Reign Strike Thunder in 7-2 Win
November 6, 2014 - ECHL (ECHL)
Ontario Reign News Release
STOCKTON, Calif. - The Ontario Reign (5-3-0-1), four-time Pacific Division Champions and proud affiliate of the NHL's 2014 Stanley Cup Champion Los Angeles Kings and Winnipeg Jets, defeated the Stockton Thunder (3-6-0-0) by a 7-2 score in front of a crowd of 3,118 on Wednesday night at Stockton Arena, as head coach Jason Christie oversaw his 800th ECHL game coached in the win.
The game marked the 800th career regular season ECHL game behind the bench for Christie, who became only the fourth head coach in league history to reach the mark, behind only John Marks (1,008), Jeff Pyle (932) and John Brophy (882).
Just as they had done at home on Sunday against Bakersfield, the Reign opened the scoring on the power-play. While Ontario set up a screen in front of Stockton goaltender Philippe Trudeau, defenseman Jeff May blasted a shot from the left point to give the Reign a 1-0 lead at 7:32. Kyle Bigos and Tristan King received the assists.
Further along in the first period, Gasper Kopitar was able to break into the offensive zone for Ontario, but lost control of the puck as he made his way down the left wing side. In the confusion, Derek Couture retrieved the puck, and snapped it short-side past Trudeau at the 11:11 mark, with Matt White also getting credit for the secondary assist.
The Thunder struck back in the second period on back-to-back power-play goals from Jack MacLellan at 6:53 and Keith Seabrook at 8:43 to tie the score at 2-2.
The Reign responded with an offensive burst of their own. Shortly after Stockton had drawn level, Nolan Julseth-White retrieved the puck in the offensive zone and fed it along to Couture, who then fired a wrist shot into the top corner of the net at 9:27. May would also receive an assist.
Couture then completed his hat trick at 17:10, when May moved the puck to Bigos along the blueline. Bigos then unloaded a shot from the left side that resulted in a rebound that Couture shot into the net past Trudeau.
While Ontario was still celebrating Couture's third goal of the night, Norm Ezekiel threw the puck on net from the right circle, and Kopitar redirected Ezekiel's shot past Trudeau at 17:25. Everett Sheen picked up the secondary assist.
In the third period, the Thunder replaced Trudeau with Shane Owen, but the Reign continued to go on the offensive. Jeff May blasted a point shot past Owen at 3:25 with Ezekiel and Kopitar assisting.
Ontario capped its scoring at the 4:40 mark, when Rocco Carzo was awarded a penalty shot, and subsequently faked out Owen and fired the puck past the sprawled netminder to make it 7-2.
Reign goaltender Jussi Olkinuora picked up the win with 23 saves; Trudeau took the loss with with 18 stops.
Three Stars:
1. ONT - Derek Couture
2. ONT - Jeff May
3. STK - Keith Seabrook
Reign Drops :
The Ontario Reign, in part with Stater Bros. Charities, will honor and pay their respects to the men and women who have served this country at the team's annual Military Appreciation Night on Saturday, Nov. 8 at 6 p.m. The entire Reign team will sport desert camouflage-inspired jerseys and socks to be auctioned off immediately following the game. The proceeds from the live auction will go to Stater Bros. Charities to benefit various veteran organizations.
Military personnel will receive a special discounted ticket price for this game. Please call 909-941-PUCK (7825) to learn more about getting your tickets today. Click here for the online military discount; use the promotional code: MILITARY.
Tickets to this game, as well as individual tickets for the 2014-15 regular season, are on sale now. Fans can purchase tickets for individual games at the Citizens Business Bank Arena box office or online by clicking here. For Reign season tickets and other ticket plan inquiries, click here or call 909-941-PUCK (7825).
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