Riding the momentum of a 3-2 win on Friday night, the Ontario Reign aim to sweep the Colorado Eagles this evening and extend their season-high winning streak to five games.
With a regulation win tonight, the Reign would move into a first-place tie with the Eagles. Though this will be a tough task, because believe it or not, Ontario has never won back-to-back games in Colorado as an AHL affiliate. Thus, a victory tonight would create a small piece of history as coach Andrew Lord would also see his club earn an eighth win over their last nine starts overall.
First things first, though. They actually need to play the game.
As was the case last weekend, Lord is expected to keep his lineup largely intact, with the key exception being goaltender Isaiah Saville sliding in to start between the pipes. He’s been excellent for Ontario in limited action, owning a 3-0 record and a 1.35 GAA. However, tonight figures to be a tougher test, with the Eagles likely to throw far more pucks on net than in his previous outings.
Looking back just 24 hours ago, it was a rather intriguing road contest for Lord and his Reign players. Both teams generated quality chances through the first two periods, but the score remained knotted at 0–0 heading into the final frame of regulation.
After Ontario surrendered the game’s opening goal, winger Taylor Ward wasted little time responding. Just two minutes later, he flashed his speed to blow past an Eagles defender and buried a breakaway to even things up at 1-1.
What followed was a rare sequence. A four-minute minor turned into a pair of goals from Regin forward Glenn Gawdin — one coming just four seconds into the man advantage, and the other 33 seconds into the second minor.
The Eagles made a spirited push late, but veteran netminder Phoenix Copley held the line, stopping 27-of-29 shots. It marked another excellent performance for Copley, who has rebounded significantly from some early season struggles.
Reign Projected Lineup vs. Eagles
If there are any key changes during pregame warmups, this article will be updated.
Alexandrov – Gawdin – Guttman
Chromiak – Pinelli – Ward
Lee – Connors – Wright
Jamsen – Hughes – Ziemmer
Hicketts – Salin
Booth – Burroughs
Dvorak – Bolduc
Saville (starter)
Copley
Likely scratches: (F) Brown, Isogai and (D) Kirsanov, Millar, Rego
Injured: Doty, Lawrence (month-to-month), Parker-Jones, Portillo
Key Game Info
Puck drop is set for 6:00 p.m. Pacific Time and will be streamed via FloSports. Additionally, a Reign radio feed is available here.
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