December 17: Reign game breakdown

Reign game breakdown
From their play on the ice and into the postgame media scrums the theme was that the Reign put together one of their most complete games of the season in a 3-2 win over Bakersfield on Friday night in Ontario. Responding with conviction following a lackluster start earlier this week against Stockton, the Reign dictated the tempo from the start with an opening goal by Michael Mersch in the middle of the first period. They took at 3-0 lead on goals by T.J. Hensick in the second an a highlight reel goal by Jonny Brodzinski at the start of the third. Bakersfield managed to claw back in the final 20 minutes with marks by Kyle Platzer and Ryan Hamilton, but the Reign held on.

Best quote
Head coach Mike Stothers’ reaction to Brodzinski’s spinorama to backhand goal: “The backhand, shelf, that only a goal scorer can pull off? My god, that’s what Brodz does. That kid is a pure goal scorer.”

Three stars
–Michael Mersch – The left winger is finding his game as of late after what would be considered as a slower start to the season by his standards. He bee-lined to the net to bury Adrian Kempe’s rebound in the first period, catching four Bakersfield players standing around aimlessly and doing to put the puck out of harm’s way. It was his 8th goal of the season. In the second, he disturbed a Condors breakout attempt, causing a neutral zone turnover that sent the puck free to Teddy Purcell. The rebound of Purcell’s shot was picked up by Hensick.
–Jack Campbell – It’s hard to tell where this game could have gone if not for a long list of eye-catching saves from Campbell, who was pulled a game ago but bounced back in a big way. He made two stretched out saves in the second period, both against Patrick Russell, and finished with 29 stops. “Just went out and had fun tonight, didn’t try to think about too much just tried to go out and have fun and play the game and it worked out for everybody,” he said.
–Jonny Brodzinski – The second-year pro is figuring out all kinds of ways to score this season as he continues to lead the team in points. He admitted that even his goal just 25 seconds into the third period surprised him he little bit. Brodzinski called for the puck from Brett Sutter, picked it up on the left wing, spun away from a defender and toward the near board and roofed a backhander by Condors goalie Laurent Brossoit. “Got pretty excited after that one. It’s something that just kind of happens,” he said. It was his 20th point of the season through 23 games.

Turning point
Despite the Condors being able to mount a mini-comeback in the third, the goal by Brodzinski gave the Reign a 3-0 lead that seemed sure to be enough for the win, and it was.

Stat fact
–6 – Points in six games for Teddy Purcell, whose shot was too hard for Brossoit to handle and resulted in an assist on Hensick’s goal. “I think a guy like Purcell has really brought a lot to our team,” Stothers said. “Man, he has the puck a lot, makes some plays. Now there’s a guy that the other team has to really focus and concentrate on. So he’s been a real good addition to our team.”

Lineups and injuries
While the Reign are closing in on the holiday break, some of the walking wounded could use the time off. Paul Bissonnette, Andrew Crescenzi, Zach Trotman and Alex Lintuniemi are all injured and did not play on Friday night.

This and that off-ice
The Reign hosted five military families at the game and surprised them with presents afterwards. One parent from each family is currently deployed in Guantanamo Bay, this all according to Jamie Coleman, the Reign’s Community Relations Coordinator. The Reign front office pitched in on the gifts and the rest was provided by the Hope Reigns Foundation. … Hockey Night In Canada: Punjabi broadcaster Randip Janda was in the house to keep tabs on the Condors’ Jujhar Khaira.

Next up
The team will bus up to San Jose on Saturday afternoon and play their last game before the holiday break against the Barracuda on Sunday at 3 p.m. PT.

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