Gameday Preview: Texas Stars at Ontario Reign

Texas Stars 31-18-3-3, 68 pts, 0.618 #2 Pacific Division

at

Ontario Reign 29-13-3-1, 62 pts, 0.674 #1 Pacific Division

February 19th at 9:00 PM

Citizens Business Bank Arena, Ontario, CA

Yes, a six game win streak is awesome, but tonight's game is where the rubber meets the road. The Ontario Reign are the top team in the division and have been all year. Their seemingly insurmountable lead has been chipped away at thanks to the callup of Peter Budaj, showing that the team is very much a product of their MVP calibre goaltending.

Budaj is back from Los Angeles, and the Reign have already won a game with him back in net. However, this contest is a 1 v 2 matchup and starts the second half of the season series between these two teams. Head to head matches are the best way to earn points against a club you're trailing, obviously, so the importance of tonight's game is high.

(Credit: Christina Shapiro/Texas Stars)

Texas hasn't had good luck so far this season against Ontario. Even with Budaj out of the net in two of the three games so far between the teams, each has been a one-goal loss for the Stars.

To continue the trend, the Reign will make a trip to Texas and San Antonio over the next two weeks and then spend the rest of the season in California.

Stars injury/call up report:
Faksa (call up)
Rallo, Shore, Dowling, Morin (injury)

Website: ontarioreign.com
Twitter: @ontarioreign
Coverage: Reign coverage via Jewels from the Crown