Sweet 16: Ice Raiders Dominate Kings with 16th Straight Win
- Phillip Goodman
- 5 days ago
- 5 min read
By Phillip Goodman
January 12, 2026
The Reno Ice Raiders continued to exert their dominance over their intrastate foes the Sin City Kings with an 8-2 win Friday and a 7-1 win Saturday in the weekend series presented by BJ's Nevada BBQ at The Jennifer M. O’Neal Community Ice Arena. Since meeting the Sin City Kings for the first time in February of 2023, the Ice Raiders have owned the series 16-0 and have outscored the Kings 150-38.
Jake Minton put Reno on the board with a minute to go in the first when he expertly redirected a Jeff Jiron blue-line lob past Kings' new goaltender Mario Vrab.
Four minutes into the second, Julian Herrera pulled a draw back to Matt Robinson who fired a wrister upstairs pushing the lead to 2-0.
The Kings responded with two goals a minute apart, both on 2-on-1 rushes. Those would be the only goals Justin Sand would allow the rest of the night.
Right after a late power play for Reno expired, Matt Robinson teed up Johnny Garrity for a one-timer that deflected up and over the back of Vrab for the go-ahead goal and eventual game winning tally. At the end of the sequence, Tony Tyrell dropped the mitts with Bo Boatwright and then promptly dropped Boatwright with a left. The cuts over Tyrell's nose came from earlier in the week when one of his auto projects got the better of him, he said.
With the score 3-2 and shots 29-13 favoring Reno after two, Sin City with their new ownership and dozen new players was giving the Reno Ice Raiders a run for their money.
Simon LeBleu, an O-G Ice Raider founder in the lineup after a season away, said the intermission message was clear. "We've got twenty more minutes to prove to them that we're the better and I don't think that's gonna be a problem," LeBleu said.
That proof came in the form of five unanswered goals plus a stifling defense that only allowed six more shots on Sand.
Minty Fresh potted his second on another up-and-over the back of Vrab goal. "Ruthless" Roger Hutchison dusted a defender and beat Vrab low with a wrister. Garrity chipped in a nice dish from Weston Nash on the top of the crease. Despite getting tripped entering the zone, Will McDonnell quickly got on his feet to stay with the puck and fire past Vrab's glove. Minty finished the scoring for Reno with a rebound goal and his first ever hat trick as an Ice Raider.
Justin Sand only needed to make 17 saves for Reno, and Mario Vrab, who faced 50 shots, was much sharper than 8-2 final indicates.
"Hats off to [Vrab], he kept them in it up until two periods then we got it rolling in the third," Minton said after the game. "Coach told the boys keep moving your feet, keep making plays and good things will happen. And what do you know? It happened."
Hunter Sine opened the Saturday scoring for Reno on a slot wrister thanks to the great pass from behind the net by Roger Hutchison.
Jake Minton threaded the needle to Charlie Montgomery and Monty deked Kings' other new goaltender Derek Cox for backhand goal and 2-0 lead with eight minutes left.
Hutchinson tallied his second point of the night with a top shelf laser off the rush for the 3-0 lead.
On another rush, the trio of Charlie Montgomery, Jake Minton, and Weston Nash created a scramble in Cox's crease and Nash slammed dunked the rebound for the 4-0 lead.
Julian Herrera put an end to Reno's 0-for-16 Brewer's Cabinet Power Play drought when Zeph Fägergren found him wide open on top of the crease and Herrera showed deft hands to catch the pass and backhand a goal with a quick sweep.
Forty seconds later, Matt Robinson chipped in Herrera's corner centering pass for the 6-0 lead and Herrera's Gordie Howe Hat Trick.
Sin City broke Gyori's shutout bid when a Reno defenseman carried the puck through Gyori's crease and new King Frank Grubello's pokecheck sent the puck over the goal line.
Alex Gunnoe atoned for the gaffe by catching the Kings in a line change on a neutral zone turnover and rifled a shot of the right post and in for the 7-1 final.
Cox turned aside 42 of 49 Reno shots while Reno held the Kings to single-digit shot counts in all six periods.
All tickets for both games presented by BJ's Nevada BBQ sold out before Friday's puck drop and none were sold at the door. Despite freezing temps over the weekend, fans lined up outside The Jennifer M. O’Neal Community Ice Arena more than an hour before game time to enjoy the Battle for Nevada. The boisterous crowd had plenty of chirps for each King who tried to goad an Ice Raider and they made sure that each goalie was aware how many goals they gave up in a chorus of count-ups.
"The greatest thing is not just our team but the other teams that come to town, they love it," AHL Hall of Famer Tim Tookey said. "It's always great to play in front of a big crowd even if you're getting booed it's a good thing. We all appreciate every fan that comes and watches these games. These guys give it everything they've got every time they're out there and that's because of [the fans]."
The Ice Raiders are off next weekend, then head to Snoopy Ice for a pair against the Santa Rosa Growlers. Tickets for the Jan 30th and 31st series against the San Diego Renegades presented by Nevada Retina Associates will go on sale Jan 23rd.
Friday's LT Automotive Three Stars of the Game
Jake Minton: 3 Goals
Johnny Garrity: 2 Goals (GWG), 2 Assists
Hunter Sine: 4 Assists
Saturday's LT Automotive Three Stars of the Game
Julian Herrera: Gordie Howe Hat trick! (Goal, Assist, Fight)
Roger Hutchison: 1 Goal, 1 Assist
Justis Gyori: 13 of 14 saves
Friday's numbers…
Reno - 0-for-3 on the Brewer's Cabinet Power Play, 3-for-3 on Peterson Wealth Management Penalty Kills
Reno won 35 of 57 draws (61.4%)
Other point scorers
Weston Nash 2A
Matt Robinson 1G, 2A
Roger Hutchison 1G
Julian Herrera, Charlie Montgomery, Jeff Jiron, Nate Hogge, Adam Barba, Tony Tyrell each had one assist
Saturday's numbers
1-for-2 on the Brewer's Cabinet Power Play, 4-for4 on Peterson Wealth Management Penalty Kills
Reno won 29 of 53 draws (54.7%)
Other point scorers
Hunter Sine 1G, 1A
Jake Minton & Nate Hogge 2A
Alex Gunnoe, Matt Robinson 1G
Zeph Fägergren, Andrew Peterson, Johnny Garrity, 1A
Backup goaltender Zack Kellerup is off the IR after hip surgeries last summer. On Friday Kellerup filled in for Justis Gyori who was serving as backup tender for the Lake Tahoe Knight Monsters. Forward Phillip Buque is still recovering from a lower body injury suffered last summer. On the Vegas side, the Ice Raiders do wish a speedy recovery to King BJ Gabledon who broke his clavicle taking a clean hit on the boards on Friday night.
Ice Raiders Team Stats Through 10 games
Team Stats HOME | ||
10 | ||
GF | 48 | |
GA | 21 | |
Avg GF/G | 4.8 | |
Avg GA/G | 2.1 | |
Avg SOGF | 46.9 | |
Avg SOGA | 26.0 | |
Avg FOW % | 55.7% | |
PK % | 88.9% | |
PP% | 14.6% | |
Ice Raiders Goalie Stats
Friday, 1.9.26 - Game 9 Highlights: Reno Ice Raiders vs. Sin City Kings:
Saturday, 1.10.26 - Game 10 Highlights: Reno Ice Raiders vs. Sin City Kings:
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Game Video and Highlights by Jim Dunigan
Photos by Reno Ice Raiders Social Team
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