Friday night brought a mixed bag of results for the Reign in British Columbia. While they lost 4-3 in overtime, combined with a San Jose Barracuda loss, Ontario was still able to punch their ticket for the postseason. Now, they’ll turn their attention to an immediate rematch vs. the Canucks — for what will be their final regular season matchup with Abbotsford, yet a possible playoff preview at the same time.
Reign will most likely finish 5th or 6th in the Pacific Division; with an outside chance they finish 7th.
They're most likely opponents are Abbotsford or Colorado.
If they drop to 7th, they'll play either Coachella Valley or Calgary in RD1 — which is a best of 3 series.
— The Mayor | Team MM (@mayorNHL) April 8, 2023
By qualifying for postseason play, the Reign will have an opportunity to once again compete for the Calder Cup; quite an accomplishment considering the team endured an 11-game losing streak not too long ago.
More recently, a pair of new guys on the team have made an instant impact offensively. Both Cole Krygier and Alex Laferriere scored their first professional goals last game.
Laffy's goal… https://t.co/DaW0vPzDPS
— The Mayor | Team MM (@mayorNHL) April 8, 2023
Overall, Lias Anderson sits with 29 goals on the season and TJ Tynan continues to produce offense on a regular basis. Scoring depth will certainly serve this squad well come playoff time in a couple of weeks, especially now that key defensemen like Jordan Spence and Tobias Bjornfot are up with the big club.
Cal Petersen is expected to be in net tonight after Matt Villalta played on Friday. Coach Marco Sturm has a few options available if he’s looking to make additional lineup changes. Kings prospect Alex Turcotte has been skating and did travel with the Reign to Canada. He’s close to returning after missing the past three games. In two recent contests against Abbotsford, Turcotte recorded an assist in each of them. Defensively speaking, Tyler Inamoto was recently recalled from ECHL Greenville and could easily slot in on the third pair.
On the other side, the Canucks are led by Linus Karlsson who has 23 goals and 25 assists. A big part of their offense was from Christian Wolanin, an old friend of the Reign. He was recently called up to the Vancouver Canucks, leaving a big hole for the rest of the squad to fill.
As noted previously, tonight will mark Laferriere’s final AHL game this season before he joins the LA Kings roster. More on that here:
Kings Prospect Alex Laferriere on Burning the Frist Year Off His ELC and Reasons For Turning Pro Now
ONTARIO REIGN PROJECTED LINEUP vs. ABBOTSFORD CANUCKS
Andersson – Tynan – Laferriere
Madden – Dudas – Fagemo
Ward – Quine – Chromiak
Lee – Schnarr – Goulbourne
Krygier – Gaunce
Moverare – Grans
Nousiainen – Bisson
Petersen
Villalta
Likely game scratches: Helenius, Inamoto, Linden, Thompson, Turcotte
Recalled to NHL: Bjornfot, Kupari, Spence
Out long-term, injured: Thomas, Doty
Puck drop is scheduled for 7:00pm PST tonight and the game can be viewed on AHL TV.
Lineup graphic via ALo Images
Note to webmasters/reporters: When recapping news or interviews from this site please remember to include a link to www.MayorsManor.com