The Bakersfield Condors are coming, and they’re coming in hot.
Sitting just one point behind the Reign in the Pacific Division standings, each team has won seven of their last 10 games; pushing to secure third place and home ice in Round 1 of next month’s Calder Cup playoffs.
“On paper, for me, Coachella and Bakersfield are the two best teams,” Reign coach Marco Sturm said in advance of what will be the first of three vs. the Condors over their final 11 games of the regular season. “If you look at Bakersfield’s lineup after the NHL Trade Deadline, they’re packed. In the standings, I know they’re still a little bit behind us, but that’s a team I think will finish very strong and they have really good goaltending. So, it’s going to be a challenge. I’m not going to say we can’t beat him, but it will be a tough test, for sure.”
And the initial test on Sunday afternoon at Toyota Arena could be a little more challenging than Sturm was hoping for. Leading goal scorer Sammy Fagemo left Friday night’s game midway through the third period for what was described as precautionary reasons. Now, 48 hours later, he may still not be ready to return to action. From what we’re hearing, he’s unlikely to draw in vs. Bakersfield; however, a final decision may not come until warmups. He was set to give it a go during morning skate and then be further evaluated.
Already thin at forward — to the point Sturm had to use a defenseman on his fourth line recently — the team will at least get Hayden Hodgson back from his three-game suspension.
Last weekend in Bakersfield saw Ontario get shutout 4-0. It was their third loss to the Condors this season, yet the other two (6-2 and 6-4) had come on home ice. Ontario has also picked up a pair of one-goal wins in the season series (3-2 and 2-1), with both victories coming in Kern County. Thus, the road team has done down rather well in the five games played to date.
Should Sturm opt to keep his usual goalie rotation in tact, it’s time for veteran Aaron Dell to take his turn between the pipes. In his last six starts for the Reign he’s posted a .943 save percentage while accumulating a 5-0-1 record.
REIGN PROJECTED LINEUP vs. CONDORS
Chromiak – Tynan – Hodgson
Ward – Thomas – Madden
Pavlychev – Helenius – Doty
Young – Pinelli – Francis
Hicketts – Clarke
Connauton – Santini
Nousiainen – Wylie
Dell (starter)
Portillo
Other roster options include: (F) Fagemo and (D) Inamoto, Krygier
Injured: Hudon (no timetable), Lee (skating, looking at late March), Rowe (lower hody)
Puck drop is scheduled for 3pm Pacific Time and the game can be viewed on AHL TV.
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