Ontario is set for a rare Tuesday-night meeting at Toyota Arena, and the opponent coming in has enough to make this feel like a real test. Calgary arrives as the Pacific Division leader at 5-2, and this will be the first time this season the Reign see one of the AHL’s Canadian clubs.
For Ontario, the assignment is straightforward: get back in the win column after a rough 5-2 loss to visiting Henderson this past weekend. That game exposed some of the same issues the Reign have been dealing with, especially on special teams. Ontario took six penalties on Saturday, and while the penalty kill survived all six, the constant shorthanded stretches made it tough to find any rhythm.
That’s the area where Calgary could pose the biggest problem. The Wranglers rank second in the Pacific in both power-play and penalty-kill efficiency, which is not the kind of profile Ontario wants to see while trying to steady itself.
There was one bright spot against Henderson. Aatu Jamsen scored his first goal of the season on the power play, with Kenny Connors and Koehn Ziemmer picking up the assists. That goal pulled Ontario within one and briefly gave the Reign a path back into the game.
The meeting with Calgary is also the first of eight between the two teams this season, though the schedule tightens up much later. After Thanksgiving next month, the clubs will play three straight times and end up with five games in less than 10 days during a slightly altered home-and-home stretch.
For tonight, though, Ontario’s lineup looks likely to feature a few familiar pieces and one expected change. Kings prospect Vojtech Cihar is expected to come out of the lineup. The 19-year-old from Czechia is still trying to carve out a steady role as he works through his first full season of pro hockey in North America.
On the blue line, Andrew Lord is expected to keep things the same with Jared Woolley still out for a few more weeks. In goal, Carter George is the likely starter after winning his lone appearance so far this season, a 15-save effort in a 17-shot outing against Coachella Valley that ended in an overtime victory.
Projected lineup:
Pinelli - Pederson - Chromiak
Jamsen - Connors - Wright
Hughes - Guttman - Ziemmer
Isogai - Lawrence - Doty
Kirsanov - Perunovich
Booth - Millar
Hicketts - Brzustewicz
George
H. Slukynsky
Likely scratches: (F) Cihar, G. Slukynsky (D) Woolley and (G) Portillo
Injured: (F) Jenik (D) Dvorak, Salin
Also, a Reign radio feed can be found here.
In Other News...
Kings Fans Have A New Reason To Worry About Quinton Byfield
Quinton Byfields night against the Capitals ended quickly, and for a Kings team already trying to steady itself in a rough start to the season, it was another unwelcome development. The young forward left the game with an upper-body injury, adding a new layer of concern around one of the clubs more important pieces as the team continues searching for its first win.
The issue apparently began at Mondays practice, when Byfield was hurt and later described himself as feeling a little tight. He made it only four shifts against Washington before exiting, leaving the Kings to navigate the rest of the game without him and waiting for clarity on how much time, if any, he might miss. [Read more 🡒]
Kings Finally Showed The Response Fans Have Been Waiting For
The frustration around the Kings had been building through six straight losses and a stretch of flat offense that had left them searching for any sign of life. Against Washington, they finally offered the kind of response their season had been missing, skating to a 5-2 win behind goals from Adrian Kempe, Artemi Panarin, Alex Laferriere and Erik Gustafsson, while Darcy Kuemper steadied things with 30 saves in net.
For a team that had been getting squeezed by the scoreboard and by its own inability to finish, the result mattered almost as much as the points. Peter Laviolette and several players pointed to the performance as a meaningful step forward, and now the bigger question is whether it can be the start of something more than one relieving night. [Read more 🡒]
Kings Roster Pressure Is Growing As Two Problems Demand Answers
The Kings are only a few games into the season, but the early tone has already become familiar: the offense has been too quiet and the goaltending has not consistently bailed them out. With those two issues hanging over the club, any talk of roster help is getting louder, and the list of possible fixes is broad enough to include both internal reinforcements and outside additions. Kevin Fialas return would be the cleanest in-house boost, but the Kings are also weighing whether a move from the free-agent market could help stabilize a lineup that needs more punch.
There is no simple fix waiting in the wings, which is why the conversation around upgrades has started to feel more urgent. Los Angeles wants to avoid letting a slow start harden into a longer problem, and the front office is already being pushed to look at every option it has. For now, the big question is less about whether the Kings need help and more about how aggressive theyre willing to be before the seasons early problems start to define them. [Read more 🡒]