Toyota Arena. And while they still sit in sixth place in what is a deep Pacific Division field, the Reign are only four points out of third place and have games in hand on every other team in the division. But that plan will grow significantly in the next few weeks; today's meeting with the Barracuda kicks off a pre-holiday series where the Reigns will host league-leading Calgary and play a home-and-home series with Coachella Valley.

After a 4-6-0-0 start to the season, the Reign have won eight of their last 10; in that time they have scored 38 goals and played six games in a row where they scored four or more goals. Because of that production, they are now fourth in the AHL with 3.55 goals per game. What's more, they've managed that offensive output with a power play that ranks just 20th in the AHL at 16.7 percent.

A strong offense can change games quickly. Last Sunday against Bakersfield, the Reign trailed 3-2 midway through the third period before three goals in 8:50 turned the game into a 5-3 victory.

Reign started this season missing several top powerhouses from last season, and it showed early. Forward hopes Akhil Thomas again Alex Turcotte He won a career with the Los Angeles Kings. So is an elite defender Brandt Clarkewho earned spots on the AHL All-Rookie Team, AHL Second All-Star Team, and AHL Top Prospects Team in 2023-24. TJ Tynan left for Colorado in free agency.

Ontario has scored just eight goals in its first five games this season. But the list's fortunes have been going Ontario's way lately, starting on the net with Erik Portillo–Pheonix Copley tandem, both of whom have seen time in Los Angeles due to injuries to the Kings' netminder Darcy Kuemper. Now that they're back together, the pairing offers a top prospect/veteran setup for a head coach Marco Sturm to use. The Reign even have Kings forward Arthur Kaliyev back for the first time since 2021; Kaliyev, who broke his collarbone in training camp and has been out since September, joined Ontario on a rehab assignment.

Signing up for the offseason earlier also helped. Los Angeles is closed Glenn Gawdin from the Anaheim organization in free agency, and the seventh-year champion has put up 24 points (nine goals, 15 assists) in 20 games. Jeff Mallottwho spent the past four seasons with the Manitoba Moose, has added 19 points (three goals, 16 assists).

And then there is Samuel Fagemoone of the AHL's most dangerous hitters. Fagemo can pile on the goals quickly using his chosen shot; he scored an incredible 43 goals in 50 games for Reign last season. He has not scored in his first six games this season, but has collected 11 goals in 14 contests. If Fagemo is hot, that means big trouble for his opponents.

The head coach is never satisfied, and any hot team wants to keep playing as long as possible. But it's December, which means lots of non-snow activities. The team's holiday party took place after the win last Sunday, and there was a family event to start this week as well. This recent success has made those teams even more interesting.

“[The holiday season is] how fun it is,” Sturm said on the team's website, “when you're in line to win.”

In the American Hockey League for two decades, TheAHL.com features writer Patrick Williams and currently covers the league for NHL.com and FloSports and is a regular contributor to SiriusXM NHL Network Radio. He was the recipient of the AHL's James H. Ellery Memorial Award for leading the league in 2016.