After a five-day hiatus, Reign coach Andrew Lord looks to have his team ready to resume play tonight in what will be the opener of a home-and-home series with the Bakersfield Condors.

In fact, tomorrow’s road game will the only time Ontario plays outside of Toyota Arena over their next seven games. It should be a welcome stretch too, considering Lord’s group is coming off of a period where they played nine of their last 11 on the road.

Friday night’s contest also marks the first of eight games between the Reign and Condors this season. Per the norm, they’ll end up with an even split over the course of their 2025-26 campaign, with each side getting four games at home.

This week, the Reign should have picked up plenty of rest, as their most recent game came last Saturday in San Jose. In that one, the Reign were edged 4-3 by the Barracuda. Martin Chromiak and Andre Lee (two goals) supplied all the offense, with each goal coming on the power play.

Kenny Connors added an assist on Lee’s second strike, a goal that briefly swung the momentum in Ontario’s favor. It was another highlight in a standout week for Connors, who registered four points — one goal and three assists — in three games.

As for tonight, look for veteran Pheonix Copley to get the start in net. He was up with the Kings for the past 24 hours, but he’s good to go for the Reign tonight. From what we understand, plans call for goaltender Isaiah Saville to start on Saturday night in Bakersfield.

As for Erik Portillo, the team’s No. 1 netminder, he remains sidelined due to injury. Last week in Calgary, he left the game just a few minutes after puck drop with what’s been described as a flare up of an old injury. While there isn’t a definitive timeline for his return, there is internal optimism that Portillo will only be out a few weeks. We’ll have to see how it plays out.

Defensively, Jakub Dvorak left practice early the other day. No word on his status at this time. The alignment below is how Ontario finished practice yesterday and we’d expect the group to pair off tonight. IF it holds, that means Kings prospect Otto Salin will be drawing in for his first game since Nov. 8 at San Diego. As one of the few right shots on the roster, it’s been a bit curious that he hasn’t been able to earn more playing time just yet. Perhaps tonight can springboard his season.

Lord’s View on Things

Ontario enters tonight looking to rebound from its first losing streak of the season (albeit just two games, a 3-2 loss in Calgary and then a 4-3 defeat in San Jose). Before last weekend’s matchup with the Barracuda, Lord’s team were a perfect 5-0 following losses.

“Overall, after 15 games, I think we’re generally happy with where things stand,” Lord told Mayor’s Manor. “Obviously, coming off back-to-back losses is never something you’re going to feel good about. Yet, if you flip one or two of those to wins, we’re probably very happy with the first 15 games. The process has been there, and I can certainly say the guys are getting better. I think the chemistry within the group, the standard of play; there’s a lot of good positive signs. Our consistency definitely needs to get better. That’s been a big focus, and we need to solve our game or Puck management. But there’s definitely been a lot of growth, individually and collectively.”

When asked if the Reign had pretty much won the games they should have this season and lost the ones they deserved too, Lord said he’d have to sit down and go through them individually to give an accurate answer — “But, I’d say that’s fairly reflective.” he added.

Even so, the game in San Jose is clearly still fresh in his mind.

“I really like the way we clawed back; the power play gets three, we’re up 3-2 with six minutes to go and unfortunately we threw it away,” he added before moving on.

On the plus-side of things, getting three on the power play could bring some momentum into tonight’s game. Has the team’s lack of familiarity with each other maybe contributed to their slow start with the man advantage?

“I could definitely say that’s part of it,” Lord noted. “It takes time to develop that. You look at the majority of good power plays at the NHL level, and a lot of those guys have been in spots for a lot of years, or just the same units. We’ve had some movement amongst units, and we have some new players. At the same time, our execution, for a number of games, needed to be better. I think, lately, the process has been there. Last game was obviously great from an execution standpoint and getting three goals. The games prior to that, we probably deserved a couple more, as well. So, I think it’s trending the right way. To your point, the chemistry is building; the understanding of what we’re trying to do is building. It’s going the right direction.”

What You May Have Missed

Along with the usual mix of LA hockey chatter, there was also some Reign talk on this week’s Kings Of The Podcast:

Kings Of The Podcast Ep. 252: Doughty Out, Kempe Done, and LA Lineup Debates

Reign Projected Lineup vs. Condors

If there are any key changes during pregame warmups, this article will be updated.

Ward – Thomas – Chromiak
Lee – Gawdin – Guttman
Pinelli – Connors – Wright
Jamsen – Hughes – Ziemmer

Hicketts – Salin
Kirsanov – Burroughs
Booth – Bolduc

Copley (starter)
Saville

Likely scratches: (F) Isogai and (D) Dvorak, Millar

Injured: Brown, Doty, Lawrence (month-to-month), Parker-Jones, Portillo 

Key Game Info

Puck drop is set for 7:00 pm Pacific Time and will be streamed via FloSports. Additionally, a Reign radio feed is available here.

Game day graphic created by ALoImages

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