In a narrative that sounds crazy similar to their NHL parent club, the Ontario Reign enter this weekend sit just four points out of first place in the Pacific Division and are in a dog fight for second, as well — holding a thin one-point lead over the team in third. They have only seven regular season games to settle all of this, and it begins with a back-to-back set in Calgary on Saturday.
For coach Marco Sturm and crew, they’re facing a rather unconventional schedule for these two games, as puck drop is set for 12:30 pm on Saturday, and at noon on Sunday.
How much energy will Ontario have when skating in two of their earliest games of the season? They’ve already secured a playoff spot, now it’s all about postseason seeding. Claiming the top position is a stretch, but it’s still within their reach.
On the other side of the ice, Sturm’s squad will be facing a Calgary team that has really cooled off after a scorching start to the year. They’ve slid all the way to fifth place and come into action holding a 3-6-0-1 record over their past 10 starts.
That’s quite the start to the Reign, who have won three straight contests and hold a 7-3-0 mark in their previous 10 games.
Veteran goaltender Phoenix Copley is expected to split starts this weekend with Jacob Ingham. The former has been outstanding recently, including stopping 36 of 38 shots last time out. In that game, Kings prospects Andre Lee, Martin Chromiak, and Aatu Jamsen all had tallies in a 3-2 win. Lee has four points (2G, 2A) in his last two games, while Chromiak has nine points (3G, 6A) in his last nine outings.
There likely won’t be too many lineup changes this weekend. However, Sturm will have some decisions to make in the not-too-distant future. Defenseman Angus Booth has been skating and is tentatively targeted for a return next weekend in San Jose. Additionally, promising young prospect Otto Salin — who was just signed to an entry level contract earlier this week — will likely be ready to make his AHL debut by next weekend too (more on that here).
Finally, the Reign could soon see one of the Kings top prospects join the team, as well. With the Owen Sound Attack being eliminated in round one of the OHL playoffs on Thursday, he’s allegedly on his way to join the club very soon.
REIGN PROJECTED LINEUP vs. WRANGLERS
Should there be any key changes during warmups, alignment below will be updated.
Hudon – Gawdin – Chromiak
Lee – Studnicka – Fagemo
Jamsen – Pinelli – Ward
Element – Lawrence – Doty
Hicketts – Cecconi
Jones – Millar
Dvorak – Walsh
Copley
Ingham
Other roster options include: (F) Singleton and (D) Rowe
Injured: (D) Booth, Krygier and (G) Portillo
Puck drop is scheduled for 12:30 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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