Things don’t always go as planned; that’s the easy recap of Tuesday night’s opener of Ontario’s back-to-back set in Abbotsford. More so, it was another double-up game. The Reign defeated the Canucks by a score of 8-4 earlier this season, followed by a 6-3 loss last night.
‘As long as we get one more than them’ is likely what coach Marco Sturm is thinking heading into the rematch — a game that will feature a few lineup changes. Sammy Helenius, who slid back into the lineup last night while on loan from the NHL, is already back up with the big club. Of note, Helenius took his third fighting major of the season in just nine starts with the Reign.
Another interesting observation from that game was seeing Sturm reunite Helenius with Andre Lee and Taylor Ward. They were Ontario’s most effective line during the playoffs last season. What will Ontario’s bench boss do now to fill that hole at center on the second line? He could move Jack Studnicka back there, or he could even utilize Tyler Madden in the spot (he’s a natural winger yet has been playing center in recent weeks).
In net, look for Erik Portillo to get the nod after Pheonix Copley played in the front-half of the set on Tuesday.
Defensively, there is still no word on when captain Joe Hicketts will return. Should that be tonight, though, Sturm has several options for which blueliner could potentially sit out – including Kings prospect Jakub Dvorak.
From what we’re hearing, forward Aatu Jamsen is close to returning. As of now, there is internal talk about him rejoining the lineup this weekend when the Reign return home for games on Saturday (vs. Henderson) and Sunday (vs. Calgary) at Toyota Arena.
REIGN PROJECTED LINEUP vs. CANUCKS
If there are any key changes during pregame warm-ups, this article will be updated.
Hudon – Gawdin – Malott
Lee – Madden – Ward
Chromiak – Pinelli – Fagemo
Element – Studnicka – Singleton
Booth – Millar
Jones – Walsh
Dvorak – Rowe
Portillo
Copley
Other roster options include: (F) Doty, Jamsen and (D) Hicketts, 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.
MORE LA KINGS NEWS:
Follow @mayorNHL
Continue reading...
