Following a thrilling 6-5 season-opening overtime victory in Coachella Valley on Friday night, coach Andrew Lord and the Reign return home for their highly-anticipated home opener at Toyota Arena.
While San Diego and Ontario have the longest running feud in the AHL’s Pacific Division — and one that’s been rather heated from the very beginning — there’s been a continually increasing disdain between the Reign and Firebirds. Perhaps that animosity is even at an all-time high right now. The Firebirds have eliminated the Reign from postseason action two of the past three seasons, so the fireworks in Game 1 of the 2026-27 campaign really came as no surprise.
Reign Recap: 5-Minute Video Highlights from Friday’s Improbable OT Road Win
Trailing 3-1, 4-2, and 5-3 at various points throughout the night, Ontario battled back with three unanswered goals before completing the comeback in overtime.
Despite earning a victory, Lord described the game as “uncharacteristic” of his Reign squad, noting that “we usually defend a lot better.” Still, Ontario’s bench boss was pleased with the character his team displayed throughout the game, particularly in the way they continued to battle back and ultimately secure two points in the standings.
Overall, it was far from a clean performance for the Reign, but they found a way to get the job done. There are still some areas to clean up, particularly on special teams, as Ontario went 2-for-7 on the power play while allowing two goals on the Firebirds four opportunities with a man advantage.
Cihar Decision Awaits
Mayor’s Manor founder John Hoven has reported that these first few games are an audition of sorts for 19-year-old Vojtech Cihar. After exploding onto the scene at last year’s World Junior Championship for Czechia (recording 12 points in seven games, en route to a silver medal), the silky winger moved on the WHL — where he was a point-per-game player for Kelowna, prior to the Memorial Cup.
LA originally selected Cihar with a second-round pick in 2025 which they received as part of a deal Mark Yannetti orchestrated with Pittsburgh to move back in the first round to take Henry Brzustewicz. Because Cihar was selected from a European league, the Kings have unlimited options on where they can assign him this season. Thus, even though he’s 19 (and not a first-round pick), he can still stay in the AHL if the Kings so chose.
Hoven is reporting the Kings have yet to make that decision. In fact, Kings GM Ken Holland is so vested in Cihar, he traveled with a contingent of the organization’s management team to Coachella Valley on Friday, in part to watch this young prospect. Expectations are that Cihar will be in the lineup again tonight for a second audition.
With a funky schedule to start the year, after tonight, Ontario won’t play another game until next Sunday. During that weeklong break, Holland and his staff are scheduled to meet and discuss things further. As of now, the Reign only have three extra forwards — and with the possibility of one or two of those guys being recalled to the Kings at some point, the door is at least cracked open to give Cihar a longer run with the Reign.
It’s Hammer Time
On the surface, Erik Portillo getting the start last night may have seemed a bit odd after a summer of hearing about the expected tandem of top Kings prospects Hampton Slukynsky and Carter George all summer. However, according to several sources, it was more just an acknowledgement of Portillo’s spot within the team’s depth chart and that he is the returning guy from last year. Big picture? Not much has changed.
With that in mind, Slukynsky is scheduled to start Game 2 tonight.
A native of Warroad, MN, the 21-year-old netminder has shown all the tools to be a topflight NHL goalie someday. Following a successful career at Western Michigan that wrapped up last spring, Slukynsky made his AHL debut in April. He ultimately made two starts for the Reign, winning both games and only giving up one goal in each contest.
If you’re not familiar with his championship pedigree and why so many people are excited about the 2023 Draft pick, see here:
Goalie Hampton Slukynsky is Hammering His Way Into Kings Prospect Pool
Reign Projected Lineup
With the back-to-back games, Ontario did not hold a morning skate today. Yet, we are expecting a few lineup changes, including first-year pro Henry Brzustewicz getting the night off.
Below is our projected alignment. If there are any key changes during pregame warmups, this article will be updated.
Pinelli – Connors – Wright
Ward – Pederson – Ziemmer
Jamsen – Guttman – Chromiak
Cihar – Hughes – Doty
Kirsanov – Booth
Hicketts – Millar
Woolley – Perunovich
Slukynsky
George
Likely scratches: (F) Isogai, Lawrence, G. Slukynsky (D) Brzustewicz, Mastrodomenico and (G) Portillo
Injured: (F) Jenik (D) Dvorak, Salin
How to Watch
Puck drop is set for 6:00 p.m. Pacific Time and all regular season games will be streamed via FloSports. You can even watch for FREE tonight.
Also, a Reign radio feed can be found here.
Game day graphic by ALoImages
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