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It is the first time this season that the Roadrunners will play the Reign, the American Hockey League affiliate of the Los Angeles Kings, and ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥â€™s first game of any kind since Nov. 25.

The Roadrunners and Reign will face each other again Tuesday night.

ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ enters the game with the best record in the AHL’s Pacific Division, but the Roadrunners will be without Dylan Strome. Strome, arguably ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥â€™s best player, was called up to the ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ Coyotes a week ago.

“All our guys get a bigger role now,� Roadrunners head coach Mike Van Ryn said. “As players they always want that so now there’s an opportunity to compete for a little bit more ice. It goes to the old say, ‘Who wants ice? Show me.’�

In 15 games with the Roadrunners, Strome led the team with 26 points by way of eight goals and 18 assists.

ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥â€™s practices the past week were the same as usual, forward Michael Bunting said, noting that call-ups like Strome’s occur regularly in the AHL.

“Obviously, Strome is an elite talent around here and he deserved a callup, but that’s hockey,� Bunting said.

“Everyone gets up and down so you just go in and nothing really changes with you.�

The Roadrunners could also be without Andrew Campbell, who was also summoned to the NHL last week.

The 29-year old Campbell is a veteran presence on the roster and serves as the team captain.

“You just practice with what you’ve got and deal with what you have when that game day comes,� Van Ryn said. “That’s the AHL. Things change all the time.�

The Roadrunners had a productive week of practice leading up to an idle Friday and Saturday, a rarity in ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥â€™s schedule.

The team did skate-arounds both days to stay fresh.

The days off gave the Roadrunners an eight-day break between games, which is the longest such break of the regular season.

“It’s really nice to kind of relax for a couple days,� defenseman Dakota Mermis said. “It’s a long week but it goes by quick. You don’t get a lot of time like that so there’s a lot of rest, going to the pool, sleeping in, whatever.�

The Roadrunners enter Sunday with just 18 games under their belt, which is the fewest in the AHL. In fact, ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ has played eight fewer games than the Springfield Thunderbirds.

ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ has a busy December ahead to catch up with the rest of the league. Sunday marks the first of seven games in a 10-day stretch.