For the second straight week, Ontario coach Andrew Lord is preparing his team for a Tuesday night matchup — only this time it’s north of the border in Calgary, where they’ll play a back-to-back set.
Tonight marks the first meeting of the season between the Reign and Wranglers, and the first of only four matchups they’ll have in 2025-26. In fact, after they meet again for a pair of games at Toyota Arena in early December, they won’t see each other again until a possible matchup in the Calder Cup Playoffs.
Any talk of postseason play is still months away, though, so Lord and his group remain focused on the here and now. To date, the Reign are tied for second in the Pacific Division, trailing only the Colorado Eagles. Despite Ontario posting a 7-4-1 record and holding a plus-5 goal differential, they’re still just one point ahead of Calgary in the standings.
Taking a quick peek back to last season, Ontario had Calgary’s number, earning points in seven of the eight contests and claiming victory six times. This was against a Wranglers team that led the Pacific Division for most of the first half. Overall, it was a more even series than a 7-1-1 record may have suggested, with four of those eight games requiring overtime.
Martin Chromiak led the way against Calgary last season, recording three goals and three assists — the best numbers among Kings prospects in the 2024-25 season series.
Through 12 games this season, Chromiak continues to help lead the offense for Lord and the Reign. The 23-year-old forward has already picked up five goals and added three assists — including a four-point night (2G, 2A) vs. San Diego just last weekend.
Up front, Lord is expected to pretty much use the same forward lines from the past few games, including Kings prospect Koehn Ziemmer helping anchor the fourth line.
It’s out on the blueline where some changes could be underway either tonight or in tomorrow’s rematch. Lord confirmed Saturday that defenseman Angus Booth is dealing with a minor issue and is considered day-to-day. He could be reinserted into the lineup in either or both of the games in Calgary.
And if Booth does draw in, it begs the question of who comes out. Just last game, Lord went with a rather unconventional move of dropping captain Joe Hicketts to the third pair and moving young Jakub Dvorak to the top pairing. Thus, the alignment of rearguards remains in flux at the moment.
Given the recent rotation of goalies, Pheonix Copley is likely to get the start tonight; meaning Erik Portillo would then be set for game two tomorrow. However, with Copley giving up 16 goals in his last three starts, there’s at least the possibility Lord would consider rolling with Portillo for both games. That may be a lot to ask in a back-to-back series. That said, after these two games, the Reign will only play once more over the next nine days (coming this Saturday in San Jose). Thus, there could be plenty of rest available for both netminders.
What You May Have Missed
Kings Of The Podcast, Ep. 235 with Andrew Lord, New Reign Head Coach LINK
Reign Projected Lineup vs. Wranglers
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
Dvorak – Millar
Kirsanov – Burroughs
Hicketts – Salin
Portillo
Copley
Likely scratches: (F) Isogai and (D) Bolduc, Booth
Injured: Brown, Doty, Lawrence (month-to-month), Parker-Jones
Key Game Info
Puck drop is set for 6:00 pm Pacific Time and will be streamed via FloSports. Additionally, a Reign radio feed is available here.
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