February 24: Bus Texts with Stothers

Tonight’s Bus Texts with Stothers comes on what’s suspected to be an unpleasant journey down the 5 freeway as the Reign return home after watching Bakersfield complete a come-from-behind win in the final minutes.

Bakersfield Condors 4, Reign 3
Ontario surrendered two goals in a 21-second span in the last 4:29 of the game, allowing the Condors to take their first and only lead and exit as winners Friday night. It was a roller-coaster night for all, but especially for Ontario, which scored the game’s opening goal by Mike Amadio from the high slot and was up 1-0 after the first period despite being outshot 17-5. Goals came in a flurry in the second — four overall — the first being a tying goal by Bakersfield’s Griffin Reinhart from the top of the left circle. Ontario answered 32 seconds later when T.J. Hensick finished a 3-on-1. Ontario then took a 3-1 just 11 seconds later when Justin Auger buried a rebound of a Kurtis MacDermid shot after a slick, sliding set-up by Devin Setoguchi, who was credited with an assist for his first point since being assigned to Ontario. The Reign appeared to be heading into the third with that lead as they had even chased out Bakersfield starter Jonas Gustavsson for Nick Ellis. But with just under four minutes left in the period T.J. Hensick overskated the puck on a breakout attempt and instead of a clearance, the puck ended up behind Jack Campbell when an unattended Joey LaLeggia slammed in a pass from Anton Lander. Like the first period, Bakersfield kept Ontario’s offense again to a minimum in the third but this time struck late. Jesse Puljujarvi used his speed on the right wing to get around Kurtis MacDermid and his shot went off Campbell’s pads and to LaLeggia who fed a crashing Lander with 4:29 left in the third. The go-ahead goal was scored by LaLeggia, who flew into the slot to beat Campbell after Lander had thrown the puck from the left wall to the front of the Reign net. Campbell finished with 36 saves.

BUS TEXTS WITH STOTHERS
ORI: What do you want this group to learn from this loss?
Stothers: We shouldn’t be learning lessons at this juncture in the season. We should be sending messages that we are a difficult team to play against because we stick to the systems and fundamentals every night.
ORI: Do you pinpoint the giveaway on the second goal as the back-breaker or did it feel like Bakersfield was just coming all night?
Stothers: The giveaway didn’t help but we were under siege all night long. You know you are in trouble when the Zamboni runs out of propane flooding your end between periods.
ORI: How do you assess the grit of this group and what’s your level of concern with the focus seeming to vary drastically from game to game?
Stothers: We have some pretty good, experienced players missing from our lineup. Because of that we have others playing out of position or playing in situations that they are not always able to handle. Every player has a slot or fit that is best suited to their strengths. Alterations to the lineup can then be exposed over the course of time. The players that are playing are trying but at times become overwhelmed. Matchups are difficult and sometimes the slot or fit isn’t ideal for the individual.
ORI: Some of those guys who play big minutes late can’t come back soon enough I suppose.
Stothers: In the meantime we try to get just a little bit better each and every day. Some days we take one step back, after taking two steps forward. That’s life as a coach/teacher in the American Hockey League.