Lake Tahoe Lakers’ Race to the 2024-2025 USPHL Pacific Division Playoffs

As of January 22, 2025, the Lake Tahoe Lakers’ dominant performance during the regular season so far has put them in first place of the USPHL Pacific Division standings with 53 points and a season record of 26-10-1-0. Out of their 26 wins, two of them consisted of overtime wins and four impressive shutouts. 

The Lake Tahoe Lakers currently have a 22.38% power play success rate and a solid 84.95% penalty killing rate. Their top scorers are #21 Brian Erte who has 69 points and #20 Scott McNulty who has 60 points recorded in the regular season. Scott McNulty also leads the Lake Tahoe Lakers in hat-tricks recorded during the regular season as he has secured 3 hat-tricks in this season so far. 

In regards to goaltending, all three of their goaltenders have very impressive stats which include: Timon Franzen securing 8 wins out of 12 games and a 0.889 SV%; Perry Jacobs has securing 11 wins out of 19 games and a 0.897 SV%; and Wyatt Osio securing the win in all 3 games he played and maintained a 1.00 SV% during the USPHL 2024-2025 Las Vegas Showcase. 

Looking at what is left of the regular season, the Lake Tahoe Lakers have 9 games left in the regular season which consists of: 

• A three-game series against the Bakersfield Roughnecks (6th place, 29 PTS, 13-18-1-2) on January 24-26, 2025.

  • Previous meetings this season: LTL have won two out of the three games against BKR (3-1)

  • Prediction: LTL will sweep BKR in this three-game series as in the past, they have had more control over previous games in regards to puck possession (150 SOG vs. 119 SOG) and more successful power plays (27.3% PP vs. 17.6% PP) when playing against BKR.

• A three-game series against the Ontario Jr. Reign (2nd place, 47 PTS, 23-9-1-0) on February 1-2, 2025 

  • Previous meetings this season: OJR have won both games against LTL (2-0)

  • Prediction: OJR may win against LTL in this three-game series as they have maintained puck possession (91 SOG vs 79 SOG). However, it will all come down to goaltending and their power play success rate as LTL has had more successful power play opportunities (11.1% PP vs 7.70% PP) compared to OJR. Game 1 against one another fully went in OJR’s favor while Game 2 resulted in an OJR overtime win. Due to how close the last game went, we can expect an intense matchup ahead. 

• A three-game series against the San Diego Sabers (5th place, 36 PTS, 18-14-0-0) on February 14-16, 2025.  

  • Previous meetings this season: LTL and SDS are evenly split against one another (1-1)

  • Prediction: In previous games, although LTL has had more shots on goal (103 SOG vs 62 SOG), the team did find difficulty in securing the win in Game 1 against SDS despite having control of the puck for the majority of the game. Both teams have struggled on their power play opportunities when playing against one another due to their strong penalty killing success rates. Overall, it may come down to goaltending, penalty killing, and who can capitalize while having puck possession throughout the game.

The Lake Tahoe Lakers Lakers (53 PTS) do have some tough competition who are all fighting for the remaining playoff spots and a couple of games that may offer a challenge for the team. In the end, we can expect to see the Lake Tahoe Lakers clinching a spot in the 2024-2025 USPHL playoffs and possibly securing first place in the USPHL Pacific Division standings after their exceptional performance so far in the regular season. 

Look out for the article, Summary of the Race to the Playoffs, to gain more insight on how the Lake Tahoe Lakers compare to their competition and what to expect as the regular season comes to an end!