Gameday Preview: Texas Stars v. Ontario Reign

Texas Stars 32-19-3-3, 70 pts, 0.614 #2 Pacific Division

v.

Ontario Reign 30-14-3-1, 64 pts, 0.667 #1 Pacific Division

February 26th at 7:30 PM

Cedar Park Center, Cedar Park, TX

Texas fans have only seen the Reign once so far this season. The double-dose they will get this weekend pits the top two teams in the division against each other in a battle for .. well, not actually for the division.

At this point, the Stars and Reign are pretty locked in as playoff contenders in the Pacific. Each holds a record better than .600. The real battle is for confidence. On the season, Texas has yet to win a single game against the Reign. If the playoffs started today, it'd be a good bet for these two clubs to meet in the second round. Ontario hold a 7-2 advatange in the season series with #4 San Jose while Texas has a 5-1 mark against #3 San Diego.

(Credit: Christina Shapiro/Texas Stars)

Of course, if you're going to go by season series record, that puts a pretty bad stink on the second round matchup: 0-4 for Texas. And so this weekend is for confidence building. If Texas can win these games, it will not only be a victory worth two points in the standings. It could also be a victory worth a berth into the Western Conference Finals in May.

Thanks to injuries and callups, the Reign will be without some notables. Adrian Kempe did not travel with the team and Sean Backman is questionable after leaving their last game last weekend. Paul Bissonnette is injured and will also not travel with the team. Former Rookie of the Year Michael Mersch is eating popcorn in the Kings press box. All of this is as reported by Lindsay Czarnecki, who you should really be following on Twitter @ReignInsider.

Texas is unlikely to see any change to its injured ranks.

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

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