Last weekend had to be considered a success for new Reign coach Andrew Lord. Despite a frustrating overtime loss on Friday, Ontario opened their 2025-26 AHL season by taking three of a possible four points. After a week of practice, they’ll now turn their attention to tonight’s matchup against the visiting Henderson Silver Knights.
Sunday’s game proved to be a memorable one for several first-year players, highlighted by Kings prospect Otto Salin recording his first North American goal and LA hopeful Kenny Connors earning his first professional point.
Additionally, forward Martin Chromiak picked up right where he left off last season, finding the back of the net last time out. The goal marked his 100th career AHL point, and he’ll now look to further build upon the strong form he’s carried since February of last season.
And for what it’s worth, Akil Thomas has been off to a scorching start, recording two goals and two assists through his first two games. It will be interesting to see whether he can use this momentum to shift the narrative surrounding him within the Kings organization.
On the goaltending front, Erik Portillo showed significant improvement in game two, stopping 19 of 21 shots to earn his first win since suffering a season-ending injury this past February. He’s expected to get the start in net again tonight vs. Henderson.
Speaking of Ontario’s next opponent, the Silver Knights have struggled to find consistency, serving as the Pacific Division’s bottom dwellers for much of the past three seasons — and early indications suggest this year may be more of the same. After Henderson suffered both an overtime and a regulation loss to open their season, tonight presents an ideal opportunity for Lord and his team to take care of business in front of the home faithful.
Ontario’s bench boss made a few adjustments during game, shifting Franky Pinelli to the third-line left wing and promoting Andre Lee to the top line. On the blue line, he also swapped Kirill Kirsanov and Jakub Dvorak to opposite sides.
Most of the lineup appears to be the same heading into action tonight. The lone change expected should see sophomore forward Kaleb Lawrence coming out in favor of rookie Jack Hughes.
Apparently, the former was a little banged up coming out of last weekend, which prevented him from practicing several days this week.
Statistically Speaking
— Tonight marks the first of eight meetings between the two clubs this season. Last year, Ontario posted a 6-2-0 record vs. Henderson; outscoring their Pacific Division rival 26-18 in the process.
— Portillo will be looking to let the good times roll after collecting a 3-0 record vs. Henderson in 2024-25. His .950 save percentage and 1.66 goals-against average in those contests were impressive.
— Besides Chromiak, the only other Reign player with a power play goal thus far is Aatu Jamsen.
What You May Have Missed
Kings Prospect Angus Booth Intent on Avoiding Sophomore Slump LINK
Kings Of The Podcast, Ep. 235 with Andrew Lord, New Reign Head Coach LINK
Reign Projected Lineup vs. Silver Knights
If there are any key changes during pregame warmups, this article will be updated.
Lee – Gawdin – Chromiak
Jamsen – Guttman – Ward
Pinelli – Thomas – Wright
Hughes – Connors – Doty
Hicketts – Millar
Bolduc – Salin
Kirsanov – Dvorak
Portillo
Saville
Likely scratches: (F) Lawrence, Ziemmer and (D) Rego
Injured: Berge, Brown, 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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