Tonight brings the eighth and final meeting between the Reign and Silver Knights this season, and nobody is likely happier about this than Henderson.
After opening the regular season with a pair of wins over Ontario, it’s been nothing short of misery for Sin City’s AHL club. They’ve dropped five straight to the Reign. It cuts deeper, though; three of those five went to a shootout and the other pair of games were one goal contests. Simply put, they’ve been flat worn out by coach Andrew Lord’s team.
From the flip side, Ontario can’t be too confident coming into this evening. Henderson has gone 7-2-1 over their past 10 games. And while the Reign are fighting for a No. 1 seed, the Silver Knights find themselves in a battle for the final playoff spot in the division — where five teams are essentially fighting for only four spots.
Coming off a split in Iowa to start their five-game road trip, Lord is expected to make a few lineup changes for this one. In goal, Kings prospect Erik Portillo is expected to get the start. He was on a hot streak for several months, only to have dropped his last three games. With Henderson sitting first in the AHL at 3.62 goals-per-game, Ontario’s netminder will need to be on his game to pull out a victory.
At least one swap is expected up front and on the back end, with Jack Hughes likely coming back in at forward and Otto Salin returning to the blueline after sitting out the last game.
This could be a game where Ontario’s offense really shines through because they’re facing a Silver Knights team that can be leaky at times. Their 3.21 goals allowed is only 22nd in the AHL.
Special teams could play a factor in this one, as well. Henderson boasts the league’s top power play (clicking at over 25%) and will face Ontario’s stout PK — having killed off 85% this season, third-best in the AHL.
Finally, there was lots of Reign talk on this week’s Future Considerations podcast – check it out:
Reign Projected Lineup vs. Wild
If there are any key changes during pregame warmups, this article will be updated.
Lee – Gawdin – Chromiak
Alexandrov – Brown – Guttman
Pinelli – Connors – Ziemmer
Jenik – Hughes – Doty
Kirsanov – Booth
Novikov – Millar
Hicketts – Salin
Portillo (starter)
Copley
Likely scratches: (F) Isogai and (D) Dvorak
Injured: Burroughs, Jamsen
Recalled to NHL: Wright
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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