For the first time this season, the Reign are taking their show on the road. Coach Andrew Lord’s team has traveled north of the border for a weekend set with the Abbotsford Canucks. They’ll play a two-game set, beginning with a Friday night contest before rematching again on Sunday afternoon.
In a theme that keeps Ontario with close ties to their parent club in Los Angeles, there is potential for a similar narrative here. The Reign lost both road games to the Canucks last season. And just last night, the Kings exercised their longstanding demon in Dallas; can the Reign now do the same in Abbotsford?
For the Reign to find victory, they’ll likely need to shoot the puck more. However, despite sitting 32nd in the AHL for shots taken, Lord doesn’t think the message is as simple as telling his players to just fire away.
“I think it’s a lot deeper than that,” Lord told Mayor’s Manor. “Obviously, there’s a team mindset of being direct. And yes, we’re saying those things, but we really link it back much further than that. If our breakouts are poor and we’re not getting out of our d-zone, and we’re getting hemmed in, or we’re playing half-ice hockey — where we have to chip a puck out and change, and we don’t have the gas to play offense — those things are issues, right? So, we’re going to start from our own end out. If we get quicker stops in the d-zone, if we get out of our zone cleaner, we get into the offensive zone cleaner. Then, you’re not actually going to get more looks and more opportunities. Yes, we’ve passed up shots, and we need to be more direct, but I wouldn’t say it’s just a straight up, ‘We need to shoot the puck more.’ I think we need to do a lot of things better to give ourselves the opportunity to get more of a shot on net.”
With a 2-1-1 record, the sky isn’t falling either. Ontario has earned points in three of their first four games, including a win over a very stout Colorado team last weekend.
“I’m not really overly concerned about anything,” Lord said, as we checked his coaching temperature heading into this weekend’s series. “We’re working on the main areas of our game that needs focus right now. I think our defending has gotten better and better. I think that’s our structure. Our PK has been very good, in particular last game. Our puck decisions need to be better, for sure. Getting over the offensive zone blue line; and then once we’re in the offensive zone, for sure. But I don’t think that’s a lack of capability. I think that’s some reads and some chemistry. That’s figuring out how we need to play to be successful, and I really feel good about how we’ve been learning every day. Last game was the perfect example. We had a good day Saturday, then addressed a few areas and the guys really applied it. We beat an extremely good hockey team on Sunday, which was a good sign overall.”
All The Time in the World for Connors
It’s only been four games. Just like there’s nothing to be overly concerned with at this point of the season, coaches also typically don’t want to overhype the performance of individual players. Occasionally there are exceptions — and Kenny Connors is the latest Kings prospect to draw some attention.
“He’s been great,” Lord said at the mere mention of his name. “I think he’s really earned it, and then some, throughout this process — all the way back to NHL Rookie Camp; where I’d argued he was the best player on the ice there in those couple games. Then, through main camp, did his job. AHL camp, very good. And now, he’s started a little lower down the lineup, and he’s just been consistent. Whether it’s PK, whether it’s playing good solid defensive hockey; it’s a fun one. He’s very intelligent. His work ethic is obviously there. I think he has a skill set in the skating ability that can really allow him to play in different spots in the lineup. Whether it’s down the lineup, or similar to two games ago where we gave them a little bit more. Then, even last game, he really got quite a bit more; he even got popped on the power play. He’s doing great and been a real bright spot early in the season.”
One of the reasons Connors has drawn praise from Lord on several occasions over the past month is his ability to impact the play in multiple areas. These are things that don’t always show up on the stats sheet.
“I think it’s so early days that you can’t get hung up on the production,” Lord explained. “It really has to be about process right now. From practice, then linking that to our gameplay. The production will come. Line chemistry always takes some time. Our overall game takes some time. We’ve had some funky periods. We’ve had a few good ones, but it hasn’t been the consistent hockey that we’re aiming for thus far. I’m sure that’ll come, though. It’s early days. We only had a couple practices as a team before we got going. I think all that’ll happen. For him in particular, he does so much, aside from just production. His PK was elite last game, multiple block shots, his d-zone five-on-five; you name it, it’s all very solid.”
Statistically Speaking
— This will be Abbotsford’s first home game of the season, as they’ve opened 2025-26 with four straight on the road.
— Reign defenseman Angus Booth is close to a return. He’s been practicing, yet he’s probably not going to make his season debut this weekend. Last year, as a rookie, he was arguably Ontario’s best rearguard, especially defensively. After playing 50 games during the regular season, his absence during the playoffs (injury) was noticeable. Following a good summer of training, he was hopeful of avoiding any sort of a sophomore slump, only to suffer a knee injury early on. We’re expecting him back as early as next Wednesday at Henderson, or no later than Halloween night in San Jose.
— Unfortunately, big Kaleb Lawrence is going to miss quite a bit of time. The 6-foot-6 forward really found his footing at the AHL level late last season after splitting time with Ontario and ECHL Greenville early in the year. Originally a seventh-round draft pick by LA in 2022, the London Knights product is rounding into form.
— Fellow Kings prospect Kohen Ziemmer, who turned pro late last season after four successful seasons in the WHL, can’t wait to draw back in. He played three games with the Reign in April yet hasn’t seen action since. That will likely change this weekend, though. We’re expecting Lord to pencil his name into at least one of the two games vs. Abbotsford.
— Goaltender Erik Portillo has started all four games for the Reign thus far this season. Now that the Pheonix Copley trade/waiver situation has been resolved, look for the North Pole’s favorite netminder to get the start on Friday. He’s been hanging out on the sidelines too long and needs to shake the rust off. Copley will likely have some revenge on his mind too after posting a disappointing 0-2-0 mark and .824 save percentage against the Canucks.
— Tonight will begin a stretch where the Reign play nine of 11 games away from their home arena. They’ll also be looking to replicate their performance from last season, when they claimed the AHL’s third most road victories.
What You May Have Missed
Kings Of The Podcast, Ep. 235 with Andrew Lord, New Reign Head Coach LINK
LA Kings Prospect Tracker: Week Ending October 19, 2025 LINK
Reign Projected Lineup vs. Canucks
If there are any key changes during pregame warmups, this article will be updated.
Ward – Gawdin – Chromiak
Pinelli – Guttman – Thomas
Lee – Connors – Wright
Jamsen – Hughes – Doty
Hicketts – Millar
Bolduc – Dvorak
Kirsanov – Rego
Copley
Portillo
Likely scratches: (F) Ziemmer and (D) Salin
Injured: Brown, Lawrence, Parker-Jones
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.
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