In sort of a deja vu moment, about an hour after the Kings lost a lead in the final minutes of their game Thursday night in Florida, the Ontario Reign — playing some 3,000 miles away in Calgary — gave up a game-winning goal to the Wranglers with only 2:53 remaining in regulation.
It had to be a bummer of a loss for coach Marco Sturm too, as his team had fallen behind early and then battled back to tie things at 2-2 via a pair of goals from Sammy Fagemo. To make matters worse, coming into the contest, Ontario had managed to pull within three points of the Pacific Division leaders and a Reign win last night would have essentially had the two clubs playing for first place tonight. Instead, the Reign will be now looking to bounce back in the rematch just to keep pace.
Back to Fagemo, though.
https://twitter.com/mayorNHL/status/1745651203068047636
This can't be said enough…
Sure, Fagemo has pulled into a tie for the lead in AHL goals.
However, look at the disparity in games played. Insanity. pic.twitter.com/Vz2FiGS5H1
— The Mayor | Team MM (@mayorNHL) January 12, 2024
He was already on a ridiculous run since rejoining the team a few months ago. Then, just in the last week, things have become even more insane. Over his last three games, the Swedish forward had seven goals.
In goal, Sturm will turn back to Jacob Ingham for this one. It will be Ingham’s third start since being recalled from ECHL Greenville, he’s posted wins in both of his previous starts and is currently holding a .926 save percentage.
Sturm also has a few healthy bodies he could insert into the lineup, if he so chooses. All six of the defensemen used last night were minus-one and only the top pairing of Jacob Moverare and Cody Haiskanen managed to record a shot on goal (one each).
At forward, another option is flip-flopping his third and fourth-line centers. Sammy Helenius is usually at 4C, yet he traded spots with rookie Franky Pinelli a few games ago.
ICYMI – we posted a feature story on Akil Thomas earlier this week. It’s linked below for your reference. There are some great quotes in there from both Thomas and Sturm.
REIGN PROJECTED LINEUP vs. WRANGLERS
Hudon – Tynan – Fagemo
Ward – Thomas – Madden
Lee – Helenius – Chromiak
Hodgson – Pinelli – Doty
Moverare – Haiskanen
Nousiainen – Santini
Krygier – Wylie
Ingham (starter)
Portillo
Other roster options include: (F) Francis and (D) Connauton, Inamoto, Martin
Injured: Turcotte (lower body), Hicketts (undisclosed)
Puck drop is scheduled for 6pm Pacific Time and the game can be viewed on AHL TV.
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Game day graphic via ALoImages
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