Reign Stifle Thunder for 3-1 Victory
December 31, 2014 - ECHL (ECHL)
Ontario Reign News Release
STOCKTON, Calif. - The Ontario Reign (16-10-2-4), four-time Pacific Division Champions and proud affiliate of the NHL's 2014 Stanley Cup Champion Los Angeles Kings and Winnipeg Jets, rallied from a one-goal deficit in the second period en route to a 3-1 win over the Stockton Thunder (13-18-1-0) in front of a crowd of 5,044 on Tuesday night at Stockton Arena.
The Thunder opened the scoring in the first period when Peter Sivak grabbed a rebound and rifled the puck over the shoulder of Jussi Olkinuora at 3:33.
Ontario evened the score in the second period when Stockton's Loic Leduc was whistled for tripping at 5:10. On the subsequent power-play, Judd Blackwater took a pass from Geoff Walker and made his way to the slot from behind the net, eventually wristing a shot past Kent Simpson at 5:53. Nolan Julseth-White received the secondary assist on the power-play goal.
Blackwater then pulled the Reign ahead after Tyler Scofield recovered the puck in the offensive zone and sent it back to Norm Ezekiel at the blueline. Ezekiel then carried the puck to the face-off dot at the right circle and feathered a pass across the slot to Blackwater, who redirected the feed past Simpson at 13:58.
Both teams traded chances in the the third period, and the Thunder eventually pulled Simpson for an extra attacker, allowing Couture to add an empty-net tally at 19:06, assisted by Kyle Bigos and Gasper Kopitar.
Olkinuora picked up the win with 24 saves; Simpson took the loss with 25 stops.
Three Stars:
1. ONT - Judd Blackwater
2. ONT - Jussi Olkinuora
3. STK - Kent Simpson
Reign Drops :
On Sunday, Jan. 4, the Reign will host the Stockton Thunder at 3 p.m. The first 5,000 fans that enter Citizens Business Bank Arena will receive a Reign Dance Team Poster, compliments of the Ontario Reign Dance Team.
Immediately following the game against the Thunder, fans can meet the Reign players at Boston's Restaurant in Fontana, located at 16927 Sierra Lakes Pkwy off 210 Fwy and Sierra. Show your ticket stub and receive 15% off your food purchase that night!
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