December 7: Bus Texts with Stothers

Today’s Bus Texts with Stothers are coming from the road in Tucson, where the Reign will stay this week and play the Roadrunners again on Friday.

Reign 3, Tucson 2 (OT)
Teddy Purcell, in his first game with Ontario, fittingly scored at 2:18 of overtime on a backhanded breakaway move and the Reign managed to string three wins together for the first time this season despite allowing Tucson to tie the game in the third. Ontario used first period goals from Kurtis MacDermid and Justin Auger to take an early, crucial lead. MacDermid scored from the top of the point through traffic 10:27 in. That lead went to 2-0 on Auger’s sixth goal of the season, a power move from the left wall where he cut inside the circle and beat Tucson goalie Marek Langhamer over his glove at 17:23. Riding the efforts of the penalty kill, which stopped Tucson twice in the second period, and a 12-save performance from Campbell in that frame, the Reign were looking to take even more time off when presented with an early power play in the third period. But Michael Mersch was stripped of the puck on the man advantage in the neutral zone by Laurent Dauphin, who beat Campbell on a breakaway. Tucson’s Dakota Mermis scored on a rebound with 4:42 left in regulation which forced overtime. In the predictably unpredictable 3-on-3, Campbell, who finished with 35 saves, stopped a near 3-on-1 and made two saves before Purcell’s game-winner.

BUS TEXTS WITH STOTHERS
ORI: Hi, Stutts. Well, a little bit of everything tonight. A winning streak now. Happy with the way the group was able to respond after some adversity in the third?
Stothers: The adversity you refer to we created ourselves. You have a 2-0 lead in the third period and you get a power play. Here’s a great chance to close the door for good. Instead we give up a shorthanded goal and the door is now ajar. Then we follow that gaff up with our F3 diving in while in the OZ and they finish off an odd man rush. Tie game and we only need to look at ourselves. We won in OT, great you say? I say we got two points and gave away one!! Unacceptable to give away points to anyone, at any time. Especially a team in our division.
ORI: Still looking for that perfect game. Campbell strong again tonight. Do you get the sense that this is what you have been waiting for and the team is getting a chance to feel a little more comfortable knowing it’s the same guy back there (and hopefully not too comfortable in reference to your last answer).
Stothers: Soupy was very good, and should have been the first star of the game, not the third. Hopefully we have put this goaltending carousel behind us and we can continue with the stability he has provided us.
ORI: Do you get the sense that the team plays a little differently in front of him though, and that kind of stability was lacking before and is now turning into results?
Stothers: Given the importance of the position, I would definitely agree that having a proven AHL goalie at your disposal night, after night, is beneficial to the entire team. Not many teams rotate their goalies like they rotate their tires. For far too long we were trying to win Daytona on a spare. Not recommended for long distance driving or a 68-game hockey season.
ORI: Think we have our first NASCAR reference. Last one… Are expectations different with Purcell as far as playing time goes than say with Scuderi? Obviously a big contributor tonight but do you envision him playing regularly?
Stothers: Purcell?
ORI: Yes
Stothers: He is here to get the offensive side of his game going. He scored tonight and it turned out to be the game winner. Good for him. But now we have six veterans and you can only dress five, so it is going to be awkward for all of them. We will deal with it like we do everything else, day to day.

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