FINAL – Bakersfield 4, Ontario 2

The Ontario Reign saw a three-game home winning streak come to an end as they fell 4-2 against the Bakersfield Condors on Friday evening at Citizens Business Bank Arena.

Skating against Bakersfield for the first time this season, the Reign jumped out fast and took a first-period lead for just the third time this season. With Ontario on the man advantage, defenseman Matt Roy one-timed home a Sean Walker feed for his third goal of the season, and his sixth point over his last five games played. Forward Sheldon Rempal also collected an assist, his fifth over his last five games played.

After the momentum seemed to swing Bakersfield’s way in the second, the Condors tied the game at one with a Cameron Hebig goal just shy of the halfway mark of the second. Just as a power play had expired, forward Kailer Yamamoto fed Hebig in front and he slammed his shot past Reign netminder Michael Leighton for the goal.

The Condors struck twice in the first 5:14 of the third period to open up their first lead of the evening. First, after Kale Clague nearly gave the Reign the lead at one end, forward Jesse Puljujarvi struck at the other end after Bakersfield went the other way to put the visitors ahead 2-1.

Hebig later scored his second goal of the game, coming 5:14 into the third period. The first-year forward, alongside teammate Evan Polei, lead a 2-on-1 rush, with Polei’s feed heading back to Hebig, who willed the puck past Leighton for his second tally of the evening.

Ontario pulled the goaltender early, with over four minutes remaining, but could not pull any closer. Bakersfield found the empty net, courtesy of forward Josh Currie, with 1:35 remaining, before forward Brad Morrison collected his third goal of the season with 11 seconds remaining to reach the final of 4-2.

The Reign are back on the ice tomorrow for a day of practice back in El Segundo, before they return to home ice on Sunday to host the Tucson Roadrunners, with puck drop slated for 3 PM at Citizens Business Bank Arena.

Highlights

Mike Stothers on whether he felt his team sat back with a 1-0 lead
No, I don’t think we sat back, you’ve got to give credit to your opposition too, they put on a pretty good push and we’ve got to keep playing. I thought as good as we were in the first period, I thought we were pretty average after that. Again, it’s part of what we talked about, learning how to win. You’ve got to learn how to win. It’s a step and we get ready for Sunday.

On working towards putting together a complete, 60-minute effort
Ideally, everybody wants to play that complete, 60-minute game, and I don’t think there’s ever been a coach around that’s been totally satisfied with how things have gone. There’s always ebbs and flows to a game and sometimes you’ve got to weather the storm that the opposition throws at you, or sometimes you’ve got to create that energy to make you push. The end result is we didn’t win, whether we were ahead or behind. You said it, it’s a 60-minute game and you have to play through the whole 60.

On what they need to work on to take on a strong Tucson team on Sunday
Tucson’s going to be coming in thinking that’s a good team we’re going to be playing at home. So let them talk about us.

On the evolution of Brad Morrison’s game and his play as of late
Mo is a pretty creative kid. He’s highly skilled and he loves the offensive part of the game. He dipsy-doodled and got himself a pretty nice goal. It would’ve been nice to have a few more sooner but you know what, it’s his third goal and that’s pretty good for a guy that hasn’t had a whole lot of ice time, he doesn’t get the minutes that some guys do. He’s contributing and he’s getting better. We know what he can do offensively, it’s just a matter of being able to get ice time by being responsible in his own end. At the other end? He’s pretty dynamic.

Brad Morrison on the team’s play tailing off after a strong opening period
I think we got off to a good start, the coaching staff had us prepared really well for the two games this weekend, especially this one here. I think in the first period, we had some momentum, we were getting pucks deep and we were controlling the puck and dictating the pace of the game. As the second period went on, we stopped moving our feet a bit and stopped going to the net like we were, myself included, and turning pucks over on the bluelines. It’s just not acceptable in this league because they’re just going to turn it around the other way and get scoring chances, which they did, and everyone’s good in this league and they’re going to capitalize when they get chances.

On what the team needs to do be more consistent
We just need to work together and stay positive in the room. I know that we’ve got a great group in there and we’re going to be able to figure this out. It’s just one game and I think we had a few game winning streak there [at home] so we’ve got to find a way to be more consistent. I know the game’s changing a bit now, but you still have to play a safer game, especially with the lead.

On feeling more comfortable with his play as of late
Playing with Sutter and Maillet, they just make it easy on me. They’re two great players, guys with a lot of skill and a lot of experience and I think Stutts putting me with those two shows that he trusts me and believes in me. I’ve still got a lot of things that I need to work on, the offensive side of the game included, but in my own end, getting pucks out and I’ll say it again, not turning the puck over outside the blues is probably the most important thing in my game. It’s a good confidence booster to get the one at the end, but at the end of the day, all anybody cares about is the win or the loss so there’s not much to celebrate there.