What is déjà vu? Google defines it as the unsettling feeling that you’ve been here before. That sensation perfectly captures tonight’s meeting between the Reign and Eagles at Toyota Arena, both sitting at 52 points in the standings.
The stakes feel extremely familiar, as these teams met for first place just last week in Colorado.
During their most recent contests — covering a pair of games in the Rocky Mountains — Ontario handled business in game one, then found things much tougher the following night. A difficult first 40 minutes in the rematch found the Reign in a 3-0 hole early in the third period. As they’ve done rather regularly of late, Ontario responded by scoring three unanswered goals in a span of 16:47 — including two goals from Nikita Alexandrov and one from first-year pro Kenny Connors — to force overtime. When that wasn’t enough to decide a winner, it was on to the shootout, where goals by Connors and fellow Kings prospect Aatu Jamsen helped snag a dramatic two points for the Reign.
It goes without saying that coach Andrew Lord has a group with no quit in them right now. Even last night in Coachella Valley, a late goal from the Firebirds forced overtime, only to see Ontario strike back quickly and secure the win.
It was a great way to punctuate an extended road trip (tied for the longest of their season) that saw the team post a 4-2-0 record — a notable accomplishment for a group made up largely of first and second-year professionals. They’ll embark on another six-game stretch in late March, but that’s still aways away. For now, they return home and are looking to settle things down a bit.
With goaltender Erik Portillo securing the win last night, veteran Pheonix Copley is expected to start tonight. He was outstanding in Colorado last week, turning away 35-of-38 shots in Ontario’s thrilling shootout win.
On the other side, this Eagles team knows how to generate high-quality chances. They outshot the Reign in both games last week in Colorado, meaning Copley will once again be heavily relied upon.
Additionally, as the season progresses, Lord will likely want his team to either limit shots against or generate more scoring chances. Even with a strong focus on structure, teams typically don’t want to rely on their goalie night after night come playoff time. Fixing it beforehand should be a challenge the Reign won’t have to tackle when the time comes.
Reign Projected Lineup vs. Eagles
If there are any key changes during pregame warmups, this article will be updated.
Alexandrov – Gawdin – Chromiak
Lee – Connors – Wright
Pinelli – Brown – Guttman
Jamsen – Lawrence – Doty
Hicketts – Rego
Dvorak – Bolduc
Kirsanov – Booth
Copeley (starter)
Portillo
Likely scratches: (F) Hughes, Ziemmer and (D) Salin and (G) Saville
Recalled to LA: Ward
Injured: Burroughs, Millar
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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