Much like their NHL parent LA Kings, the Ontario Reign ended 2024 on a high note and are looking to keep the good times rolling now in 2025. For their first contest of the new year, coach Marco Sturm’s squad will face San Diego for the fourth time, yet the first time at Toyota Arena.
In three previous contests vs. the Gulls this season, Sturm saw his club earn a 4-1 victory just before Thanksgiving, then split a pair of games decided by shootouts last month.
Overall, December proved to be a very successful month for the Reign, earning an 8-1-0-1 record and climbing up to second place in the Pacific Division. Much of their standing amongst their peers didn’t have to do with wins and losses, it was more about a lack of games played. After a rather sparse slate over the first few months of the season, Ontario will now play a season-high 14 games in both January and March.
Unlike the Kings, Sturm’s club has some improvements to make when skating on home ice. Holding a 9-5-0-0 record in Ontario (only fifth best in the Pacific Division). To date, they’ve been better on the road, where their 9-3-0-1 record is tops in the Western Conference.
Sturm is expected to largely use the same lineup for tonight’s game as he did in Henderson on New Year’s Eve. Indications are, neither Aatu Jamsen or Charles Hudon will play vs. San Diego. The former has been sidelined with an injury the past few weeks, although he did return to skating today (in a red jersey). Meanwhile, Hudon has arrived back in town after playing for Team Canada at the just completed Spengler Cup. Perhaps he draws back in tomorrow, especially with the Reign playing back-to-back games this weekend.
Also, look for Andre Lee to most likely be assigned to Ontario on Saturday. Whether he plays or not will be something to keep an eye on tomorrow morning. However, with the Kings expected to activate Trevor Lewis in time for their game vs. Tampa Bay, they’ll need to create a roster spot and having Lee join the Reign is the easiest move at this time because the big forward doesn’t need to pass through waivers first. If that happens, he’s still expected to be back with the Kings at some point; they just have some roster decisions to make in the coming weeks, something we reviewed more thoroughly here:
Either way, the timing of Lee going down to the AHL — even though it could be a boost for the Reign — is still a bit of a bummer for a player who just scored his first NHL goal on Wednesday:
REIGN PROJECTED LINEUP vs. GULLS
If there are any key changes during pregame warm-ups, this article will be updated.
Fagemo – Gawdin – Malott
Element – Studnicka – Madden
Chromiak – Pinelli – Ward
Singleton – Lawrence – Doty
Hicketts – Millar
Jones – Walsh
Booth – Rowe
Portillo
Copley
Other roster options include: (F) Hudon, Jamsen (D) Krygier
Puck drop is scheduled for 7:00 pm Pacific Time and the game can be viewed on FloHockey. An audio only feed is also available on the ESPN LA app.
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