Over the past three weeks, coach Andrew Lord’s Ontario Reign have played a relatively quiet schedule. They’ve had six weekend games in that span — including five at Toyota Arena, with the lone exception taking place just 150 miles away in Bakersfield.
Why is that important? For one, tonight is Ontario’s first midweek game in nearly a month. On top of that, this will mark their third game in four days, something they’ve only had to deal with once earlier this season.
Digging into more of the recent numbers, Lord’s squad has won five of its last six games. Their only setback coming against the very team they’ll see tonight on home ice, the Texas Stars. In fact, Texas remains the only opponent on Ontario’s remaining 2025-26 schedule that the Reign haven’t already beaten at least once.
Tonight’s contest marks the second of four meetings between the two clubs. Ontario will travel to the Lone Star state next month to play a two-game set and close out the season series. In their only prior matchup (on Nov. 30 at Toyota Arena), the Reign trailed 2–1 until the final five minutes, when Texas added an insurance marker, followed by an empty-net goal to seal a 4–1 win. Cole Guttman scored Ontario’s lone goal that night.
With consecutive wins over the Flames last weekend, Lord is believed to be leaning toward keeping most of his lineup intact. There will most likely be one change on the blueline, with Kings prospect Jakub Dvorak expected to draw in.
After rotating several defensemen around this season, all signs point to this being Kirill Kirsanov’s first night off; he’s played in all 21 games.
As for the goaltenders, with Texas starting Remi Poirier Sunday night in San Diego, tonight will most likely feature the same duel we saw a week and a half ago: Pheonix Copley against Arno Tiefensee. Copley made 21 saves on 24 shots in that game, while Tiefensee was sharp with 25 stops on 26 attempts.
Last weekend, Andre Lee stole the spotlight — recording two goals and an assist, pushing his season total to 17 points. He’s already matched his career high in goals with eight, and he now sits just three points shy of his career-best 20. This season, the 6-doot-5 Swede has looked every bit like a complete player. He’s retained the steady 200-foot game he’s known for, while also unlocking a new level of offensive production. With everything trending upward, it’s fair to wonder how much longer Ontario will be able to keep him; a return to the NHL seems likely at some point.
What You May Have Missed
For more on Lee’s recent performance, be sure to check out this article:
Reign Projected Lineup vs. Stars
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
Copley (starter)
Saville
Likely scratches: (F) Brown, Isogai and (D) Kirsanov, Millar
Injured: Doty, Lawrence (month-to-month), Parker-Jones, Portillo
Key Game Info
Puck drop is set for 7:00 p.m. Pacific Time and will be streamed via FloSports. Additionally, a Reign radio feed is available here.
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