Winners of four of their last five contests, Andrew Lord’s Ontario Reign aim to stay hot tonight as they once again take on the visiting Iowa Wild. Even though the two clubs faced each other just a few days ago, this one will have a decidedly different look come puck drop this evening.
Earlier today, forwards Taylor Ward and Andre Lee were recalled by the LA Kings. While the moves represent a great opportunity for both players, neither will be easy to replace in the Reign lineup, as they’ve been key contributors to Ontario’s success this season. Lee was leading the team in goals (15) and points (27), while Ward’s 76 shots on goal are tops among all Ontario players.
Kings prospect Koehn Ziemmer and winger Kenta Isogai, healthy scratches in Sunday’s contest, will likely get an opportunity to step in and contribute during their initial absence.
Another LA draft pick some fans may have forgotten about deserves renewed attention. Forward Martin Chromiak, who scored two goals in Sunday’s contest, is on pace to shatter all of his career highs this season. Now 23 years old, the Slovakian native is really started to put all of his offensive tools together. With 13 goals and 10 assists on the season, the most impressive part of Chromiak’s game has been the confidence he’s playing with. He looks to have cleared a mental hurdle late last season and has carried that momentum into this year. Chromiak is on a roll right now, having collected 19 points (10G, 9A) in his last 20 games played.
Turning to the crease, Erik Portillo capped his return from a 52-day injury layoff with a shutout performance on Sunday. In the win, he gave a lot of credit to prospect first-year pro and fellow Kings prospect Kirill Kirsanov in front of him.
Tonight, it will be veteran Pheonix Copley’s turn in the crease. He was sharp on Saturday against the Firebirds, turning away 19-of-21 shots.
Reign Projected Lineup vs. Wild
If there are any key changes during pregame warmups, this article will be updated.
Alexandrov – Gawdin – Chromiak
Jamsen – Pinelli – Guttman
Ziemmer – Connors – Wright
Isogai – Hughes – Doty
Hicketts – Salin
Dvorak – Bolduc
Kirsanov – Booth
Copley (starter)
Portillo
Likely scratches: (F) Brown and (D) Rego and (G) Saville
Recalled to LA: Lee and Ward
Injured: Burroughs, Lawrence, Millar, Parker-Jones
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.
Follow @mayorNHL
Continue reading...