Ontario Reign coach Marco Sturm had to be feeling pretty good about his club when they departed Calgary in advance of a two-game set beginning tonight in Abbotsford. They had started 2024 off by winning four of five games and were coming off one of their better performances of the season, a 2-1 victory over the Wranglers — led by a 36-save performance from goaltender Jacob Ingham.
Adding to any renewed confidence Sturm may have been holding, was the idea that Alex Turcotte was scheduled to return to the Reign lineup tonight after missing seven games with a lower body injury. In total, Turcotte has only suited up for one game since Dec. 8, following a strong opening few months to his 2023-24 campaign. Many of those games saw Turcotte line up alongside fellow Kings prospect Akil Thomas. Where he’ll fit into Sturm’s lineup tonight remains to be seen — not only because the team went through an optional morning skate, but also due to Sammy Fagemo being recalled to the Kings.
When Turcotte and Thomas were paired together previously, it was Turcotte at center. Since he’s been out of the lineup, Thomas has been playing in the middle and doing a stellar job at putting up points and winning faceoffs (an area noted by Sturm in the article above).
Will Ontario’s bench boss put them back together? If so, who plays center? Or will he choose to split them up? The combinations are near endless and Sturm’s choice will have ramifications on the other lines, as well. Therefore, the projected forward alignment below is as much a guess as anything else. The 12 forwards are most likely correct. How Sturm puts them all together probably won’t be clear until warmups.
In goal, Sturm will be looking for a better performance out of rookie netminder Erik Portillo than what he saw late last month in Abbotsford. After giving four goals in night one of a back-to-back set, Sturm tried showing his goalie some love and put him right back in the next night. Portillo let five goals in before being pulled just 27 minutes into that one. Since then, Portillo has gone 2-2-1 in five appearances.
On defense, veteran blueliner Joe Hicketts is a potential option to draw in. He had only played five games for the Reign earlier this season before being sidelined with an injury. The 27-year-old left shot has been skating of late and is said to be drawing closer to a return.
REIGN PROJECTED LINEUP vs. CANUCKS
Hudon – Tynan – Chromiak
Ward – Turcotte – Madden
Lee – Thomas – Hodgson
Pinelli – Helenius – Doty
Moverare – Haiskanen
Connauton – Santini
Nousiainen – Wylie
Portillo (starter)
Ingham
Other roster options include: (F) Francis and (D) Inamoto, Krygier, Martin
Injured: Hicketts (undisclosed)
Puck drop is scheduled for 7pm Pacific Time and the game can be viewed on AHL TV.
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Game day graphic via ALoImages
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