“Reunited and it feels so good…”
As the popular classic from Peaches & Herb once proclaimed, the reunion of Marco Sturm’s top line on Friday had to feel good for both the coach and players alike. Alex Turcotte was put back together with fellow Kings prospects Quinton Byfield and Tyler Madden – and Byfield had the game winner in overtime.
Additionally, Sturm’s move to flip Lias Andersson to the third line paid dividends, as well. Andersson was the guy who tied the game at 1-1 midway through the first period.
Now comes the real question. Which history will repeat itself?
When the Reign and Roadrunners hooked up in Ontario last month, they split the two-game series. Coming off Ontario’s win last night, will Saturday bring another split or a repeat of Friday night’s victory?
Entering the weekend pair of games in Tucson, Sturm was expected to split the starts between his two goaltenders. Given Cal Petersen’s 44-save performance last night, perhaps Sturm rides the hot hand instead. While nothing is official, we’ve penciled Matt Villalta into the lineup below.
Additionally, it would seem reasonable to expect he may rotate one of his defensemen out, as he’s been doing fairly routinely of late.
ONTARIO REIGN PROJECTED LINEUP vs. TUCSON ROADRUNNERS
Turcotte – Byfield – Madden
Quine – Tynan – Ward
Andersson – Kupari – Dudas
Lee – Helenius – Thompson
Moverare – Spence
Gaunce / Nousiainen – Grans
Bisson – Allard
Villalta
Petersen
Game scratches: Chromiak, Nousiainen, Wagner
Recalled to NHL: Bjornfot, Fagemo
Out injured: Thomas, Doty
Puck drop is scheduled for 6pm PST tonight and the game can be viewed on AHL TV.
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Alex Turcotte is Taking it Day by Day, Back to Grinding Away
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